On the Shoulders of Bloggers: From the Pantry's Buttermilk Cupcakes

Mother of mercy.

I have never – in my life – met a frosting so rich that I couldn't lick the fork I used to mix it up. Until last night. Honestly, it was so rich it financed its own private army of sugar and fat to invade and occupy my pancreas. I could feel my brain's right frontal lobe pulsing.

It started so innocently: baking up the buttermilk cupcakes that From the Pantry's Tanvi posted last December. (Technically they're from Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess, but From the Pantry introduced me to the recipe.)

The cakes themselves are feather-light and pillow-soft. I did something wrong to the batter and the cupcakes emerged with indentations as if they had been depressed by a giant thumb (why does this happen?), but they were still light and delicious.

"Not a problem," thought I. "The frosting will cover up the giant thumbprints."

So I made the brown butter frosting and slathered it onto the cakes to make them look normal.

The cupcakes ended up being about half frosting, half cake. As I waited for the frosting to set, I contemplated the number of calories and fat grams each seemingly simple cupcake must harbor.

Since I had no intention of actually eating any of the finished cupcakes, it didn't bother me too much. These little devils were bound for a bake sale, so I just applied some dinosaur-shaped sprinkles and sat marveling at them for a while. I'm sure they were stellar – they sold like mad.

Thanks for the recipe, Tanvi – for a sugar-hardened girl like me, it's quite an experience to meet my frosting match!