Anna's Butter Cake Cupcakes

The Altitude Adjustment Section
For ArtFeast last week we made over 600 cupcakes. Half were applesauce, and the other half were vanilla. I think a cupcake should be kind of dense, so we used Susan Purdy’s butter cake recipe from Pie in the Sky and they came out perfect. It’s a classic Swedish cake with a fine crumb and a hint of almond. Try it, you’ll like it! This recipe also makes a lovely tube cake sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar.

Ingredients
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) room temp unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
3 room temp large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

Procedure
Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with paper liners or spray and flour pans, including top surface. In a medium bowl, combine sifted flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In the large bowl of your electric mixer, cream butter and sugar till well blended. Scrape down bowl. Add eggs and extracts, beat well to blend. Don’t worry if batter looks curdled, the flour will bring it together. With the mixer on the lowest speed, alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk. Beat batter till it is thick and smooth. Scrape down sides. Using an ice cream scoop, fill muffin pans two-thirds to three-quarters full. Remember not to overfill. Bake about 20 minutes, depending on the size of your pans. Test for readiness by using an inserted toothpick and by the springiness of the top — you want them moist, so don’t overbake. Frost when cool.

Simple chocolate ganache

Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream
16 ounces semi sweet chocolate pieces

Procedure
In a sauce pan over medium heat, stirring with a whisk all the time, melt chocolate and cream. Pour into shallow pan and chill till thick. Use an offset spatula to frost top of cupcakes. Don’t forget the sprinkles!