You can use almost any cake recipe you like to make cupcakes, but it is great to have a tried and tested recipe at your disposal in case you don’t have the time (or the inclination) to experiment.
What I love about this recipe too, is that you get 30 decent sized cupcakes when using a standard Australian tablespoon measure which is plenty for any occasion you have coming up (be careful because some tablespoons sold in our kitchenware stores are 15ml which is the US/NZ/UK size).
The cupcakes can be made a day in advance, iced the next day, and kept in a sealed container in a cool room (not the fridge) for another day or two before you present them. They keep well and I have done this many times.
The important thing to note here is the temperature at the time … if it is a very hot day and you don’t have a cool room in the your home, then I would store them in the fridge overnight and take them out at least a couple of hours before serving. I have only had to do this on one occasion when we had a week of 40 degree days in January some years ago and I was preparing 140 cupcakes for a friend’s wedding … I sweated a lot that week for more reasons than the obvious … but all worked out well on the day.
These cupcakes are made using the batter from my Buttercake recipe (see here) … this week I made them in white and brown liners so that you can see how they look in each if you are undecided what you wish to achieve in the final “look” of your cupcakes. You can also use my Chocolate Buttercake recipe for the cupcakes if you wish (see here).
So to make the cupcakes, start with making the batter as per the recipe of choice linked above, and then move onto this post.
- Make batter of choice (vanilla or chocolate) as per the links in this post
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees fan forced, and place rack into middle of oven
- Get your muffin trays ready ... you will need 3 x 12 as the batter will give you 30 cupcakes
- Place cupcake liners into the trays (2 trays x 12, plus 1 tray x 6)
- Make the batter and place into a separate bowl for easy portioning
- Use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon to portion out the batter
- I use two tablespoons per cupcake ... I allow the batter to be lightly "rounded" in the spoon, but not hugely "mounted" as I don't want too much batter as they will rise quite a bit ... to make it easy for myself I portion with the spoon in one hand, and use a finger of my other hand to release the batter into the cupcake and repeat (my hands are always super clean from all the washing I do!)
- Once you have portioned out all the batter, use a skewer or toothpick to insert into the top of each cupcake and rotate lightly in the batter (this will even out the top for baking giving you a nice level finish to work with when icing)
- Bake one tray at a time
- Place first tray into the oven and bake for 10 minutes, turn tray around and bake for a further 5 to 6 minutes depending on your oven (the vanilla cupcakes take exactly 16 minutes in my oven, and the chocolate cupcakes 20 minutes in my oven, but test before you remove)
- Remove tray and place second tray into oven ... repeat process and continue with third tray
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes in baking trays before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely
- Once cool they can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature before icing if needed
- Once iced store in a cool area for 2 to 3 days
What I love about this recipe too, is that you get 30 decent sized cupcakes when using a standard Australian tablespoon measure which is plenty for any occasion you have coming up (be careful because some tablespoons sold in our kitchenware stores are 15ml which is the US/NZ/UK size).
The cupcakes can be made a day in advance, iced the next day, and kept in a sealed container in a cool room (not the fridge) for another day or two before you present them. They keep well and I have done this many times.
The important thing to note here is the temperature at the time ... if it is a very hot day and you don't have a cool room in the your home, then I would store the iced cupcakes in the fridge overnight and take them out at least a couple of hours before serving. I have only had to do this on one occasion when we had a week of 40 degree days in January some years ago and I was preparing 140 cupcakes for a friend's wedding ... I sweated a lot that week for more reasons than the obvious ... but all worked out well on the day.
These cupcakes are made using the batter from my Buttercake recipe ... this week I made them in white and brown liners so that you can see how they look in each if you are undecided what you wish to achieve in the final "look" of your cupcakes. You can also use my Chocolate Buttercake recipe for the cupcakes if you wish.
So to make the cupcakes, start with making the batter as per the recipe of choice linked above, and then move onto this post.
PLEASE NOTE: the chocolate cupcakes take a little more time to cook than the vanilla ones, so always test before you remove (see method for times in my oven)
Made the cupcakes yesterday. YUM YUM YUM. I always reduce the sugar and they were just right for us.
great recipe. thank you!
Hi Rosa … thank you so much for letting me know … that is fabulous! I always find these work well for me too … so glad you found the same xo
Made these cupcakes OMG the best tasting cupcakes ever !!
Karen … YOU have made my day!!!!! Thank you so much for telling me … what I love about the recipe is that you get so many from the one batter!!!!! Big hugs coming your way xo
Hi Gina, can I freeze the cupcakes (un-iced)?
Hi Andy … yes, you absolutely can … if you have quite a few to freeze, then what I do is place the cupcakes into a plastic container so that they are in single file, but if your container is high and you can get two rows into it, then lay a piece of greaseproof or baking paper between the layers … place the lid on the container, then wrap the container in Gladwrap … I know it seems like extra wrap you are using, but I find that by keeping the air out it keeps the cupcakes really lovely and moist. Just take out of the freezer the night before you wish to use them and leave them on the kitchen bench to defrost.
Or if you only have just a few cupcakes to freeze, then place them in single file into a snap lock bag and place into the freezer … you can usually get 4 into a sandwich snap lock bag depending on how big they are … this is perfect for when you want to offer the kids a quick afternoon tea from school and you haven’t had time to bake. Just take the bag out of the freezer in the morning before they go to school and leave on bench top.
Hope that helps Andy xo Gina