These vanilla cupcakes are so easy to make, simply mix all of the ingredients together and bake. They’re perfect for birthdays, cake sales, tea with your friends and any other celebration you can think of.
I mentioned when I shared my recipe for caramel cupcakes a couple of weeks ago that I’m working on creating a mix-and-match cupcake index with all my sponges, buttercreams and fillings in one place so you can create your own cupcakes using any combination you can think of. However, when I made a start on it I realised that two of my go-to cupcakes recipes (vanilla and chocolate) didn’t exist on here in cupcake form (they’re only on here as larger birthday cake recipes). Whilst it’s really easy to convert these particular recipes from large cakes, to save you the trouble of working out what to adjust I decided that I’d publish them as cupcakes too.
Have you ever cooked someone else’s recipe for them to eat, or vice versa? How did it go?
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Easy Vanilla Cupcakes
INGREDIENTS
- 165 g self-raising flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 3 medium eggs
- 165 g soft margarine
- 165 g caster sugar
- A few drops of vanilla extract
- 1½ tsp milk
Extras
- 12 cupcake cases
RECIPE VIDEO
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat your oven to 160ºC/140ºC fan.
- Place your cupcake cases into a muffin tin.
- Sift the self-raising flour (165g) and baking powder (1½ tsp) into a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients (3 medium eggs, 165g soft margarine, 165g caster sugar, a few drops of vanilla extract and 1½ tsp milk) and mix until fully combined (either by hand or using an electric mixer on a low speed).
- Divide the mixture equally between the muffin cases (I use a cupcake scoop to help split it evenly).
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave the cupcakes to cool in their tins for about 10 minutes and then move them to a wire rack to cool fully before decorating.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free From/Suitable For…
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Soya-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
- Lupin-Free
I’m sharing this recipe with the following blog challenge… #CookBlogShare with Easy Peasy Foodie.
Emma says
Is there a particular margarine you recommend using for this recipe? I only normal use unsalted butter in my cakes but happy to try margarine.
Thanks for your help, Emma
Charlotte Oates says
Any solid margarine should work for this recipe – from spreadable butters to vegan margarines or baking margarines like Stork.
Elle says
My family love this recipe and we always go to this recipe when we want to make something simple and delicious!
Carolyn says
These are so yummy. Occasionally my mix collapses. Why is this?
Charlotte Oates says
My guess would be one of two things.
1) You’ve occasionally added a little too much baking powder to the mixture. This will cause the cakes to over-rise and then sink.
2) You’ve mixed the ingredients on too high a speed. This adds air to the mixture which again expands in the oven so the cake over-rises and sinks.
Annette says
I used this recipe to bake 50 cupcakes, for our friends Golden Anniversary.
I added some gold coloured edible bits and gold dust on the tops of the cakes.
Feedback was ‘ oh these are too die for, they are soft, and so yummy, with a wonderful taste ”, far better than the anniversary cake that was professionally made.
So big thanks Charlotte for sharing your recipes.
Racgel says
Have you ever had an issue with the cupcakes peeling my Ones peeled quite bad and was not sure if it was just the cases or what
Charlotte Oates says
I do find that not all cupcake liners are created equal so it may be worth experimenting with a different type or brand.
Christine says
Followed the recipe exactly but after 25 minutes they are still runny. Any suggestions as to what has gone wrong?
Charlotte Oates says
You may have a problem with your oven not heating to the correct temperature. You can buy oven thermometers to check this – it is quite a common problem. You can also just leave the cakes in the oven until they are cooked through.