Mini Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

Hmm, the color of this photo came out kind-of funny.  Ah well, they still look nice.

Yesterday was my birthday, so I wanted cake.  But let's face it, I really didn't need a whole cake in the house, so I made cupcakes (that way I can give some away easily).  The recipe for the lovely fluffy white cupcakes is from Nigella Bites.  It was surprisingly easy (not that cupcakes are hard, but these were especially simple).  And gosh they were good!  They tasted sweet, but not overly so, and the texture was perfectly cakey and fluffy.

The recipe called for either royal icing (not my favorite) or ganache (I didn't have heavy cream) so I made my favorite vanilla buttercream instead.  I actually didn't use vanilla extract to flavor it, instead I used vanilla powder.  I'm not quite sure how they make it, but it's by the same company who make my vanilla extract.  It's real vanilla, but not with the alcohol and, well, powdered not liquid.  I like it because it doesn't change the color or texture of the buttercream but it still gives it a strong vanilla flavor.  I colored it pink with my new food coloring paste (a ton of fun, I can't wait to use it again) and piped it onto each cupcake with a wide plain pastry tip.  I topped them with an upside down white chocolate chip, because I thought it would be pretty and match the pink and white polka dot muffin papers that I used.  Wow they looked good...and they tasted good too!

The color came out odd on these too, but differently.  Shame, but I suppose you can still get the picture (no pun intended!)