Brown Sugar Pound (Cup)cakes

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Graduations call for celebrations. And celebrations call for cupcakes. I made these dense, heavy, cream cheese frosting-topped cupcakes last month for my sister’s college graduation from Georgetown! I chose to make these because I didn’t have any white sugar on hand. The brown sugar added caramel undertones, which was a nice contrast to a typical white cupcake. Also, because the recipe is a pound cake, the cupcakes were heavier and denser than normal. One cupcake provided a whole lot of bang! I used a cream cheese frosting, but this is one of those versatile recipes where pretty much any frosting will work. If you do choose to do cream cheese frosting like I did, add some sliced strawberries on top–the tartness of the strawberries is such a classic pair with the sweet and tangy flavor of the cream cheese frosting. <!–more–>

We enjoyed these cupcakes while toasting to our graduate, my sister Danielle. We are all so proud of you Danielle!

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes Book.

Cream cheese frosting recipe may be found here

Brown Sugar Pound (Cup)cakes

Author: Vallery

Serves: 24 cupcakes

Pound cakes in cupcake form. Inspired by Martha Stewart’s “Cupcakes” book.

Ingredients

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup buttermilk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325F
Prepare muffin tins with liners. Lightly spray liners with nonstick cooking spray.
Whisk first three ingredients in a large bowl. (These are you dry ingredients.)
Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until no trace of yolk remains (but be careful not to over mix).
Reduce speed to low.
While mixing on low, add 1/3 of dry ingredients, then 1/2 of buttermilk, then additional 1/3 of dry ingredients, then remaining buttermilk, and lastly, remaining dry ingredients.
Scrape sides of bowl to ensure that all of the ingredients are incorporated.
Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.
Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, 20-25 minutes.
Be careful not to over bake or they will be dry!
Tip: If your cupcakes are dry, fill them with whatever frosting you use.