Fourth of November?

Last week one of the members of STUCO came up to me and asked if I would make cupcakes for them again. Sure, of course. I can't say no to a little extra cash flow.

Me: So, what do you want?
Kid: Um, we need 20.
Me: Okay, you want 20 cupcakes of what flavor??
Kid: Vanilla is cool.
Me: The same ones I made for homecoming?
Kid: Yeah, those are good.
Me: You guys are really boring, I have better flavors than vanilla. What do you want on it?
Kid: Just patriotic stuff... like red, white, and blue.
Me: ... Uh, like fourth of july patriotic?
Kid: Yeah, that's cool.
Me: ... Ok, I guess, I will have them ready tomorrow. Bring 14 bucks.

So yeah. They wanted patriotic cupcakes. I was weirded out. It's November now in case you haven't noticed. The colors of the season are more along the lines of orange, yellow, and brown. Whatever, they really really liked them. I was pretty pleased with the way they came out too. I thought they were cute.

By the way, the patriotic theme was apparently because last week was patriotic week. Okay... whatever. These kids are spoiled. I never got cupcakes in high school. Then again, we didn't have a cool baker like me :o)

Vanilla Cupcakes (yield 2 dozen)

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cups milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Beat butter for about a minute until it is light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar until mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time until they are incorporated. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until incorporated. Add 1/2 of the milk combined with vanilla and mix until incorporated. Repeat and end with the flour mixture. Spoon batter into lined muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.