Almost Magnolia Vanilla Princess Cupcakes

I have a son, which means I spend most days wrestling and kicking balls around the house and making a lot of "vroom vroom" sounds and I LOVE IT. It makes me feel young and tough and full of energy. But yesterday I got the chance to show off my girly side. Jack's cousin Jaden took her first Princess Ballet Class. Yes, that's a thing. When I was a little girl, ballet meant tight buns and strict teachers and elderly women playing classical music on the piano. Princess Ballet is the exact opposite of that. It's bright, sparkly tutus and dancing with imaginary princes and blond, hot, young teachers. Here is Princess Jaden...


She showed up to her first Princess Ballet class with her entourage in tow. Her Mom, her grandparents Kiki and Pops, her uncle and auntie (me) and her cousin Jack. Here's the proud bunch, and if you look reeeeally closely you can see Uncle C back there, hiding...


We had a little family dinner afterwards and it was the perfect opportunity for me to bake themed cupcakes. Y'all know how I love a good theme. I decided to make a vanilla cupcake and naturally the Magnolia recipe came to mind. However, I switched up the recipe a bit and added cake flour, which I love, and some oil to keep them nice and moist. I used frosting from a tub. What? I was busy, it's not easy being a Princess.

Almost Magnolia Vanilla Princess Cupcakes
(Makes 2 dozen)
Printable Recipe

1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, sift together both flours, baking powder and salt. Set aside.


In another bowl with mixer, cream together butter and sugar until soft, about 3 minutes. Then add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg.


In a small bowl, combine milk, oil and vanilla. Next, add dry and wet ingredients to butter/sugar in 3 parts, alternating and beginning with the dry. Mix thoroughly between each addition.


Spoon batter into lined cupcake tins, filling until 2/3 full.


Bake for 15-20 minutes until a light golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.


Let cool before frosting.


You can purchase the little princess cupcake toppers here.