DYO, or Do Your Own, is the perfect solution for those of you who want beautifully decorated cupcakes without the hassle. Invite your friends and family over, gather up all of your miscellaneous sprinkles, and host a cupcake decorating party with these mouth-watering Vanilla Irish Brown Butter Cupcakes. With DYO cupcakes, not only will you have the stress-free pleasure of not having to decorate them all by yourself, but your friends and family will get to show off their creativity and make memories at the same time.
It’s time for DYO cupcakes. I sense that most of you out there are scratching your heads, perhaps pondering if sleepless nights due to Brenna’s howling have finally caused me to go and lose all sense of reality. Nope, I’m still almost sane. Notice I said almost. DYO stands for Decorate Your Own, as in I don’t feel like decorating cupcakes, so I’m going to make you do it for me, and not only will you not whine about it, but you will have a blast doing it.
B.O.B. Bob and I are getting ready to celebrate “Spring Break” with some friends. No, we’re not headed off to a beach, or even someplace warm for that matter; we’ll be heading to the mountains of West-By-God-Virginia instead. We’re looking forward to brewery visits, lots of food experimentation, antique shopping, and back-road meandering. At least I am; I’m pretty sure that B.O.B. Bob could do without the antique shopping. Perhaps the beer tasting will make him forget that I have a way of over-buying on vacation and cramming the entire truck full of must-have splurges.
Since it’s “Spring Break” and all, I think I deserve not to spend all of my time in the kitchen, thus the need for DYO cupcakes. This little DYO project is really perfect for any day of the year, so please don’t feel like you have to save it for spring. Simply bake the cupcakes and whip up the frosting ahead of time, and then let your friends, little carrier monkeys, or co-workers do all of the work when it comes time to decorate them. You can even freeze the cupcakes and frosting if you package them carefully, which makes this the perfect recipe for make-ahead party desserts.
Need another reason to make these cupcakes? Perhaps you are feeling the itch to do some spring cleaning? No, is that just me? Am I the only one suffering from the overwhelming desire to cleanse my house of things that aren’t needed? Don’t you think it’s about time you rid your drawers or cabinets of those miscellaneous leftover sprinkles that keep piling up? I mean, really, how many containers of red, white, and green sprinkles does one person need? And don’t even get me started on the colored sugars. I don’t even really use colored sugar, but I think I can surely create some sugar rainbows if the need ever arises.
So have I convinced you yet that DYO cupcakes are the bee’s knees, or do I need to threaten to post example pictures for you after all of my friends create their masterpiece cupcakes during “Spring Break?” I’m genuinely curious to see if they have skills in the cupcake decorating department. If they do, maybe I can enlist their help in the future, and if they don’t, well we’ll just have to blame it on the beer consumption. I’m just going to go ahead and make a wild guess right now that B.O.B. Bob’s cupcake-decorating skills will be found to be lacking, and that the beer will have absolutely nothing to do with it.
(P.S. A huge thank you to Scott and Kevin for the gift of these very adorable sprinkles. On a day when I really needed it the most, your thoughtful cheer-me-up gift truly put a smile on my face.)
Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
- 6 Tablespoons Irish Butter
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Bean Paste
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 Cup Milk
- 1 1/2 Cups Cake Flour
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
Frosting:
- 6 Tablespoons Irish Butter, Room Temperature
- 1 (8-oz.) Package Cream Cheese, Room Temperature
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 2/3 Cups Powdered Sugar
- Sprinkles
Directions:
Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Over high heat, brown the butter in a small saucepan; set aside.
- On medium speed, cream the sugar, eggs, and both of the vanillas together for 3 minutes.
- Add the browned butter and milk; mix on medium speed for an additional 2 minutes.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt; mix on low speed till just combined.
- Place 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake tin and evenly distribute the batter among them.
- Bake for 16 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.
- Remove the cupcakes from the tin and allow them to cool completely before frosting.
Frosting:
- Cream the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- On low speed, add the powdered sugar 1/3 cup at a time.
- Once you have added all of the powdered sugar, mix for an additional 2 minutes.
- Frost the cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles.
Suggestions:
- Fill a piping bag or large Ziploc bag with frosting to decorate the cupcakes.
- The cupcakes and frosting can both be made in advance and frozen. Place the frosting in a large Ziploc bag and release any excess air before sealing. Wrap each cupcake in plastic wrap and place it in a large airtight container. Defrost both the frosting and cupcakes the night before use. Snip the end off of the large Ziploc bag filled with frosting to decorate the cupcakes.
- You can use normal butter in this recipe if you choose, but Irish butter gives both the cupcakes and frosting a decadent flavor.
Improvements:
- Add fresh lemon zest to the frosting.
- Replace the vanilla bean paste with coconut or pineapple extract.
- Replace the frosting in this recipe with this Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting.
Ingredients:
- 6 Tablespoons Irish Butter
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Bean Paste
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 Cup Milk
- 1 1/2 Cups Cake Flour
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 6 Tablespoons Irish Butter, Room Temperature
- 1 (8-oz.) Package Cream Cheese, Room Temperature
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 2/3 Cups Powdered Sugar
- Sprinkles
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Over high heat, brown the butter in a small saucepan; set aside.
- On medium speed, cream the sugar, eggs, and both of the vanillas together for 3 minutes.
- Add the browned butter and milk; mix on medium speed for an additional 2 minutes.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt; mix on low speed till just combined.
- Place 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake tin and evenly distribute the batter among them.
- Bake for 16 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.
- Remove the cupcakes from the tin and allow them to cool completely before frosting.
- Cream the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- On low speed, add the powdered sugar 1/3 cup at a time.
- Once you have added all of the powdered sugar, mix for an additional 2 minutes.
- Frost the cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles.
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