How to Make Cupcakes

Cupcakes are a universally loved, individual-size cake that can be customized with frosting, sprinkles, flavor mix-ins, cake-mix variations, and much, much more. These indulgent treats offer a sweet personal touch with different ways to design and decorate. Each cupcake offers the perfect ratio of cake to frosting, too! Because they are festive and so easy, they are the perfect treat for birthdays, bake sales, showers, parties and even weeknights. We love that you can change up the flavor with just a few ingredients and that you can use a cake mix for a quick fix!

Cupcakes are individual, cake-like desserts made in a muffin tin and are usually topped with frosting. No one knows for sure when the first cupcake was made, and even the experts argue about when the first cupcake recipe appeared in a cookbook. It was either in the late 1700s or the mid-1800s, depending on the source. There’s even some confusion about how cupcakes got their name. Was it because these dainty treats were first baked in cups or because of the measurements used to make them? While there are variations on cupcakes in many cuisines—the British have fairy or Queen cakes, the Dutch are known for their traditional cakejes—what everyone knows for sure is that cupcakes are delicious!

Cupcakes used to be the baked good of choice for children’s birthday parties, but lately the cupcake has gone upscale, appearing at adult dinner parties, on the dessert menus of upscale restaurants, and at center stage at weddings.

Although cupcakes and muffins are strikingly similar in appearance, the taste and texture of the two are quite different. Cupcakes are a small, individual cake. They are lighter, cake-like and sweeter. Muffins are defined as a quick bread, usually denser. Another difference between cupcakes and muffins is that cupcakes are almost always topped with frosting and muffins are not.

Along with the explosion of the cupcake’s popularity, there has been what can only be called a creative revolution when it comes to flavors. While the classics endure—yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkles, red velvet topped with cream cheese frosting, and devil’s food dripping with fudgy deliciousness —you can now find cupcakes that are clearly made with adults in mind. Try our Boozy Bourbon Chocolate Cupcakes for a grown-up twist on dessert.

Cupcakes are one of the most easy-to-personalize desserts that you can make. For one, you can choose to make mini cupcakes, standard size or giant cupcakes, depending on the muffin pan that you use. Second, you can either follow a from-scratch recipe or start with a cake mix. Beyond that, you can change up the flavors easily by adding in different ingredients or by using different cake mixes. And of course, the frosting options and decorating ideas are endless.

If you’d like to make a cupcake that is lower in fat without sacrificing the decadent flavor, there are a number of substitutions you can consider. Applesauce and plain yogurt are excellent fat substitutes in most recipes. For maximum texture and flavor, replace no more than half the amount of the fat listed in the recipe. If a recipe calls for ½ cup of butter, you can substitute ¼ cup applesauce, saving 44 grams of fat and 400 calories.

Mashed ripe bananas also work well as fat substitutes if you are making carrot cake or banana cupcakes. You can also mix in fruit puree mixtures for chocolate, spice and carrot cake cupcakes.

For an egg substitute, try replacing one whole egg with ¼ cup of fat- and cholesterol-free egg product or two egg whites. By swapping these egg replacements in, you can save more than 10 grams of fat and around 100 calories.

Cupcake liners are paper or foil baking cups that make it easy to remove cupcakes from the pan. They come in both mini and regular sizes and in a variety of colors and designs, making it a fun and decorative addition to the sweet treat. Look for cupcake liners in your supermarket, dedicated baking stores, craft stores or online.

A typical cupcake recipe makes 24 cupcakes in regular-size muffin cups. Muffin pans with regular-size cups come in six- or 12-muffin sizes. There are also pans that have mini, large and jumbo muffin cups. Mini muffin pans make 24 cupcakes while large and jumbo pans make six cupcakes each.

As mentioned, you can either make cupcakes from scratch or from a box of Betty Crocker cake mix. You can find directions for easy cupcakes on the back of the box. We’ll show you how to make one of our five-star cupcakes from scratch—it’s easier than you think!

These Texas Sheet Cake Cupcakes are a twist on a traditional Texas Sheet Cake. It’s a from-scratch recipe that’s easy to master once you know how. Here’s how it’s done:

What You’ll Need: 

• Ingredients for Texas Sheet Cake Cupcakes
• Large bowl
• Regular-size muffin pan (12 count)
• Paper baking cups
• One-quart sauce pan

How to:

Step 1: Gather your cupcake ingredients.

