The Baker Chick

Baking up a delicious life.

Classic Vanilla Cupcakes with a Little Announcement!

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vanilla2

Can you guess what I’m announcing today? I thought about just coming right out and telling you- but I figured that when you have a food blog that is really mostly sweets- its best to bake this sort of news into a cupcake. You may remember that last week I told you about all the things that I was looking forward to this month- finding out our baby’s gender being one of them. Well….

reveal

A boy!! The first boy in my family of 5 daughters which is really just so so exciting. To be honest, I really thought deep down it was a boy. I’m not really sure why except that maybe, just maybe I thought that if I convinced myself that I was having a little dude I wouldn’t be disappointed if I found out it wasn’t a girl. You see I get girls. I understand what to do, having had three younger sisters and countless little lady babysitting charges. I am so close with my own Mom, and I’ve dreamed about having that kind of relationship with a daughter someday. Remember the dorky letter I wrote to my future kids? Well to my 15-year old self I think I always just figured they would be girls…like my own family. I wanted a boy too, but I thought that if I just had my girl first I would never have to worry about not getting one later, which to me felt like a devastating thought.

So as I went in for that sonogram I prepared myself, thinking “It’s gonna be a boy- a boy! a boy!” really trying to get jazzed, knowing that if she said girl instead I would secretly be elated. But then I was on the table and then started to see the picture of my baby- little feet, the sweetest perfect head,  hands and elbows. I even swooned over the ribs and spine which were so perfectly developed for such a teeny, banana-sized thing. I started welling up sitting there while she told me that my baby was doing flips in my belly, making it difficult to get the right pictures. My little baby doing flips in my belly? I honestly couldn’t think of anything cuter. And finally at the end she got to the money shot, pointed out his sweet little butt and the very obvious fact that he was a boy, and I was just so darn happy. A son. I’m gonna have a son. A Mama’s boy, a sweet little man that I already love more than anything.

photo-23

Me being my cheesy self- I had to get blue balloons to celebrate!

I still hope and pray that I get a daughter, but I have spent the last few days getting more and more excited about having a son and all that comes with it. I may not have been someone who imagined herself with boys, but now that I know that I have one it’s all I can think about. I feel bad for having wanted anything other than what I have, but trust me when I say that now I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I fell so in love with those pictures of the little human growing inside me. I love that he’s a boy, and I’m just so excited.

So there’s my honest confession of the day.

Also- this is my new favorite vanilla cupcake recipe and it’s delicious. I’m sharing it below!

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Classic Vanilla Cupcakes
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Yield: 24 cupcakes
 
Ingredients
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour (12.75 oz)
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1¼ cups buttermilk
  • For Frosting:
  • 2 sticks of butter softened
  • 2½ cups powdered sugar
  • 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2-6 tablespoons of milk or cream
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Line cupcake pans with liners; set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, mix in vanilla.
  5. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape down the bowl- don't over mix the batter.
  6. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool for 5 minutes and then remove from pan. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
For Frosting:
  1. Beat butter and scraped out vanilla bean with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, (about 3 minutes.) Add the powdered sugar and beat well until mixture is thick and almost paste like.
  2. Add extract and 1 tablespoon of milk/cream. Beat well. Slowly add more milk 1 spoon at a time if you think your frosting is too thick or dry. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.
Notes
Recipe adapted slightly from Martha Stewart

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Comments

  1. Congratulations!!! You’ll be a wonderful mama to that sweet little boy – it’s obvious he’s already so incredibly loved. Your bump is too cute, you look fantastic Audra :)

    Reply

  5. I am so so so happy and excited for you!! I think you’ll love having a boy, and I always knew you’d love whatever it was no matter what! Also..you look super awesome.

    Reply

  13. HOORAY!!! A BOY A BOY!! I always like the idea of having a boy first because then he can protect his little sister! :) Not that an older sister can’t, but you know. It’s just sweeter this way in my mind. He’s going to be the sweetest boy AND he will be so great to a woman some day because he will have you and Andy as parents!

    Those cupcakes are gorgeous and delicious!! How’d you do the middle?!?! I love it!

