How to Make the Perfect Cupcake

I’m going to be honest, cupcakes are not as easy as they seem. This is How to Make the Perfect Cupcake from a novice baker to all the newbies.

And if you think I’m joking–you be in the process of making cupcakes for your kid’s party and have them crater.

Or be dense.

Or basically fall flat.

Cupcakes can suck.

This thought is a no-fail cupcake recipe.

How to Make the Perfect Cupcake

I won’t pull any punches with you. I am not the queen of all baking things.

My mom just didn’t have time to teach me too awful much about baking and, frankly, I don’t think her mom spent a lot of time in the cake-making-department either.

And, at the end of the day, I don’t think learning How to Make the Perfect Cupcake is something you can really, truly understand from being taught by your mom anyway.

Moms are awesome and all, but when you’re a teenager and you’ve got the hand-to-eye coordination necessary to make a cupcake, you’re too angsty to listen to mom about anything at all.

So, in case you’re in the same boat I was, let’s talk now about how to make the perfect cupcake.

Because it’s not that hard, once you kind of figure it out.

Step one is to start with a much larger mixing bowl than you think you need.

See? Easy.

Now, I know a lot of recipes call for oil or an egg.

Both are great, but frankly, I prefer butter.

I know! Who would have thought?!

I always go ahead and put in my vanilla with my butter, salt and then sugar.

That way all the smell-good stuff is going in first.

And then, with the butter at room temperature, when I cream it with the vanilla and sugar, you get this creamy, beautiful combination that smells amazing.

It’s at this point where you need to combine all your other dry ingredients (baking soda and flour) together into a separate bowl.

Lots of people do this by sifting–I just stir them together with a fork.

Then combine in thirds with the butter mixture.

Super simple so far, right?

Yeah, this is where the crazy part happens.

I don’t use milk.

Water is the key here–just enough to make your batter thin enough to pour.

Mix it up good, making sure there’s not a single lump.

But it should never, ever be soupy or heavy.

Just thick enough to hold it’s shape on the surface.

Now, don’t over mix. If you do, the cupcakes are not going to turn out light and they’ll be tough.

So, keep it just to that point of the batter being consistent without any lumps–and no further.

Now, when you fill your cupcake liners, I recommend using a scoop or a measured spoon tool.

The thing is you want each cupcake to have exactly the same amount of batter so that they all cook at the same rate–you don’t want some burnt and some undercooked, that would suck.

From there on out, it’s just the magic of waiting while those cupcakes chill on the middle rack in the center of the oven.

Having cupcakes in the oven for 30 minutes is my norm for my oven, then I only pull them out when a toothpick inserted into the center-most cupcake comes out clean.

Oh, and I always try to frost riiiiiight up to the edge if I’m serving them immediately.

But if I’m waiting to serve them until the next day or whatever, I go ahead and frost all the way over, covering every exposed millimeter of cupcake surface, so that none of it dries out during the wait.

Now, be sure to pin this post, so you can refer back to how to make the perfect cupcake the next time you’re in a cupcake need.

Oh, and drop a 5-star rating on this recipe for Simple Vanilla Cupcakes if you dig it and want to see more easy recipes like this!