Vanilla Bean Cupcakes 香草奶油杯子蛋糕

We just need that very vanilla cupcake in our baking repertoire, don’t you agree?

For years since I started baking from home, I searched for that elusive vanilla cupcake recipe, to no avail. It feels like you can’t please everyone with the very basic vanilla cupcake, right?! Some people may find butter-based cupcakes too heavy and dense; some may find the cupcakes to sweet and lacking in flavor.

Recently I bought this Chinese baking recipe book, written by a Taiwanese author. After trying out this easy vanilla yogurt cupcake recipe, I was really pleased with how soft the cupcakes were!

These cupcakes paired well with my favourite American buttercream too!

I usually use Swiss meringue buttercream because it is so silky smooth and fluffy. However when I am feeling lazy, I always fall back on this easy, creamy and yummy ABC recipe!

若想阅读中文版本，请在网页的右边 “Google Translate” 点击选择 中文简体 (Chinese Simplified）或 繁体 (Chinese Traditional) 翻译。可能食谱读起来会怪怪的，所以如果有疑问都可以问哦！

What Is American Buttercream (ABC)?

American buttercream is made using butter, sugar, extracts and some milk or whipping cream.

Adding whipping cream will yield a richer and creamier buttercream. I find that adding milk is enough for me 🙂

Since American buttercream can also be quite sweet, I reduced the sugar slightly for the cupcake recipe. So when you eat the cupcake together with the sweet buttercream, it is quite well-balanced.

I also kind of enjoy the contrast in the texture of the airy cupcakes vs the denser ABC!

You’ll find that American buttercream is denser than Swiss meringue buttercream. But I also love this ABC because it brings on some kind of retro nostalgic taste!

The batter should look like this after mixing in the butter and oil.

How to Make These Cupcakes for Parties?

For parties, if you’d like a fancier and more presentable look, you can always use nice cupcake liners and sprinkles!

I love sprinkles on celebration cakes and cupcakes!

You can also bake and frost these cupcakes a day in advance before the party. Simply keep them in covered containers or boxes in the fridge after frosting. Before eating, place them in room temperature for about 20-30 mins.

 >> MORE SWEET TREAT RECIPES:

• Blueberry Glaze Buttermilk Baked Donuts
• Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake
• Vegan Mini Chocolate Cake

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes 香草奶油杯子蛋糕

These are fluffy vanilla bean cupcakes, swirled with rich and yummy American buttercream, that is easy to whip up!

Prep Time40 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time1 hr

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 50 g caster sugar
• 60 g plain unsweetened yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 120 g cake flour
• 4 g baking powder
• 30 g butter, melted and cooled
• 20 g oil

Frosting:

• 170 g butter, softened
• 305 g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1.5 tsp milk
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

Cupcake:

• Prepare muffin pan by lining with cupcake liners. Preheat oven to 180C.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs. Add in sugar, yogurt and vanilla bean paste. Mix well with each addition.
• Sift the cake flour and baking powder into the mixing bowl. Fold into the egg mixture gently, till no traces of flour is left.
• Combine butter and oil in a small bowl and mix well. Add into the batter from Step (2). Fold till well combined.
• Fill the cupcake liners with batter till 80% filled. Bake in preheated oven at 180C for about 20 mins, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of cupcake comes out clean.
• Cool completely on wire rack before frosting.

Buttercream Frosting:

• Place softened butter into a large mixing bowl. Whisk the butter till light and creamy using hand held or stand mixer, on medium-high speed.
• Once the butter is light and pale in color, add in salt and sift in the icing sugar. Whisk on medium-high speed till the sugar is well incorporated and mixture is fluffy.
• Add in vanilla bean paste and milk. Whisk on medium-high speed till very light and creamy.
• Pipe as you wish. I am using Wilton 1M tip. Top with your favourite sprinkles!
  

Notes

Recipe adapted from Sweet Betty 蛋糕小時尚 // Bigger Bolder Baking

 

Original cupcake recipe uses 60g of melted butter. I am using partial oil to substitute so that it stays softer. You can however just use melted butter.

 

The original cupcake recipe also uses 60g of caster sugar. I have reduced to 50g sugar so that it can taste less sweet when paired with the buttercream.

 

The large egg should weigh around 55g-60g without shell.

 

It can be difficult to incorporate the butter/oil into the batter. You'd need quite a bit of time there to do the folding. When it is incorporated properly, you will not see a layer of oil or fats "floating" above or around the batter.

 

The recipe for frosting is able to frost 12-14 cupcakes, depending on your piping.

The cupcakes will bake to a dome. You can either slice off the dome to do the piping, or be like me, just pipe around the dome to “hide” it.

To pipe like mine, first pipe from the centre and move towards the outside. Once the first layer has been piped, move the swirl upwards. I pipe 3 “layers” in total.

Is the Buttercream Stable in Singapore’s Weather?

I tested the stability of the buttercream by placing the cupcakes at our Singapore’s room temperature for 2 hours, and was purposely placed next to my fridge, which is a hotspot in my kitchen.

If you need to display the cupcakes in parties or potlucks, bake and frost the cupcakes the day before and place it in the refrigerator to set overnight. It held up quite well for me, but of course, you’d need to avoid direct sunlight.

After 2 hours!

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