Vanilla Cupcake

This by far the simplest and the best cupcake recipe i've ever tried. I reduced the amount of sugar in this recipe because it's a little too sweet for me, you can find the recipe in http://www.joyofbaking.com/VanillaCupcakes.html. You can decorate the cupcakes however you like, these sweet treats are the best for any kind of celebrations.

Ingredients:

For the cupcake

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 

3 eggs

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Zest from 1 lemon

11/2 cup all purpose flour

11/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

60 ml milk

For the buttercream frosting

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbs milk

Choice of food coloring

1. Preheat oven to 175 ˚C, line 12 muffin cups with paper liner.
2. In a large mixing bowl with an electric or a hand mixer beat the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beat well on each addition. Beat in vanilla extract.
3. In a separate bowl, combine well the flour, baking powder, lemon zest and salt.
4. Add the flour mixture and milk in three additions, mix it very well and not too long. 
5. Fill the muffin form evenly, about 3/4 full on each cup. Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes and let it completely cool before frosting.
6. For the buttercream frosting: In a mixing bowl with an electric or a hand mixer beat the butter until its creamy and soft. Add the vanilla extract. On low speed add gradually the powdered sugar, beat until well mixed. Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy. Add choice of food coloring and mix it well with your spatula. Decorate the cupcakes as you desired, you can use either a piping bag or icing spatula and top it with edible cupcake decorations.