    Reply

    • Thank you so much Tara! And yes I always wanted a big brother so it we are blessed with a girl later on it will be perfect.

      For the middles- you just take a small paring knife and carve out a cone shape- slice the top of the cone off to save and reserve the rest. The place the little cake disk on top of the filling and frost away- I hope that made sense!

      Reply

  16. Congratulations!!!! Im so happy for you. Many years ago I was in your same position, I wanted a girl because I knew nothing about boys except for my dad. I only had 1 sister so all I knew about were girls. I so badly wanted a girl. Well, in 1976 I dont think ultrasounds were around yet so you had to wait until you gave birth to find out if it was a boy or a girl. I think that is so much better anyway. When I was told Id had a boy, for a minute I panicked but then I was elated, happy, estatic and cried lol. My next child was a girl and I went on to have 3 more sons and 4 girls. Now my first son is 37 and I couldnt imagine my life any other way. Theres always something special about your first child. Good luck!!!!!!

    Reply

  26. These cupcakes are amazing! Congrats on the wonderful news. May you be so happy with your baby and enjoy all the joys of parenthood. Glad to have met you at BSP4. Keep on giving us these great recipes and lovely stories. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  27. CONGRATULATIONS! A big brother first and a little sister someday (or lots of little siblings?!) is my dream in life :) And I absolutely adore the cupcake announcement. Thank you so much for sharing such special news with us! Good luck and take care for the last stretch.

    Reply

  28. Oh Audra congratulations!!!! That’s so wonderful!! I can completely relate to this whole post and imagine those exact feelings will be what I’ll go through when finding out the gender of any future little ones I have. I’m sure you’re going to have the cutest, sweetest little boy on the planet! :)

    Reply

  32. Congratulations! I have a boy who is 10 and let me tell you, I’ve loved being a mama to a boy. For one, “boy” toys are way cooler than a lot of the stuff they have for girls.
    I was a girly-girl and don’t have any siblings so the thought of raising a little boy was a bit daunting to me but boys are so much fun. You’re going to love it. And all my friends who have both boys and girls tell me that boys are soooo much easier, especially when the teenage years hit. Good luck!

    Reply

  33. Congratulations! What a cute way to tell what you are having. I felt very similar to what you described in your post about boys and girls. We ended up having 2 boys and 1 girl and I can’t imagine life without any of them! You just love them because they are yours, no matter what. So happy for you!

    Reply

  36. Aww, this is so sweet! I love your honesty! I come from all girls, too (all girl cousins! no boys!), so I totally get what you mean when you say you “get” girls. What the heck do you even DO with boys?! But I love that you have become so excited about this new adventure! You’ll be a great momma and that is one blessed baby boy. :-)

    Reply

  37. Yayyy! Mabrook! I had a feelng it was a boy! I think I picked up on this sixth sense thing from my mom, cause she ALWAYS knows. Like she has literally never guessed a gender wrong for any of my preggo friends! Anyways, you look great! So happy for you!

    Reply

  41. Congrats Audra, what gorgeous news! Little boys are incredible fun. When my sister was pregnant with her first I hoped it would be a girl. The moment I found out he was going to be little Sami I was elated, and I simply can’t imagine it any other way, with his cute little trucks and fireman outfits.

    You’ll be a fantastic mom, that little guy is lucky to have you x

    Reply

  42. What awesome news! My cousin and his wife just had a little baby boy and he is the cutest thing ever.

    I love the look of these cupcakes and the blue frosting in the middle is an adorable way of announcing fun news :) Oh and balloons are fun too, I like the balloons!

    P.S. you look beautiful

    Reply

  45. Women who “get girls” make the best mom’s for boys. New to your blog…making your anniversary vanilla bean cake for my husband’s birthday tomorrow. Thanks!

    Reply

  48. Hi Audra! Congrats on your sweet baby Hugo! He’s adorable! I have a question about these cupcakes. How do you get the filling inside of them? What exactly is the filling made from? I wanted to make these for my son & daughter-in-laws baby shower. They are expecting identical twin baby boys in October… and these cupcakes would be so cute at the shower. Thank you so much… hugs to you and baby Hugo <3

    Reply

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