• Prepare a muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside. Also, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/ 180 degrees C.
• In a large mixing bowl, sift 1.5 cups all-purpose flour from a height. Remove 3 tablespoons of flour from the mixing bowl.
• Next replace the 3 tablespoons of flour with the same amount of cornstarch. Sift cornstarch and add it to the bowl containing the flour. This is my homemade cake flour. If you have ready cake flour mix, use 1.5 cups of cake flour instead. Also, sift baking soda and baking powder. Add salt, whisk the dry ingredients well and set aside.
• In another mixing bowl, add all the wet ingredients, whisk well until everything is well combined and you have a homogeneous mixture.
• Make a well in the bowl of the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix just until combined (about 15 strokes) and no more flour pockets are visible. Do not over mix, or you will end up with a pretty dense cake. A few lumps are okay in the batter.
• Transfer the batter to a prepared muffin tin, filling about 2/3rd, bake at 350 degrees F for about 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in comes out clean (Do not over bake as you will end up a with a crusty top). Mine were done in 16 minutes.
• Let it cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack, let it cool completely before frosting it.

For the vanilla buttercream frosting

• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, place butter and beat on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl, as required, about 2-3 minutes. You can also use a hand mixer.
• Next, sift 1 cup confectioner's sugar into the creamed butter. Beat on lowest speed until all the sugar is well combined with the butter. Add the remaining confectioner's sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating on low speed, until well mixed. Increase the speed to medium-high, and beat for 2 minutes.
• Add vanilla extract and heavy cream, a tablespoon at a time. Beat on medium speed, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as required, until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.
• Add 5-6 drops of green food color, and beat on low speed. Keep adding the food color, little at a time, until the desired colored frosting is reached. This makes about 3.25 cups of frosting. I used about 2 cups to frost 8 cupcakes and added more green food color for a darker shade for the grass frosting.
• Frost the cooled cakes/cupcakes using nozzles, or simply spread the frosting with an offset spatula. This quantity is sufficient to frost 12-16 cupcakes. Store any leftover frosting in an airtight container for up to 1 week and in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, let it come to room temperature and re-whip it once again.