Vanilla Cupcake
As you can see, this recipe is based off of one of Ina Garten’s recipes- her coconut cupcakes. Now obviously this is a comparison for vanilla cake so I had to do some minor adjusting. I have made her coconut cupcakes before for my bridal shower and they were wonderful and fawned over at the party so I wanted to make the recipe into a vanilla cupcake to compare in this experiment. It wasn’t too hard since the only components of this cupcake that had any additional flavoring were the shredded coconut and almond extract. I simply swapped out the almond for more vanilla since it uses both in the original, and got rid of the shredded coconut completely. Easy! And the results- great! This was by far the least sweet of the three in the second batch. Personally I found that an endearing quality, especially when paired with a classic buttercream. I think the texture of this cupcake was slightly more moist than the Taste of Home Yellow cupcake. The rise and dome of these was also the best, with no crispy edges or excessive browning. Completely moist through and through. According to Ina’s instructions, you should be able to fill the batter to the top and make giant cupcakes without any excessive spreading. I only filled mine 2/3 full, making 3 dozen with a full recipe, and I thought that was perfect. Her recipe dictates that a full recipe should make only 18 to 20 cupcakes, so obviously mine were a little shallow, but ended up with great results that I can attest too. The only issue was with the “XL” eggs that it calls for. I can’t find XL eggs here so I just used 6 LG eggs in the place of 5 XL. I just assume that it would about equal out and since I had great results, I would say that it did. But if you can find the XL eggs, I would stick with the recipe as written for best results. My taste tester ranked this recipe at the number 3 spot and I put them at number 1.
To view my Vanilla Cupcake Comparison Experiment, click here!
For Classic Vanilla Buttercream Recipe, click here.
- ¾ pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 5 extra-large eggs (or 6 large eggs), room temperature
- 1 Tb pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined.
- Line a muffin pan with paper liners. For large cupcakes- fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. For smaller cupcakes- evenly fill 3 dozen cupcake liners ⅔ full and bake 18-20 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.
adapted from Ina Garten
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
This recipe is excellent! Perfect vehicle for so many things. I halved the recipe and it made 48 mini cupcakes. Definitely my new #1.
I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed this cupcake! It is definitely one of my favorites.
Thank you for this recipe! I have made 2 other vanilla cupcakes today, that were NOT good. My favorite Ina recipe is her coconut cupcakes….why I didn’t think to use that recipe minus coconut is beyond me. Thank you!!! Great idea and delicious cupcakes!!
I design desserts for our restaurant and combing thru the internet for ideas or just checking out different ways of doing things is part of the process. When I came upon your blog I was trying to see what other people thought of Billy’s cupcakes. My friend swears by them but I like the less sweet approach. Your writing was great and kept me interested until the end. With a light sense of humor that didn’t seem forced, your blog is one I am looking forward to updates on. Thank you.
Thank you so much Mary!!
Loved these cupcakes! I’ve been looking for a good vanilla recipe for a while now. I posted a spanish translation on my blog. Thanks so much!
Simply but adorable! Vanilla cupcakes are my favorite no matter how many fancy cupcakes we can find today!
Since the flour just says flour, can i assume it is AP? I look forward to making these. Thanks for the comparisons. I just checked your chocolate ones, too.
yes, that is correct. Let me fix that.
Hi there,
I gave this recipe a try, used fan-forced at 140degC, and reduced the sugar.
The cakes turned out lovely but the only thing was, they didn’t really brown, and were a pale colour, as if they were uncooked. I wonder if it is because I reduced the sugar?
I used classic buttercream so I wanted to reduce sweetness in the cake!
Any tips would be greatly appreciated, thank you!
It very well might have been because you reduced the sugar. If you are looking for them to brown maybe try a higher oven temp for a shorter bake period- maybe 180°C?
I had the same problem with being undercooked. I had them in at 325 in a convection oven for 40 minutes and they still weren’t done. Next time I’ll try 350. Very tasty!
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