Blue Cupcakes
Easy soft vanilla cupcakes frosted with simple blue buttercream.
Servings: 12 cupcakes
Calories: 356kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
Vanilla cupcakes
- 110 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 115 g white sugar finely granulated e.g. caster
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil or other neutral oil e.g. sunflower
- 2 eggs large
- 115 g plain all-purpose flour see notes for self-raising flour swap
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon milk whole or semi-skimmed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt optional
Blue buttercream
- 150 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 350 g powdered icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon milk whole or semi-skimmed
- ⅛ teaspoon salt optional
- Blue food colouring
Instructions
Vanilla cupcakes
- Preheat oven: 180°C / 160°C (fan) / Gas Mark 4 / 350°F
- In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and oil, either using a spatula, electric hand mixer or stand mixer, until light and pale.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time until fully combined.
- Sieve the flour and baking powder into the mixture, gently folding in until just combined.
- Stir in the milk, vanilla extract and salt.
- Line your cupcake pan with cupcake cases and fill each up to ½ to ⅔ full with batter. This should make 10-12 cupcakes, depending on case size.
- Bake in the oven for 15-20mins or until the cupcakes are lightly golden, springy to the touch and an inserted skewer comes out clean from the middle.
- Transfer the cupcakes to cool on a wire rack while you make the frosting.
Blue buttercream
- Beat the butter (either by hand, using an electric mixer or stand mixer) until pale, light and fluffy. This could take several minutes.
- Sieve half of the icing sugar into the butter and beat until combined, then repeat this with the remaining half of the icing sugar.
- Add in the vanilla extract, milk and salt (if using) mixing until only just smooth.
- Stir in a few drops of blue food colouring at a time until you reach the desired shade.
Assembly and decoration
- Once your cupcakes have fully cooled, add your buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large nozzle of your choice (e.g. an open star like Wilton 1M) or use a freezer bag and cut off one corner.
- Pipe the blue buttercream onto your cupcakes and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Storage: Keep blue cupcakes in an airtight container at room temp. for up to 4 days.
Freezing: You can freeze your blue cupcakes in an airtight container (or cling film plus foil) for up to 3 months.
Top tips:
- Use softened room-temperature butter for ease of mixing.
- Your cupcakes are cooked once they're risen and springy to the touch. An inserted toothpick or skewer should also come out clean from the middle.
- Use sturdy cupcake cases or baking cups so they don't peel with moisture.
- For creamy frosting, beat your butter until it’s pale, light and fluffy first. This could take several minutes with an electric mixer.
- Stop adding colouring a shade less intense than you'd like. Food colouring develops stronger over time.
- Swap your plain flour for self-raising flour and reduce the baking powder to only ½ tsp.
- You can swap the milk for any type, including dairy-free alternatives, or heavy cream.
Nutrition
Calories: 356kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 74mg | Sodium: 117mg | Potassium: 33mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 587IU | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 1mg