A great foundational recipe to build your cupcakes on!

I think it's a good idea to have a simple 'foundational' recipe for your own cupcake emporium. I found a great yellow cupcake recipe in the 'The New Best Recipe' book. I played around with this recipe adding different flavours and spices, orange zest, p.b. and j, chocolate chips, you can add about anything you want to! So here it is:

Yellow Cupcakes

1 1/2 c. unbleached, all purpose flour

1 c. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 c. sour cream

1 large egg, plus 2 large egg yolks at room temperature

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper or foil liners.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer. Add the butter, sour cream, egg, yolks, and vanilla and beat the wet ingredients into the dry at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and stir by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.

Divide the batter evenly among the cups of the prepared tin using a 2 ounce ice cream scoop or a spoon. Bake until the cupcake tops are pale gold and a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Use a skewer or paring knife to lift the cupcakes from the tin and transfer to a wire rack; cool the cupcakes to room temperature, about 45 minutes. Yield: 12

taken from 'The New Best Recipe; All New Edition.' By the editors of Cook's Illustrated.