Vanilla Cupcakes for Four

It’s been a really long time since I last posted. But I’m still alive. I’ve survived two weeks of college. The first week was… shall I say interesting? Not a bad interesting, but just a new experience interesting.

I really like most of my professors so far. My engineering teacher is kind of hard to understand (he’s Romanian) but he’s sweet. He assigned this research paper last week. We had to go to the Clemson website and select a professor in the engineering field we are interested in and find stuff out about what their research topics are. I learned a lot about Robust Parameter Design. It’s actually really interesting! (Robust Parameter Design is the thing that finds problems in your products before it’s put on the market.)

My chemistry teacher is pretty ok. So far she’s only going over stuff that I already now about chemistry, but I guess you have to start somewhere. My chemistry lab professor on the other hand is kind of silly. He’s Indian and has an accent and he’s kind of adorable in a crazy way. By the way, if you follow me on instagram (rblooney) you can see my awesome lab coat and goggles I have to wear at all times while in that class.

My math teacher is so-so. I’m in an analytical geometry and calculus class and so far I’m just not getting it. I took pre-calc in high school, but all the stuff I learned in that class just left my brain and I’m kind of lost. I’m just replying on patterns that I see in the problems right now. I’ve also been going to this tutoring thing, so maybe if I attend all that I can it’ll start to click.

My English class is pretty ok so far. I was totally afraid of taking the class because of my professor, though. I went to a professor rater website and every. Single. Comment. On her profile was terrible. So far I haven’t seen the bad side. She seems funny and likeable and just wants things done a certain way. But there is a place at school that reads your essay and edits it for you before you turn it in, so I’ll be going there a lot because I’m not taking any chances.

My absolute favorite class is my history class. My teacher is this oldish (he’s like grandpa old but not like super-duper old) and he is so loveable and all over the place. I can tell he really loves history, which makes me love the subject even more. My 8^th grade history teacher actually got me into history so much that I thought about pursuing history as a major, but then I had government and geography, which are two subjects I really don’t like, and then I had world history, which isn’t all that interesting to me, and then my U.S. history teacher junior year was just awful. But I’m glad I’m liking the class because he’s really fun.

Anyways, I made these cupcakes the first couple days in my new apartment/dorm. It’s an adapted version of Jessica’s cupcakes for two on How Sweet it Is. Instead of two, I made four. It was interesting baking in a new oven and in a place that isn’t a mile above sea level. But then again I’ve never had any trouble with any recipe that I’ve made when baking at sea level. I don’t believe those “high-altitude horror stories”.

So have a good Labor Day and enjoy a cupcake, or two.

Vanilla Cupcakes for Four

Adapted from How Sweet it Is

Makes 4 cupcakes

Ingredients

1 large egg, room temperature

¼ cup (96 g) sugar

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

½ cup (60 g) all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

3 tbsp. milk

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a muffin pan with 4 liners; set aside.

Whisk the egg and the sugar until well combined. Add the vanilla and stir in the melted butter. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir until smooth. Stir in the milk.

Distribute the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan with a cookie scoop. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Makes more than enough for 4 cupcakes

Ingredients

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

½ tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 tsp. water

Directions

Cream the butter and powdered sugar together. Add in the vanilla extract. Add water 1 tsp. at a time until the frosting has reached desired consistency.

Frost cool cupcakes.

Eat and be happy.