I recently saw a cake so exquisitely decorated that I immediately needed to know how it was done. The answer? The Ateco 789 — a giant piping tip. It completely blew my mind.
Unfortunately, a cake this beautiful isn’t exactly easy to deliver, and since I wanted to share the magic with my foodie friends, I did what any reasonable baker would do. I turned the cake into cupcakes, and made them pink.
Naturally, I ran to "Dorie’s Anytime Cakes" and flipped to a recipe I’d already made a million times. Her Buttermilk Cupcakes for Everything. Paired with what I can only describe as the best buttermilk frosting of all time, Dorie’s Everyday Buttercream Frosting, they were, quite simply, perfection. Divine. Unmatched. Delectable.
As a friend of Reflekt since our inception, Dorie Greenspan so graciously gave me permission to share the very recipes from her book with you. And while I absolutely want you to bookmark this page, you should also run, don’t walk, to buy her cake book. If you want even more Dorie in your life, subscribe to her newsletter for weekly recipes delivered straight to your inbox.
Now, let’s make some pink cupcakes.
Buttermilk Cupcakes for Everything
Ingredients
Yields: Makes about 18 cupcakes
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1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
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2 teaspoons baking powder
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¼ teaspoon baking soda
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¼ teaspoon fine salt
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10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
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1 cup sugar
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3 large eggs, at room temperature
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1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
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2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
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¾ cup buttermilk (well shaken before measuring), at room temperature
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line 18 muffin cups with cupcake papers.
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Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
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In a large stand mixer bowl, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until light. Scrape the bowl and beaters every so often.
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Add the eggs and yolk, one by one, beating well after each one goes in, then beat in the vanilla. The batter may be on the verge of curdling or may even curdle, just carry on.
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Turn off the mixer, add one-third of the flour mixture and, beating on low speed, mix until it almost disappears into the batter.
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Beat in half of the buttermilk with the mixer still on low.
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Turn the mixer off again, scrape, add half the remaining dry ingredients, and mix until incorporated.
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Repeat the process with remaining buttermilk and flour mixture.
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Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups — each one should be about three-quarters full.
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Bake the cupcakes for 19 to 21 minutes, or until the tops feel springy when poked and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. These bake up pale.
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Transfer the pans to racks and let them rest for 10 minutes before unmolding them. Let cool to room temperature on the rack before frosting.
Everyday Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
Yields: About 2 cups
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16 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
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2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted if lumpy
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¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
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1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
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1 to 2 tablespoons whole milk, as needed
Instructions
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In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on low speed until smooth, scraping the bowl and beater(s) early and often. Consider draping a towel over the bowl and beater(s) at the beginning of the process to prevent confectioners’ sugar from flying.
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Mix in the salt and vanilla and then up the speed to medium and beat until the frosting is light and swoopy, about 3 minutes.
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If you’d like the frosting to be a bit thinner, beat in some milk a little at a time, as needed.
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Add food coloring as desired.
