Fluffy Vanilla Cupcakes

Makes about 4 dozen mini cupcakes or about 16 regular sized cupcakes.

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake tins with paper liners and set aside. In the bowl of your stand mixer, with a paddle attachment, beat together your eggs and vanilla sugar until light and fluffy, pale in color, and doubled in volume. This should take 5-7 minutes on medium high.

2. While eggs are beating, sift together your cake flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.

3. Next, in another bowl (or large measuring cup) mix together your wet ingredients: milk, vanilla extract, almond extract and oil. Set aside.

4. When egg mixture is light and fluffy, stop mixer, scrape down sides and bottom of bowl, and then resume mixing on low speed. Carefully alternate adding 1/2 of the dry mix and 1/2 of the wet into your mixer bowl, making sure to stop and scrape down sides of the bowl every so often. Repeat and add the rest of the dry and wet ingredients. Start with the dry ingredients first. Once you’ve added the dry and wet ingredients, turn mixer to medium high and beat until just combined.

5. Pour batter (or scoop with an ice cream scoop) into your liners until it fills each 1/2-3/4 way up.

6. Place pans on the middle rack of the oven, and bake for 13-14 minutes for regular sized cupcakes, turning pans half way through the bake time to make sure they evenly bake. If you decide to make these into mini cupcakes, your baking time will be about 10 minutes. Again, make sure to turn pan halfway through baking and check a few minutes before timer goes off to test for done-ness! They are done when the cupcakes are very slightly golden brown around edges and a toothpick comes out with crumbs when inserted into the middle. Remove pans from the oven and set them on a rack.

7. Allow cupcakes to cool 5 minutes in pan and then remove them from the pans and allow to cool completely on a rack, at room temperature.

Next you can frost your minis with your favorite frosting!

* Cupcakes will store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Let them come to room temperature before serving.

Recipe adapted from Sweetapolita.