"Cup"cake Walk

My church has a Harvest Carnival every year on halloween. This year, they asked people to make cookies, brownies, or cupcakes for the cake walk. Well, I have been really wanting to make cupcakes but didn't know what to do with them, so this was the perfect opportunity to satisfy my craving. I don't know that I've ever made homemade cupcakes and wanted to do that, not that any kid would really care! So, I went in search of a non-chocolate cupcake. I decided that I probably shouldn't do anything with peanuts in it because of allergies. Pretty soon I found the perfect simple recipe from Sara Moulton on the Food Network site. I decided not to do the homemade icing, opting for a simple vanilla from the store topped with a couple of caramel-chocolate swirl chips. This cupcake has a nice vanilla taste (I made mini cupcake to taste) but I'm not sure of the true texture. They looked good to me! If you want to use the icing originally with the cupcakes, click on the link to Sara Moulton. It's buttercream type icing.

Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes
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

Icing: Vanilla Buttercream, recipe follows (I used store bought)

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.

Yield: enough for 2 dozen cupcakes or 1 (9-inch) layer cake

If you would like to make a layer cake instead of cupcakes, divide the batter between 2 (9-inch) round cake pans and bake the layers for 30 to 40 minutes.