Step 2: Preheat oven to 325°F. Place paper baking cups in 24 regular-size muffin cups.

Step 3: In large bowl, mix the flour, granulated sugar and salt with a whisk. Set aside.

Step 4: Using a one-quart saucepan, heat one cup of butter, water, and three tablespoons of baking cocoa to boiling.

Step 5: Remove from heat and pour into flour mixture. Mix to combine. Add buttermilk, baking soda, vanilla, bourbon and eggs. Mix well to combine and then fold in chopped pecans. Divide the batter evenly among muffin cups, filling them two-thirds full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Step 6: Meanwhile, gather your ingredients for the frosting.

Step 7: Using a one-quart saucepan, heat butter, baking cocoa and milk to simmering. Remove from heat; beat in powdered sugar and bourbon. Spoon warm icing over warm cupcakes and top with pecan halves.

No cupcake is complete without a generous helping of frosting on top. There are plenty of options to top off your dessert including making homemade buttercream frosting, whipped frosting, cream cheese frosting or creamy frosting.

Cream cheese frosting is one of our favorite frostings, especially on top of a carrot cake or red velvet cupcake. Here’s how to make our foolproof cream cheese frosting:

What you’ll need: 

• Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting
• A large bowl
• An electric or stand mixer with a whisk

How to: 

1.  Place the stick of butter and cream cheese in a large bowl.

2.  Set your electric hand mixer on medium speed and beat the butter and cream cheese together until the mixture is smooth and creamy. This should take about three minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally with a spatula.

3.  When the butter-cream cheese mixture is well combined, add in one teaspoon of vanilla. Stir to combine.

If you’re short on time or on ingredients, try a Betty Crocker™ Rich and Creamy Frosting or Betty Crocker™ Whipped Frosting , available in several flavors like Rainbow Chip or Dark Chocolate.

A cupcake is great topped with a smear of frosting—simple, easy and delicious. Add a few sprinkles and it’s a party!

To frost with a spatula, place a generous dollop of frosting on the center of the cupcake, then spread toward the edges. For a smooth finish, run the spatula edge over the top. For fluffy frosting swirls, touch the frosting with the spatula and lift up. To pipe swirled frosting, use a pastry bag fitting with #6 star tip. Start at the outside edge, spiral up towards the center and pull tip up.

Tips for Frosting Cupcakes

Here are a few expert tips for frosting cupcakes: 

1. For a quick frosting method, take your cupcake and dip the top into a bowl of fluffy frosting. Give it a slight twist and pull up straight to create a nice peak.
2. If you’d like to pipe your cupcake frosting, but don’t have a piping bag, snip a small corner off of a food-storage plastic bag to make your own.
3. If you don’t want use frosting, you can top cupcakes with powdered sugar, whipped topping, ice cream, or a drizzle of ice cream topping. 
4. Mixing a container of frozen whipped topping with flavored yogurt makes a quick, homemade frosting.

One of our favorite ways to top off cupcakes is to pipe the frosting on top. It gives an impressive finish but is much easier than it looks. For a full tutorial on how to pipe frosting, check out the video below.

One of the most enticing reasons to make cupcakes (besides their irresistible taste) is because they are so easily customizable; you can change up the color and flavor of frosting, add sprinkles or crystals, pipe or spread the frosting, and the list goes on.

Here’s what you’ll need if you want to decorate cupcakes:

• Pastry or decorating bags. You can also use a resealable food-storage plastic bag and snip a small corner off to create a piping bag.
• A decorating tip set with various shapes and sizes.
• Food colors available in liquid, gel or paste. 
• Assorted colored sugars, edible glitters and pearls.
• Assorted candy sprinkles in a wide variety of colors and shapes.
• A wide variety of premade decors made from sugar including flowers, hearts, stars and other decorative shapes.

Click here for more fun and festive decorations to add to your treats.

