Best Cupcakes Ever

Cook-a-holic's Note:

This recipe is adopted from a recipe for Flag Cake by the Barefoot Contessa. I made it for 4th of July 2009 and it was probably the best cake I've ever made. I don't usually like cream cheese frosting, but this one is divine, especially with the fresh berries on top. A few months later I found cupcakes topped with raspberries and blueberries at Star Provisions' bakery in Atlanta, and I could swear they used this same recipe, though Annie Quatrano might beg to differ. That's what gave me the idea to make cupcakes with the Flag Cake recipe. The cake batter includes sour cream, which makes the cake SO moist and delicious. I've tried substituting 1/2 cup of Splenda for half a cup of the sugar in the batter and they came our great, so you could experiment with substituting Splenda for even more of the sugar. Enjoy!

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 18 cupcakes

Cupcake Batter

• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter , at room temperature
• ½ cup sugar
• 3 large eggs , at room temperature
• ½ cup sour cream , at room temperature
• ¾ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ cups flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda

Icing

• 1⁄3; lb unsalted butter , at room temperature
• ½ lb cream cheese , at room temperature
• 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar , sifted
• ½ teaspoon vanilla

Assembly

• 1 cup blueberries , rinsed and dried
• 1 cup raspberries , rinsed and dried

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F Spray 18 cupcake tins with Pam; fill with paper liners and spray with Pam again.
2. To make the batter, cream the butter and sugar at high speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Stir together the flour, cornstarch, salt and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined.
3. Fill each prepared paper-lined muffin tins about 2/3 full with the batter, and fill any empty tins with a little water. Bake in the center of the oven for about 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before icing.
4. To make the icing, beat together the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla just until smooth.
5. Spread the icing onto each cupcake, and top half with 3 raspberries in a little group, and top the other half with 4 blueberries in a little square. You can also experiment with other berries or fruit, such as blackberries, figs, diced peaches or diced strawberries.