Sugar Cookie Cupcakes with Very Vanilla Frosting

For my sister Becky's wedding she chose to have a cupcake tower instead of the usual wedding cake.  The inspiration for this tower came from the book Hello Cupcake.  This is a really fun book with all sorts of ideas for decorating cupcakes.  Most of them are silly, but this cupcake tower turned out really pretty.  The tower in the book was a 4 tier tower and so she just did cupcakes for the whole thing with one giant cupcake on top.  However, I could only find a  three tier so we made a 6 inch cake to go on the top instead.  I'm not going to go into all the details that went into the external decorations (unless somebody is really interested), but rather I thought I'd share the cupcake and frosting recipe I used.
The thing I liked about these cupcakes is that they actually tasted good enough to eat.  I'm not a huge fan of the traditional buttercream because, while it looks pretty, oddly enough it tastes like butter.  The frosting on these cupcakes held up well, but it tasted like vanilla.  Much better !  Also, even though it technically was a buttercream, the frosting was still quite white which is great for a wedding.  You could always add some food coloring if you are making these for something different.  If you like vanilla you'll love these cupcakes !

Sugar Cookie Cupcakes
from Baked Perfection

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sour cream

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla; mix well. Add the flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (batter will be thick). Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Recipe makes approximately 30 cupcakes.

Very Vanilla Frosting

from Baked Perfection

2 sticks of butter, softened

6 cups powdered sugar

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons vanilla extract (I used clear vanilla so it wouldn't affect the color)

2 -4 tablespoons milk

Beat butter and vanilla until creamy. Add salt. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until combined. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach desired consistency.