Yellow Cupcakes

The frosting part is quite dissapointing since the color far away from white. I think it is because of the vanilla essence’s brown color and it does not fluffy enough. Would be happy if you could tell me how to make a nice vanilla frosting.

Ingredients:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1½ tsp baking powder
¾ cup sugar
½ tsp salt
2 large eggs
½ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
vanilla frosting
sprinkles for decorating

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350º, line the cups of a standard (12-cup) muffin tin with paper or foil liners. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a liquid-measuring cup, mix milk and vanilla; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With mixer on low speed, add half of dry ingredients, followed by milk-vanilla mixture, then remaining dry ingredients. Do not overmix.

3. Divide batter evenly among pre-pared muffin cups (a 2-ounce or ¼-cup ice cream scoop is good for this).

4. Place tin on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Cool cupcakes 5 minutes in tin, then remove and cool completely on a rack before frosting.

5. Frost cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting; decorate with sprinkles before frosting dries (to ensure that they stick). The frosted cupcakes are best eaten within 1 day.

Vanilla frosting
In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, beat ½ cup room-temperature unsalted butter, 3 cups confectioner’ sugar, ¼ cup milk, and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract until smooth. Mix in up to ½ cup more sugar or a few more tea-spoons of milk as necessary to achieve a preadable consistency.

Source of Recipe : Everyday Food from the Kicthen of Martha Stewart Living.