WOW your friends with these nifty Superbowl cupcakes!!!!My friend John and Diana absolutely love vanilla bean. So these cupcakes are solely vanilla bean and vanilla buttercream, although I do recommend chocolate cupcakes so that the brown color give you a "dirt effect" on your cupcake just like the ground.
Vanilla Bean White Cake
Makes (2)- 9 x 2 - Round Layer Cakes
Dry Ingredients:
2 ½ cups Cake Flour
3 tbsp. Potato Starch
1 tbsp. baking powder
3 tbsp. Instant vanilla mix
1 tsp. salt
Liquid Ingredients:
¾ cup. egg whites (about 6 – 7 egg whites)
¾ cup. – whole milk
1/3 cup. – half and half
1 ½ tsp. – Clear Vanilla Extract
Creaming Ingredients:
1 ¾ sticks - Unsalted Butter
2 ¼ c. granulated sugar or extra fine sugar
1 - Vanilla bean pod ( or *2 tbsp of Vanilla Bean paste)
Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
- Line the bottom of the plans with parchment paper.
- In separate bowl sift the flour and whisk all the dry ingredients together for about 15 seconds.
- Measure the liquid ingredients into a separate bowl and whisk to combine; whisking the egg whites will require more effort than usual to incorporate.
- Measure the butter and sugar into separate bowls and set aside.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the sugar until creamy and fluffy for 3 - 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile slice the vanilla bean lengthwise with a paring knife and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds to the creaming butter and sugar mix. Reserve Pod for another use. ( Or add the tablespoons of vanilla bean paste at this time.)
- Add the dry Ingredients mixture alternating with the liquid mixture in 3 -5 additions each, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. Don’t wait for the dry or liquid ingredients to be fully incorporated before adding the next. This step should take a total of about 60 seconds
- Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl all the way down. Don’t miss the clumps in the bottom middle of the bowl. Now mix on medium speed for 20 – 30 seconds to develop the batter’s structure.
- Prepare the pans. Deposit the batter in 3 separate sections of the pan and smooth out with the rubber spatula or an offset spatula. The pans should ½ half full. Drop the pan on the counter a couple of times to settle the air bubbles in the batter. Bake for 35 minutes and transfer for to rack to cool.
- The 9-inch round cakes should cool from about 25 – 30 minutes before removing from the pans. Invert each pan onto a flat surface and remove the layers. Remove the parchment from the bottom of each cake and wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap.
*TIP* - If you are decorating the next day, the cakes can be left out at room temperature wrapped in plastic wrap to use on the next day. Assembling a layer of cake is easier if the cake is cold; refrigerate the layers overnight or for up to 5 days before frosting.
I made these cupcakes with vanilla and green colored vanilla buttercream so that the buttercream looks like grass! Then I topped each cupcake with a fondant football with lacing that is piped with royal icing.
Lookie!
So first color some white vanilla buttercream to green for grassy.
All the cupcakes with green buttercream grass...Then using an small oval cookie cutter ( mine is from Ateco), I cut out 2-D shapes for footballs and also hand-rolled 3-D footballs... except my 3-D footballs don't need 3-D glasses..heee hee :)
So then once you have the footballs then use white icing and pipe little laces on the footballs.
The 3-D footballs which are like the real footballs are cool and the 2-D footballs stand out better though because they are flat. Now if your rooting for a special team you can buy some colored M&M's depending on Cardinals( Red & White) or Steelers ( Black & Yellow) and put them on the cupcakes as well.
Now see the difference for the toppers on the cupcakes! This is a more neutral cupcake topper, so you can say you are either a Cardinals or Steelers fan :)
