Moist Yellow Cupcakes (from scratch)

I rarely bake from scratch...it's one of those things I really want to do, but never have the courage or time to do it. I decided to start testing recipes to find the ones I like. I like this one very much. It's a yellow butter cake that is moist and tender. I didn't have real buttermilk on hand, so I made some with lemon juice and low-fat milk. I think if I had real buttermilk, this recipe would be even moister. It was pretty easy to put together and the batter came out silky and beautiful!

I got 36 cupcakes out of this recipe:

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk , well-shaken

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two standard muffin pans with cupcake liners.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.

Fill cupcake pans 2/3 full, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 16 to 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.