On Cupcakes: part duex

Last night's (and ok, again this morning) cupcakes.

While you'd think that I would have something snarky to say about the ubiquitous cupcake mania, the wedding industry's appropriation of the fad, the much touted "grown up" cupcake, and the retro cupcake bakeries springing up like weeds, I will admit... there is nothing bad to say about a cupcake. Who doesn't love them? A lot of angst and fuss in the world could be avoided if we had cupcakes more often.
For instance, this guy would be in a better mood:

Last night I made a pretty great recipe from the holiest of holies, Cook's Illustrated, for classic yellow cupcakes which called for a few un-classic ingredients, such as sour cream. And then, as if gorging myself on cake batter for dinner was not enough, I made two kinds of buttercream, vanilla bean and chocolate. If you havent guessed already, I woke up on the kitchen floor, covered in chocolate, and unable to remember anything past confectioner's sugar.

In any case, the late night cupcakes were fantastic, and the cupcake and coffee for breakfast were almost as good. Sadly, after being refrigerated for hours, they were definitely less than light and fluffy by the time my coworkers got to them later today. I know, this should be obvious, but I still had to restrain myself to walking around and explaining to everyone that they tasted much, much better right out of the oven. On the other hand, it wouldnt have mattered, because all 24 cupcakes were gone in about 2.2 seconds, and no one could believe I had bothered to use anything other than a box mix. (One guy looked at me like I had buttercream smeared all over my face and said, "well how else WOULD you make them??")

Here is the recipe. However, I recommend skipping the whole "baking" part and eating the batter directly from the bowl in front of "So You Think You Can Dance". Make sure you are alone, though, and have no plans for the next morning.

Classic Yellow Cupcakes
1 1/2	cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)
1	cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)
1 1/2	teaspoons baking powder
1/2	teaspoon table salt
8	tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
1/2	cup sour cream
1	large egg , room temperature
2	large egg yolks , room temperature
1 1/2	teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. 1. For Cupcakes: Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin/cupcake tin with paper or foil liners.

2. 2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add butter, sour cream, egg and egg yolks, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula and mix by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.
   

3. 3. Divide batter evenly among cups of prepared tin using 2-ounce ice cream scoop or heaping tablespoon. Bake until cupcake tops are pale gold and toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Use skewer or paring knife to lift cupcakes from tin and transfer to wire rack; cool cupcakes to room temperature, about 45 minutes.

You're welcome.