Streaking Vanilla Cupcakes

Ok, so these cupcakes are not naked and running down the street. I totally drew a blank when naming them - I mean vanilla cupcakes with blue-streaked buttercream isn't the most enticing name is it? My daughter suggested the name and thought it was really funny, so I decided to go with it.

My daughter couldn't play basketball this year so she is the team manager for both the Junior Varsity and Varsity teams. A few days ago was Senior Night and she wanted to bring something to help the team celebrate. She decided that cupcakes would be popular with the team, and that we could easily incorporate the team colors - white and blue.

I love this recipe that I found on Martha Stewart's site.  All I had to do was swap out the strawberry for vanilla extract in both the cupcakes and the frosting.  This cupcake recipe produces a really nice soft crumb and a moist cake.  After mixing up the batter I separated about one cup and dyed it blue.  To produce a tie-dye effect I filled the cupcake liners with some vanilla batter, then blue batter, topping them off with a little more vanilla batter and then swirled it with a toothpick.






To top the cupcakes I decided to try and put blue streaks around the side of the piping bag so that I would get a swirl effect.  It probably would have worked out better had I used a small paintbrush, rather than a toothpick, but I had to go with what I had in the house.  In the end I used the toothpick to swirl the blue color straight into the buttercream, and then spooned it into a ziploc bag to pipe it.

The team was thrilled with the cupcakes and even better, they won the game.

I could have swirled this one a little better

Streaking Vanilla Cupcakes  
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients
Cupcakes

• 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup cake flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• blue gel paste as needed

Buttercream

• 4 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1¼ cups sugar
• ¾ pound (3 sticks) butter, softened, cut into small pieces
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• blue gel paste as needed

Preparation
Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350℉. 
2. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. 
3. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. 
4. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Reduce speed to low. 
5. Mix remaining wet ingredients in a bowl. 
6. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with wet ingredients and ending with dry, scraping the sides of bowl between each addition.
7. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each full (or tie-dye as suggested above).
8. Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes.
9. Let cool in tins on wire racks.

Buttercream

1. Place whites and sugar in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Remove from heat, and attach bowl to a mixer. 
3. Whisk on medium speed for 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high, and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 6 minutes.
4. Reduce speed to medium, and add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking well after each addition. 
5. Add vanilla and whisk to combine.
6. Use immediately, or cover, and refrigerate. 
7. If using gel paste either dye buttercream or use a small paintbrush to line a piping bag before decorating cupcakes.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart.  Makes approximately 30 cupcakes.