Moist Vanilla Cupcake and Mini Cake Recipe
This vanilla cupcake recipe is soft, fluffy, and full of delicious made-from-scratch flavor. It’s easy to make with basic ingredients and versatile enough to use for mini cakes, too.
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Ingredients
- 2 cups cake flour 230 g
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder 9 g
- 1 teaspoon salt 7 g
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar 385 g
- ½ cup shortening 95 g
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk 500 ml
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Instructions
Preheat the oven and prepare your pans.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a standard muffin pan with paper liners for cupcakes. For mini cakes, place the 6.8-ounce pans on a sheet pan so they’re easy to move in and out of the oven.
Combine the dry ingredients.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined. Set the bowl aside. For the most accurate results, I recommend using a kitchen scale to measure the cake flour so you don’t accidentally add too much flour.
Cream the shortening and sugar.
- Add the shortening and granulated sugar to a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for about 1 to 2 minutes, until the shortening and sugar are well combined.
Add the eggs and vanilla
- Add the vanilla to the eggs and add one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed so everything mixes evenly. Room temperature ingredients will blend together more smoothly.
Alternate the flour and milk.
- Turn the mixer to low speed. Add about one-third of the flour mixture and mix just until it begins to disappear. Add about half of the milk and mix briefly. Repeat with another third of the flour, the remaining milk, and then the final portion of flour. Mixing the dry and wet ingredients this way helps keep the batter smooth without overmixing.
Portion the batter.
- For cupcakes: A yellow #20 scoop gives you the perfect portion which is about 2 ounces of batter into each standard cupcake liner. This should fill the liner about two-thirds full. For mini cakes, portion about ⅓ cup of batter into each 6.8-ounce pan.
- Bake until the cakes are just done.
- Bake the cupcakes or mini cakes in the center of the oven. Cupcakes will usually take about 20 to 22 minutes. Begin checking them near the lower end of the baking time. The tops should look set and not sticky when touched. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Cool the cakes properly.
- Let the cupcakes sit in the muffin pan just until they’re cool enough to handle, about 5 minutes. Then remove them from the pan and place them on a wire rack to cool completely. Mini cakes can cool in their pans on the sheet pan.
Frost or store.
- Make sure the cupcakes and mini cakes are completely cool before frosting or filling.
Notes
Substitutions: Use only shortening and cake flour for this recipe. I don’t recommend substituting butter or regular all-purpose flour. These ingredients are one of the reasons this cake stays soft and tender.
Portioning:
- For cupcakes, a yellow #20 scoop gives you the perfect portion which is about 2 ounces of batter into each standard cupcake liner.
- For mini cakes, start with about ⅓ cup of batter per tin. The mini loaf tins I use are about 6 ½ inches long and 1.2 inches high. I like to use this large cookie scoop to portion the mini-cake batter.
