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Soft Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream pair a tender cupcake with creamy homemade icing. Which flavour would you put on top?
Soft Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream are soft, fluffy, and topped with creamy buttercream. Try this easy vanilla cupcake recipe for birthdays, parties, or afternoon baking.
Why you will love and enjoy these Soft Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream
- They use everyday ingredients and don’t need anything fancy.
- The oil helps keep the cupcakes soft, while the vanilla gives them that familiar sweet flavour.
- The icing is easy to change up, so the same batch can become chocolate, pastel, bright, or whatever you’re baking for
Additional Information
- Can these cupcakes be frozen? Yes. Freeze the uniced cupcakes in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw them at room temperature before icing. The icing is best made fresh, especially if you want a smooth finish.
- How long can they be stored and how? You can keep uniced cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2 days. Once iced, store them in an airtight container for up to 3 days. If your kitchen is very warm, refrigerate them, but let the cupcakes come closer to room temperature before serving so the buttercream softens.
Ingredient substitutions
- All-purpose flour: You can use Self-Raising flour, but leave out the 2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt because Self-Raising flour already contains raising agents and salt.
- Milk: Dairy milk can be replaced with an unsweetened plant-based milk.
- Neutral oil: Canola, vegetable, or another mild-tasting oil works well.
- Vanilla essence: Use vanilla extract in the same amount.
- Butter: For the icing, use softened block butter rather than a very soft spreadable margarine if you want a firmer buttercream.
- Cocoa powder: Leave it out for vanilla icing, or replace part of it with a little extra icing sugar if needed to keep the icing consistency balanced.
- Food colouring: Gel food colouring is a good choice when you want stronger colour without adding much liquid.
Soft Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 depending on size 1x
- Category: Cake Cupcakes Cookies and Tarts
- Method: Easy baking
Description
These little vanilla cupcakes are soft, simple, and just sweet enough, with a creamy icing you can turn chocolatey or colourful.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Vanilla Cupcakes
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup neutral oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
Icing
- 1/2 cup or 125g butter, softened
- 1 cup or 125g icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
- 2 tbsp milk
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder, for chocolate icing, or food colouring, for coloured icing
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350⁰F (180⁰C).
- Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper cupcake liners.
- Sift 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt into a mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl or jug, whisk together 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup neutral oil, 2 large eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla essence.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Beat until the batter is smooth and creamy, but don’t keep mixing once everything is combined.
- Divide the batter between the 12 paper liners, filling each one about 3/4 full.
- Try to divide the batter evenly, so they bake at roughly the same rate.
- Bake at 350⁰F (180⁰C) for about 15 minutes, or until the tops spring back lightly when touched and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Let the cupcakes cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
Icing
- Beat 125g softened butter until smooth and creamy.
- Gradually add 125g sifted icing sugar, beating until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add 1/2 tsp vanilla essence and 2 tbsp milk. Beat again until smooth.
- For chocolate icing, beat in 3 tbsp cocoa powder.
- For coloured icing, add food colouring a little at a time until you get the colour you want.
- Once the cupcakes are completely cool, spread or pipe the icing over the tops.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
Prepared, tried, and tested by Rashika
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 314
- Sugar: 23.1 g
- Sodium: 117.6 mg
- Fat: 18.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 6.5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 36.7 g
- Fiber: 0.9 g
- Protein: 3.4 g
- Cholesterol: 51.6 mg
Recipe Card powered by
Bake a batch of soft vanilla cupcakes and finish them with your favourite buttercream.
Soft Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream deliver soft, tender cupcakes with a creamy buttercream topping that’s easy to customize. The recipe is straightforward enough for a relaxed afternoon bake. At the same time, the chocolate or coloured icing options make it easy to turn the same cupcakes into something suited to birthdays, parties, or an ordinary sweet craving.
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Colourful cup cakes. Love it ????
Thank you so much my dear – Reshika’s an artist with her decorations. <3 it
<3