Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

Ingredients

• cupcake ingredients
• 2 1/4 cups cake flour (i used swan’s down brand)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temperature
• 4 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• seeds scraped from one vanilla bean
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• buttercream ingredients
• 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• seeds scraped from one vanilla bean
• 2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract (this helps maintain the bright white color)
• 1 ½ pounds (24 ounces) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or milk