.back to school cupcakes.

going back to school always has brought me flurries for a fresh start. new notebooks, crisp paper, sharpened pencils (i prefer mechanical), and the hope of something new. as a teacher, i still get these same good jitters at the beginning of every school year. i have the perfect cupcake to go with all this freshness. apple buttercream vanilla cupcakes. 

 for the cake to these cups, i used a recipe that i have used before from magnolia bakery to achieve a simple cupcake platform to the apple buttercream frosting to come.

no flavor reminds me of "school" as much as apples. so, to school basic buttercream frosting, i added a quarter cup of apple butter. the end result was a truly autumn-flavored frosting. 

i made several batches of the frosting until i finally landed on one i liked best that had a little cinnamon and a little more vanilla in it. 

while there isn't much taste in decor, there's a whole lot of visual appeal. so let's pretty these up!

raise your hand for sprinkles!

raise your hand for bright color!

raise your hand for back to school excitement! i hope you have fun with these cupcakes. i know i did.

back to school cupcakes
vanilla cupcakes
from magnolia bakery

what you need
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

what you do
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

apple buttercream
what you need
1/4 cup apple butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 sticks unsalted butter
3-4 cups confectionery sugar
up to 4 tbs milk

what you do

beat the butter in an electric mixer for a few minutes until creamy. add the apple butter and vanilla. sprinkle in your cinnamon. then, slowly add the confectionery sugar and mix on medium-high. you're trying to whip the frosting into a fluffy buttercream. the milk is to add in a little silkiness or fluffiness as i like to say. if it is too stiff, you need a splash more of milk. if it is not stiff enough, add a little confectionery sugar at a time. 


after your cupcakes are cooled, frost and then decorate as you see fit. back to schooly is my suggestion. 

enjoy!