Show your sweetie how much you love them with these Valentine's Day Cupcakes. Simple yet delicious from-scratch vanilla cupcakes dressed up for the holiday!
Course Baked Good, CUPCAKES!, Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cupcakes, valentine's day cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes
Preheat your oven to 350°F degrees. Line cupcake tins with liners and set aside.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Adding one egg at a time, beat on medium speed until all eggs are fully incorporated.
Add the milk, vinegar, and vanilla extract and beat on medium speed until combined.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate large bowl.
Mixing on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Continue to mix until smooth and just combined. The batter should be light and fluffy.
Fill each well of the prepared cupcake tin halfway full with batter.
Place the cupcakes on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.
Remove the cupcakes from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for 4-5 minutes. Remove them from the pan and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Once the cupcakes are cool, make the frosting. In a large bowl with an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, vanilla extract, and salt on high speed until smooth.
Shift to medium speed and slowly add in the powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and no clumps remain about 2-3 minutes.
Add heavy whipping cream and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
Optionally, you can add in food coloring and mix until fully incorporated about 30 seconds.
Add the buttercream to a piping bag and pipe it onto the top of each cupcake. Add sprinkles on top now if using, and serve.
Notes
This makes a large batch, but you can easily double it to feed more or halve the recipe as needed.
Tons of custom options, see my tips above on that.
Use store-bought cake mix if desired, and add the frosting and sprinkles yourself.
Perfect for a school party or function.
Use gel food coloring to get a vibrant color.
They store and freeze well, see my tips above on how to store them.