Last weekend my little girl turned 5. FIVE.

She has grown into such a thoughtful and sensitive and smart young lady, and I could not possibly be more proud. Chris and I took her out to a special lunch at Birchwood Kitchen, where she felt like a grown up as she sipped fresh lemonade and fussed with the new make-up stash we gave her in her very own Caboodle (a make-up carrying case I used when I was little!).

To end the day, we celebrated with cupcakes and wine with our neighbors in the courtyard behind our townhouse.  I baked a double batch of vanilla cupcakes using the recipe from Magnolia Bakery.  It is one of my most favorite dessert cookbooks – full of classic old-timey recipes and new inspirations.

I spread a simple buttercream frosting on top of the cooled cupcakes – the same recipe I used to frost Evie’s first birthday cake four years ago.  Evie doesn’t have much of a sweet-tooth, so she requested a frosting-free cupcake.  Vivian, on the other hand, eschewed the cupcakes in favor of just the frosting. My kinda girl!

Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. In a small bowl, combine flours; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth and creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla, and scraping down sides of bowl in between each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about three-quarters full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool in tins for 15 minutes. Remove cupcakes from tins, and cool completely on rack. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Serve at room temperature.