I love making cupcakes, but I know that if you are new to cake decorating or making cupcakes it can sometimes be hard to know where to start. I get asked so many different questions about making cupcakes that I thought I would create a ‘Beginner’s guide’ to help answer some of my most asked questions and hopefully guide you to making the perfect cupcake.
You can watch the guide below ⇩
The Recipe
To make the cupcakes in the guide I’m using my vanilla cupcake recipe. The ingredients you will need to make 12 vanilla cupcakes is:
7oz/ 200g – Self Raising Flour
7oz/ 200g – Butter
7oz/ 200g – Caster Sugar
2 eggs
1tbsp – Vanilla Essence / Flavouring
2tbsp – Milk
I add all the ingredients into my mixing bowl together and combine these for around 30 seconds or until all the ingredients are mixed through. I then divide them between my cases (you need 56 – 59g of mixture in each case) and bake these at 180 degrees Celsius on a normal oven setting for 23 – 25 minutes, until they are golden brown. Fan ovens tend to bake the outside of cakes and cupcakes quicker than the inside, so if you only have a fan oven decrease the temperature to 160 degrees Celsius and bake for a little longer.
To make my american buttercream you will need:
12oz / 340g – Icing Sugar
6oz/ 170g – Room Temperature Salted Butter
1.5 tbsp – Milk
1 tbsp – Vanilla Favouring (or favouring of your choice)
You can find a tutorial with some more helpful tips, including what butter I use to make it here: https://youtu.be/tJ_T9WJEgXg
Cupcake Cases
Cupcake cases come in so many different colours and patterns, you can get paper ones and foil lined ones. I tend to use paper ones, but choose cases that are made with quite a thick paper. This way the cupcakes will hold their shape better and it will also allow the colour to show on the outside. The thinner the case, or some are made from more of a grease proof paper, as the cupcakes bake you will see the colour of your sponge through the case. This isn’t always bad, sometimes I choose thinner whiter cases if I want the cases to go a little transparent.
How to avoid your cupcakes cases peeling
This can be a problem when making cupcakes. You might find once you’ve taken them out of the oven or after you have stored them, the cases will peel away from the side of your cupcakes. There are a few reasons for this, the first is your cupcakes may be slightly under baked. Leaving them in the oven for an extra 30 seconds or 1 minute may solve the problem. It may also be the cupcake cases, if you’re finding it happens a lot, try switching the brand of cases you’re using.
The most common reason for this happening is the way the cupcakes are stored. If you use a cake tin or plastic container and add the lids on the top, this stops air circulating and the container can start to get warm inside. This causes condensation, and it is this moisture that causes the cases to peel away. Once you’re cupcakes are cooled add them into a cardboard cake box. These are widely available from cake decorating shops. It will keep them fresh but also allow air to circulate stopping the cases from peeling away.
In the video I also go through more tips on how to stop greasy bottoms on your cupcakes and how to check they are baked all the way through.
What piping tips / nozzles are best for beginners
This is probably one of my most asked questions. There are so many different piping nozzles available, and they come in so many different sizes and shapes it can be hard to know what to buy. My advice is to always start with the 1m & the 2D. These are the most popular piping tips in my opinion and the ones that are used the most. They are perfect for creating a classic buttercream swirl and also a rosette swirl. Once you have perfected these there is also so many different variations you can create, just with these 2 nozzles.
Take a look at my 1m vs 2D piping tips video to see the possibilities. Once you have got the hang of these you can start to build up your collection. Have a look at cupcakes you like and build your collection that way. It can be so easy to end up with hundreds of nozzles you have no idea what they do.
On the Cakes by Lynz YouTube channel you will find a whole range of tutorials that look at different piping tips and the effects they create. Take a look at the playlist here
Piping the perfect cupcake
In the tutorial I then show you step by step how to fit your nozzles into your piping bags, how to use couplers if you’re using one colour buttercream for multiple nozzles and how to hold a piping bag to enable you to pipe the perfect cupcake.
I really hope you will find this tutorial useful if you’re looking to create your first batch of cupcakes. If you haven’t already you can subscribe to my YouTube channel for more Free cake decorating video tutorials.
Tools I used
I have put a list below showing all the tools that I used throughout this video or if you would like to see all my favourite cake decorating tools just click here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/cakesbylynz
AEG Stand Mixer (blue version): https://amzn.to/2TY6IJa
Piping bags I use: http://amzn.to/2xqeDlM
Alternative piping bags: https://amzn.to/2WdT5dt
Wilton 1M piping tip: http://amzn.to/2zRsJyl
Wilton 2D piping tip: http://amzn.to/2xqSpQN
Wilton 1M & 2D set: https://amzn.to/3czDGqq
Raspberry Colour Splash: https://amzn.to/2XSvYF2
Cupcake Cases (similar): https://amzn.to/30cKY0O
Wilton Coupler (for smaller nozzles): https://amzn.to/3kMKdpi
Large Coupler (similar): https://amzn.to/3Bw9SbR
Cupcake / muffin tray (similar but not blue): https://amzn.to/3iFv46z
~ Please note that some of links above may be affiliate links. If you click the link and purchase any item through that link, I will receive a small commission from the website but this does NOT add any additional costs to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog x ~
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