Here are some of our favorite ways to decorate cupcakes:

1. There are plenty of options between types of sprinkles and different colors. Jimmies, confetti, crystal sugar, nonpareils are just a few of the types of sprinkles you can choose between.
2. You can change the color of the frosting or even the cupcake batter by adding food color.
3. Use a decorating bag with different tips to add design to your cupcake. You can create drop flowers, leaves, petals, stars or rosettes by changing your decorating bag tips.
4. You can use a food writer pen or a writing tip to add words like “Congratulations!” or “Happy Birthday!” to your cupcakes. These Monogrammed Cream-Filled Cupcakes are a perfect example.
5. For an edible finishing touch, add chocolate curls or shavings, coconut, candies, grated orange peel, nuts, or drizzled chocolate on top of your frosting.

Filling cupcakes with a surprise middle is the ultimate way to take your cupcakes from enjoyable to irresistible. You can fill cupcakes with more frosting like our Dreamy Cream-Filled Cupcake s or even bake a sweet treat inside with our Surprise-Inside Cupcakes.

Pie filling is also a delicious way to add some sweetness to your cupcake. These Apple Pie Stuffed Cupcakes bring two of our most favorite desserts together with one easy recipe! Here’s how you can do it:

What you’ll need:

• Ingredients for Apple Pie-Stuffed Cupcakes
• Regular size muffin tin
• Paper baking cups
• Large bowl
• Medium bowl
• Round cutter

How to:  

Step 1: Gather your ingredients, including Betty Crocker™ Super Moist™ yellow cake mix and the ingredients called for on the box, and apple pie filling, whipped cream, caramel ice cream topping and walnuts. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups, or spray muffin cups with cooking spray.

Step 2: Using a large bowl, mix the cupcake batter according to the directions on the box and pour the batter into your muffin pan, filling each liner about two thirds full. Bake the cupcakes for 12 to 15 minutes or until cupcakes are golden. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool and repeat with the remaining batter.

Step 3: When cupcakes have cooled, use a small round cutter or the wide end of a decorating tip to cut out the center of each cupcake, about two thirds of the way down. Spoon apple pie filling into the centers.

Step 4: To make the frosting, use a medium bowl to beat the whipping cream with powdered sugar and vanilla extract until it’s thick and holds stiff peaks. Spoon on top of the cupcakes or use a piping bag and a star tip to make a decorative swirl.

Step 5: Drizzle with the caramel topping and sprinkle with walnuts, if desired. If you plan to make these ahead, top with whipped cream and store in the fridge. Add the caramel and walnuts just before serving.

Most cupcake recipes are baked at 350℉ for about 16-25 minutes. If you are making cupcakes from cake mix, follow the directions listed on the back of the box. If you are making from-scratch cupcakes, follow the time guidelines listed on the recipe. Mini cupcakes will require less baking time while jumbo cupcakes will require more baking time.

As your cupcakes bake in the oven, a sweet cake aroma will fill your kitchen. When the timer goes off, take the cupcakes out of the oven. They should be golden brown on top. Insert a toothpick in the center of the cupcake. If it comes out clean, the cupcakes are done.

After you take cupcakes out of the oven and have determined they are done, let them cool in the pan for five to 10 minutes. Then remove cupcakes from the pans and place them on a cooling rack to continue cooling. Make sure cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting. If you are using the same pan for multiple batches of cupcakes, allow the pan to cool for about 15 minutes before adding more batter.

It’s difficult to resist not indulging in fresh-out-of-the-oven cupcakes right away, but if you’re making them for a party or to give to a friend, then follow these tips for how to keep cupcakes fresh: 

1. Cool cupcakes completely before covering to keep the tops from becoming sticky, about 30 minutes. 
2. Frosted or unfrosted, cover cupcakes loosely with foil, plastic wrap or waxed paper.
3. Store cupcakes with buttercream frosting at room temperature for up to two days. 
4. Refrigerate cupcakes with cream cheese or whipped cream toppings.
5. Frost cupcakes with fluffy frosting on the day they’ll be served.

Here are a few tips for keeping cupcakes fresh:

Cupcakes aren’t complete without its frosting counterpart. Here are our favorite frosting recipes that take cupcakes to a whole ‘nother level of decadence:

Cupcakes are a staple to all of life’s celebrations—from birthdays and graduations to potlucks and holidays. If you’re in a pinch or need a little head start, try one of Betty’s Super Moist™ cake mixes for your cupcake cravings!