That should be fine. I’d recommend 3 layers so the cakes don’t end up too dense.

About 8-10 minutes should be good.

I’m so glad you enjoy them!

I can be hard to say from a distance if there was anything wrong with the cupcakes, or if the texture was just a little different than you expected. But if they did turn out more dense than usual, I would make sure the flour was measured correctly and that you didn’t over mix the batter after adding the dry ingredients.

For the frosting, it is truly a balance of the butter and cream (wet) versus the powdered sugar (dry). I know people often like to reduce the amount of powdered sugar, but then you will have a larger proportion of the wet ingredients versus the dry, giving you a thinner and softer frosting. So once you add the butter, add the powdered sugar and see how thick it is. If it’s too thick, add some cream and thin it out to your preference. If you reduce the amount of powdered sugar, you may not need to add cream at all because it will already be thin enough. I hope that helps.