Cotton Candy Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp, 194g granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup + 3 Tbsp milk, 105 ml, anything but skim
• Cotton candy
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp cream or half and half, then more as needed
• 1/2 tsp cotton candy flavor, or to taste, 1 tsp vanilla can be substituted

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift the all-purpose flour and cake flour into a bowl, then add the baking powder and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients for 20 seconds, and put the bowl aside.
2. In a stand mixer bowl with the paddle in place, beat the butter with the granulated sugar until the mixture looks light in color and fluffy. A beater blade is helpful here because it scrapes as it mixes, but if you are using a regular paddle, pause now and then to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl through the mixing process.
3. Beat in the egg. Add the egg whites 1 at a time, mixing until incorporated after each addition, and add the vanilla with the last egg white.
4. Add the dry ingredients and milk in 3 additions, starting and finishing with the flour mixture. Mix in 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 of the milk, continuing to alternate and mixing only until each addition disappears into the batter.
5. Portion the batter into 12 muffin cups lined with paper liners, filling each about 2/3 full, using about 1/4 cup batter per cup. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick poked into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean, about 18 – 21 minutes. Let the cupcakes sit in the pan for several minutes, then move them to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
6. For the mini cotton candy decorations, gently form pieces of cotton candy into the size you want, pressing as little as you can so they stay fluffy. Wet the top of a lollipop stick under water, which helps the candy cling, and push the stick into the underside of the cotton candy. Repeat until you have 12.
7. When the cupcakes are cool, frost them with the cotton candy frosting, then place a mini cotton candy stick into each cupcake. The cotton candy can start to shrink after about 30 – 60 minutes, depending on heat and humidity, so make and add the decorations close to serving time.
8. For the frosting, beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle until it turns pale and fluffy. Add the cream, cotton candy flavor, and powdered sugar, mixing in more cream 1 tsp at a time if needed. Beat until the frosting is airy and smooth, then tint it pink or blue with food coloring if desired.