Mmmm...butter. Thought I'd throw in a yellow cake since I'm going to be featuring another chocolate cupcake tomorrow night. I swear to all that is sweet and good that I had planned to make the citrus butter cream frosting that the website pairs with these cupcakes--I even stopped at the store to get more powdered sugar--but they just look soooo tasty without it and I can't bring myself to pollute their golden tops with frosting.

As an aside: I've added a recipe index to the side bar on the site, just above the about me information. I hope it makes it easier to find something you'll enjoy.

Golden Butter Cupcakes
From Razzle Dazzle Recipes

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter or margarine (1-1/2 sticks) softened
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line twenty-four 2-1/2-inch muffin-pan cups with fluted paper liners.
• In large bowl, with mixer at low speed (with heavy-duty mixer, use whisk attachment; otherwise, cupcakes will not rise properly when baked), mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until combined.
• Add butter, milk, vanilla and eggs, and beat just until blended.
• Increase speed to high; beat 1 to 2 minutes or until creamy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.
• Spoon batter into muffin-pan cups.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until cupcakes are golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Immediately remove cupcakes from pans and cool completely on wire rack.

About this recipe: another great find for bakers from beginner to expert. Such an easy method, no creaming even. I can't think of a way to screw this one up given that you have an electric mixer. Given enough arm strength, you could probably get away with beating this by hand.

I halved this recipe and got just enough batter to fill 12 regular sized muffin cups.

The result: an airy, lightly vanilla flavored yellow cake. Of course, it's very rich and buttery too. A more than decent, basic yellow cake recipe that can be used alone or as a layer in a more complicated layer cake. I can't wait to eat one with my cup of tea in the morning.