Yellow Cake - Birthday Cupcakes

May is crazy for our family. We have birthdays, Mother's Day, graduations - the action is non-stop. Our weekends are booked and our stomachs are full. It is truly a month of celebration and indulgence.

The moments that are not spent celebrating are spent outside in the sunny spring weather, trying to make up for the past 6 months without fresh air and vitamin D. So, when it came to making a birthday dessert for my husband, I wanted something quick, delicious and easy to bring to a family gathering.

We decided on yellow cake cupcakes, topped with our favorite buttercream frosting. I have tried a few yellow cake recipes before and they have been crumbly and a little on the dry side. I think the addition of sour cream in this recipe made all of the difference, and the cupcakes turned out light and moist.

Yellow Cupcakes: (Joy of Baking)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (cut into pieces)
1 large egg, room temperature
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream or whole plain yogurt, room temperature

Yellow Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly butter or line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat to combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter, egg, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and sour cream. Beat the wet and dry ingredients together at medium speed until the batter is smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. If necessary, stir the batter with a rubber spatula until the flour is fully incorporated.

Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 20 -25 minutes or until pale gold and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, top with buttercream.

Buttercream (same recipe as here)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
a pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
4-5 cups of powdered sugar, sifted
2-5 tbsp heavy whipping cream

Beat the butter and salt until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and 2 tbsp of heavy whipping cream. Sift the sugar and then add cup by cup until you have reached the desired sweetness. Beat the frosting 15-20 minutes. The amount of time you spend beating the mixture truly makes a difference in consistency and fluffiness. Add more cream as needed