Cakes & biscuits
Vanilla cupcakes with buttercream
Small vanilla cakes topped with piped buttercream.
- Total time
- 125 min
- Servings / pieces
- 12
- Topic
- Cakes & biscuits
Cupcakes use a finer creamed batter than simple muffins and carry a separate topping. Bring butter, eggs and milk to roughly room temperature for even mixing. Do not fill the cases to the rim: excessive batter produces wide overhanging tops that are awkward to decorate. This buttercream can stay its natural colour or take a little green food colouring. Sprinkles are optional decoration. Bake the cakes early enough to cool fully, since even lingering warmth softens neatly piped buttercream.
Method
Step by step
- 01
Prepare
Heat the oven to 175°C conventional and line the tin with cases.
- 02
Cream
Beat 120 g butter and sugar for three minutes. Add eggs individually, then one teaspoon vanilla.
- 03
Mix batter
Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Briefly mix in alternately with 100 ml milk and divide between cases.
- 04
Bake
Bake for 18–23 minutes, until the centres spring back and a skewer emerges clean. Cool completely on a rack.
- 05
Decorate
Beat 150 g butter pale. Add icing sugar, remaining vanilla and 20–30 ml milk. Colour green if desired, pipe onto the cakes and finish with optional sprinkles.
Times are a guide. Your hob, oven and ingredients affect the result; use the cooking cues as well as the clock.
Adjusting buttercream
Add milk a spoonful at a time. The cream should pipe easily but retain clear ridges. If it is too warm, chill briefly; adding large amounts of sugar makes it unnecessarily sweet rather than fixing the temperature problem.
Even cakes
A scoop makes portioning easier. Aim to fill the cases about two-thirds full. Decorate only once cold and serve at moderate room temperature so the buttercream remains pleasantly soft. The buttercream milk quantity is a small range because icing sugar fineness varies. Begin at the lower amount. A thin initial layer can trap crumbs before you pipe a decorative swirl, helping keep loose cake crumbs beneath the finished surface.
Kitchen questions
One more question?
Why did the egg mixture split?
Cold eggs can make the butter look curdled. A spoonful of the measured flour mixture helps.
Can I leave out the colour?
Yes. It changes the appearance rather than the basic buttercream formula or baking time.
When should I add sprinkles?
Add them immediately after piping while the surface is soft. They adhere poorly to dried buttercream. Strongly coloured sprinkles can bleed a little during damp storage.
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