Girly Girl Cupcakes

I've been on a cupcake kick the past couple weeks.  That, or I'm involved with events that need cupcakes.  Or both.  Today I made a bunch of cupcakes for an event and some for a friend.  I am in love with the cupcake recipe from Recipe Girl.  So easy, starts from a box mix, and makes at least 30 cupcakes in each batch.  And yes, I just posted about this same recipe two weeks ago.  Its that good and easy. 

To make the cupcakes extra girly, I used pink cupcake liners, frosting that was bright pink and light pink and topped each with light pink pearls.  There were 50 middle school girls that would be at this event, so I figured I'd make my contribution to the dessert options super pink.

White Cupcake Recipe, courtesy of Recipe Girl
1 (18.25 ounce) box white cake mix
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/3 c. water
2 Tbsp vegetable
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c. sour cream
4 large egg whites
Preheat oven to 325°F. Place cupcake liners in cupcake pans - I get 30 out of this recipe, but you could probably get up to 36 by not filling the liners up as full.
In a large bowl, whisk together cake mix, flour, sugar and salt. Add remaining ingredients and beat with hand mixer for 2 minutes, or until well blended.
Use ice cream scoop to fill prepared cupcake tins- fill about 3/4 full. Bake about 18 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.


Cupcake Buttercream, adapted from Recipe Girl
3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 to 2 Tbsp whole milk

Not necessary, but you can sift the powdered sugar if it looks lumpy. In a large bowl, with a hand or stand mixer, cream together sugar and butter on low speed. Mix until well blended. Increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
Add vanilla and whole milk and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for desired spreading/piping consistency.  Or more powdered sugar if the frosting is too runny.

Scoop into a piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes, or spread onto cupcakes.