What's Cookin' - Yellow Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting

Today I'm saying goodbye to boxed yellow cupcake mix and attempting to make them from scratch. I've got a birthday party tonight for a friend who I don't know well enough to feel obligated to give a present, but I hate going to any kind of fete empty handed. The birthday girl requested yellow cupcakes with vanilla frosting and that's what she's going to get -- unless, of course, something goes horribly, horribly wrong.

I'll be using this recipe for yellow cupcakes from the Food Network and this recipe gleaned from Allrecipes.com to top it off. Judging from the comment threads, it looks like there have been issues with overbaking the cupcakes and not-so-stiff frosting. The solution to the latter problem seems to be warming up the cream cheese on the counter instead of the microwave. I made a recipe for pineapple cupcakes with tropical cream frosting earlier this week that also called for cream and posed some stiffening issues. I suspect this was because I microwaved the cream cheese to soften it. So this time around, I'll let the cream cheese sit out on the counter top for a bit and also chill my bowl and beaters to make sure it whips up nicely.

Update: Well, something did go horribly, horribly wrong. Just as I had feared, the frosting did not set up like it was supposed to. Frosting has officially become my least favorite kitchen task. Ever. I have no idea what went wrong, though I suspect I overworked it. The frosting-to-be had reached a somewhat acceptable consistency (I should mention that this was the second batch, the first one, I don't even know what happened there), but I pushed it and decided to keep whipping, and the whole thing relaxed. I was able to frost the cupcakes with it, but it was nowhere close to the heaping fluffiness I was hoping for. Frosting disaster aside, the cupcakes were a big hit at the party, so I'm not a complete failure.

A few comments on the cupcake recipe. First of all, it is definitely a recipe designed for a stand up mixer. My arms were dying after all the mixing this required. But all of the hard work really does pay off. These are truly delicious, ultra airy, not-to-sweet, gourmet cupcakes, probably the best I've ever made. You get out what you put in, I guess. I'm perfectly happy to stick with quicker recipes for everyday baking, but for special occasions or really special people that I like, this is a go to recipe.

Sorry, no pictures. I was too in a hurry to get out the door after the whole frosting debacle.