How to Make Perfect Cupcakes Every Time

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I wrote previously about how I was determined to practice cupcake making in time for Little Man’s Birthday and now that has been and gone I thought I would write about how the cupcake practice went. It was the dream to make perfect vanilla cupcakes for his birthday!

How to make cupcakes for kids?

I tried a few recipes in my search for the perfect cupcakes recipe but none turned out very well – they either didn’t rise very much or they didn’t have the right texture to them, they’d sink in the middle or they’d be overcooked.

Many vanilla cupcakes recipes include sour cream in the ingredients and I wanted to create cupcakes using things that most people would have in the house, without them having to try and think of something to substitute sour cream!

On the last post I wrote my friend Sarah from Toby Goes Bananas commented with her cupcake baking tips – a recipe that she used, a recipe that doesn’t even need a recipe once you’ve got into the swing of baking cupcakes. Here’s her comment:

From there I put together the following easy recipe and have now baked using it a few times and the cupcakes turn out perfectly every time. The cupcakes rise and are light and fluffy. A huge thanks to Sarah for pointing me in the right direction. I know this vanilla cupcake recipe will now be used constantly.

Why do my cupcakes sink in the middle?

I am not a guru when it comes to baking so I don’t know all the answers when it comes to sunken cupcakes. I just find something that works and stick to it. But, I’ve found for me, self raising flour works better than plain flour and leavening agents like baking powder or baking soda.

Also, expired baking powder or baking powder can make cakes sink in the middle too. Thankfully, cupcakes sinking doesn’t happen as often for me any more – and there really is nothing worse than a sunken cake.

It also usually helps to make sure the oven temperature is right before putting the cakes in and not touching the oven door whilst they’re baking. Over mixing the cake batter can also cause flatter cupcakes, stop the cake rise and cause the cake sink.

How to make the perfect cupcakes

As a guide, six eggs makes about 26 vanilla cupcakes for me, so three eggs should make a nice baker’s dozen. You can also easily make chocolate cupcakes by taking out some of the flour and substituting with natural cocoa powder if you wanted. Chocolate cake definitely makes a great alternative at times!

How do I decorate these common cupcakes?

These unfrosted cupcakes are lovely plain or you can decorate them if you want to. Frosted cupcakes are wonderful – with either a swirl of vanilla buttercream, chocolate buttercream frosting, cream cheese frosting or just a coating of royal icing. You can dab icing on the top and cover with any kind of cake sprinkles you fancy. The choice is yours! You can tell I’m not the best at cake decorating – I usually just let the kids do it!

There really is nothing quite like home made cupcakes – and they keep well in an airtight container for a few days too so you will never need other cupcake recipes to bake cupcakes! Happy Baking!

If you’re looking for other cupcakes recipes to try here’s our Carrot Cake Fairy Cakes, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cherry Bakewell Cupcakes and Lemon Bakewell Tarts. You can see all our recipes to date here including so many slow cooker recipes too. 

What equipment do you need to make these little cupcakes?

You will no doubt have most of the equipment you need for making cupcakes with this perfect cupcake recipe at home already but, in case it helps, here are the things we use to bake these cakes at home:

• A 12 hole muffin tin
• Paper cake cases
• A mixing bowl
• Scales
• A wooden spoon
• Measuring spoons
• A wire rack

These are pretty much staples for baking in any home kitchen and once you have them you won’t need to replace them often. This is literally everything you need to make this super simple vanilla cake recipe. 

So here’s our perfect cup cake recipe:

Ingredients

• eggs
• unsalted butter at room temperature
• caster sugar
• self raising flour
• vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4
• Line a muffin pan with paper cases
• Break the eggs into a large bowl and weigh them
• Add the same weight of room temperature butter, caster sugar and self raising flour
• Add 1tsp of vanilla extract – I use 1tsp of vanilla for every 3 eggs
• Mix well by hand or with a stand mixer
• Spoon the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners – I use a portioning spoon or ice cream scoop
• Bake for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned
• Leave to cool completely
• Decorate however you like – with buttercream frosting, icing or plain!

As a guide, six eggs makes about 26 cupcakes for me, so three eggs should make a nice baker’s dozen. Happy Baking!

If you’d like to print or pin this recipe for later you can do so at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!