Cupcakes are probably my favorite dessert on the planet. I literally love them so freaking much. They're just tiny little personal cakes; I don't know why people don't find them more exciting.
They're perfect for everything; got a party? Make cupcakes. Trying to impress your partner's parent? Cupcakes. Sad and need a pick me up? Eat a whole batch of cupcakes. Need something to throw in a food fight? Cupcakes are easy to throw.
There used to be a cupcake place called Sweethaus right on my way to work and every year on my birthday, I would go there just to buy half a dozen cupcakes to enjoy over the next three days. Sweethaus has since closed, which is disappointing.
All of that being said, I have spent a decent amount of my adult life attempting to figure out what cupcakes I can make the best personally. So far, I've gotten really good at red velvet, vanilla, fireball, and spice cupcakes along with a couple other ones.
My husband's personal favorite one I make is the Matcha Green Tea cupcakes, like to the point the last time I made them, he ate half the batch.
We both pushed super super hard for them to be made for our wedding. I'm pretty sure between the two of us, Ryan and I shoved green tea cupcakes into at least half of the attending guests' hands whenever we were asked which one we recommended. We still get compliments on them to this day.
Now most recipes I found online paired them with matcha frosting or cream cheese frosting, but I personally like them with whipped cream frosting and cinnamon sprinkled on top. It really brings out the matcha in the cupcake more without completely overpowering it.
I hope you like them as much as we do!
Matcha Green Tea Cupcakes
Makes about 10-12 cupcakes
Ingredients
1 cup flour (you can swap this out for cake flour if you have it)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons matcha powder
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup almond milk (or any other milk you'd like to substitute.)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees! Start by mixing all of your dry ingredients except for sugar in a bowl and get all of the lumps out. I use a whisk or a fork.
In a mixer or another bowl, mix together the butter, sugar, and the egg until nice and fluffy. Start on low speed until all ingredients are mixed together and then slowly increase up to high for roughly one to two minutes. I typically use my stand mixer my mom gave me for this part, but a hand mixer works just as well.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients, the applesauce, and the milk to the egg mixture and mix on medium speed until all ingredients are mixed in together and there are no lumps in the batter.
Now, get a cupcake pan and either grease it or fill it with cupcake liners. Totally up to you. I personally use liners just cause it's easier cleanup. Use a 1/4 cup or an ice cream scooper to fill up each cup just a little bit above halfway. Stick your pan into the oven and then bake for 12-17 minutes until you can pull a toothpick out clean!
While the cupcakes are baking, you can get started on your frosting!
Whipped Vanilla Frosting
Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Start by putting the heavy cream and vanilla into a mixer and beating until stiff peaks form. Once your heavy cream is essentially whipped cream, add powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time until the frosting doesn't slide off the beater. You want your frosting to be light and fluffy, but you also don't want it to melt off of your cupcake.
Once your cupcakes are out of the oven and have cooled, use a piping bag to frost your cupcakes. Lightly sprinkle ground cinnamon on top of the frosted cupcakes and enjoy!
Take a shot for my kitchen that is now covered in powdered sugar and toast to these amazing cupcakes that will keep you wanting more.
Cheers,
Kristaleagh