Valentine's and Vanilla

Valentine's day cupcakes were a success, if I do say so myself.  I found a recipe for vanilla bean cupcakes that looked promising and went for it.  Unfortunately, I didn't plan more than a day in advance, nor do I reside in Europe, so I had to cheat at making vanilla sugar (regular sugar and vanilla extract in the sun for a couple hours).  By the time I decided on making a second batch of cupcakes the sun had gone to bed and my vanilla sugar (version 2.0) was compromised.  I don't think anyone noticed.  Well, that is if you equate noticing with complaining.  Apparently I do.  Anyway, after I mixed in the vanilla bean, I was enamored with the lovely little black speckles and was more than convinced to save my pink layered idea for another Valentine's.  Back in the cupboard the food coloring went.  For the frosting, I went with a berry cheesecake buttercream.  I loosely followed the recipe here, opting for mixed berries, scrapping the vanilla bean, and not paying much attention to how much sugar I put in.  My self-appointed food critics came back with all positive reviews.  In the end, I made close to 200 cupcakes - some miniature, some standard, all eaten :)