The traditional butter cake is best made using an electric whisk. When I use a hand whisk or I use the creaming method, the cake does not turn out the way MIL likes it. She is a butter cake lover and she can tell a good butter cake from a second grade one.
When Princess Chickadee and I baked these butter cupcakes, I was not looking forward to a massive cleanup after the baking session (especially knowing that there would be several bowls of coloured batter to wash) and as such, I decided to have the cupcake batter prepared using the creaming method.
Well, I am happy to say that the cupcake turned out moist. Do excuse the "dinosaur shape" (as my colleague called it when she saw the photograph above). I let Princess Chickadee do the baking (and I merely supervised) and I guess she was a little overly enthusiastic with the batter that she scooped into the muffin case.
I would say that the "hardest" part perhaps would be the creaming of the butter and sugar because you do need to exert a bit of strength. For creaming, I find that my trusty wooden spatula is most suitable.
As you can see from the above, when you let a toddler have free reign with the design, you get a lovely kaleidescope of colours without care as to uniformity of each coloured batter. That's how toddlers view the world - easygoing and carefree.
And look at the lovely end result that you see in the photograph above. Such a lovely cupcake! A word of caution, though. The batter rises quite a bit. As such, do resist the temptation to fill the muffin case to almost full as the batter would rise above the edge of the muffin case, resulting in the mushroom shape of the cupcake.
INGREDIENTS
225g butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups castor sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup low fat milk
assorted food dye of your choice
METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
2. Line the muffin pan with paper cases. Set aside.
3. Sift the self-raising flour and ground cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.
4. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl using a wooden spatula until well mixed. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well with each addition. Add the vanilla essence and mix well.
5. Add the milk alternately to the creamed mixture with the flour mixture, ending with the flour mixture.
6. Separate the batter into several small bowls. Add food dye to each bowl and mix well.
7. Drop by spoonfuls onto the prepared pan, aiming for the centre of the muffin case with each drop. Fill the muffin case until it is about half full.
8. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean.
9. Let the cupcakes cool in the muffin pan for about 5 minutes before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool thoroughly.
