Vanilla Cupcake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

I've been itching to bake something last weekend. But I don't want to make something I've tried and tested before.

I love chocolate cupcakes. It's always chocolate when I go to Sonja's or even when I get a bag of local, readymade cupcakes. I've never tried making vanilla cupcakes before so off I went to Joy the Baker to see if she's made one.

Joy did not disappoint. Her recipe index boasts of classic cakes and cupcake recipes with a twist. So when I saw vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream - wow! I just have to try this.

Reviewing the recipe though, I was daunted by the idea of using actual vanilla beans. Hello! First, I'm not some culinary studies-educated-type of person that I can easily scrape out seeds off of vanilla beans. And most importantly, where can I get a vanilla bean in my side of the world??? I don't just live in a tropical country where vanilla beans are not native, but I also live in a province in a tropical country where the closest thing you can get to vanilla is vanilla extract.

So off I go to my mother, Martha Stewart. I found a classic vanilla cupcake recipe good for 3 dozens. Wait-a-minute, THREE DOZENS??? Who in her right mind would make 3 dozens of vanilla cupcakes just out on a whim??? Besides, if I do this and stock these in the ref, my kids would probably be on sugar overload for an entire week and that we know, will drive any normal, child-loving parent crazy!

I decided to half the vanilla cupcake recipe for the chocolate buttercream frosting recipe. I was able to make 2 dozens cupcakes.

The vanilla cupcake was easy-peasy. Just remember to always, always check your cupcakes every 5-10 mins so you're sure they don't get burnt. Never leave your goodies alone in the oven. Always check if the temperature is right. And oh, place the rack on the middle part of the oven. This way the cupcake will cook thoroughly (not burnt at the bottom and uncooked at the top, which happened to me so many times in the past...ewww!).

The buttercream is a different story though. I decided to use confectioners sugar because I thought "it's frosting and confectioners sugar would make this so smooth and velvety". Big mistake! The buttercream won't stiffen. It's like buttercream without any will to live...like sick buttercream. Taste is okay though. I think if I've used regular white sugar, the buttercream might have been more "stiff".

With that, piping is nearly impossible. I did try but I definitely failed!

This was my failed attempt to pipe buttercream. Such a loser.

This was after I got frustrated with the piping and just decided to spread the thing into the cupcakes. I think this is more decent. Better to just spread it than make a whole mess of trying to pipe the buttercream.

This was how it looked like after a few bites.

Pawis Rating:

• Vanilla cupcake - 3 of 5 only because you have to check them every once in a while in the oven.
• Buttercream - 5 of 5 because I didn't follow the recipe correctly. Darn!

Judge's comments:

• Mama and our senior citizen yayas - "Masama sa blood sugar...hati na lang tayo."