Baking basics Cakes Cupcakes For Valentine's day ! Frostings and icings

My best vanilla cupcakes with strawberry swiss meringue buttercream

“When you look at a cupcake , you’ve got to smile.” -Anne Byrn.


I was wondering how I managed to get past 6 months on this blog without sharing the recipe for these cupcakes. I mean they are VANILLA CUPCAKES! OK, even I don’t know what I mean.

Just that these are some great cupcakes. And everyone ought to have them some great cupcakes! They are moist and soft, and pretty easy to get right. I have made them more times than I can count and they are gobbled up in no time. And the recipe can be halved or doubled easily!

Like most vanilla cupcakes, they are stellar with most frostings . I have paired them here with yet another of my favs . The swiss meringue buttercream. If you haven’t tried it before , you must. Its one of those things that seem so complicated and not worth the effort , but once you make them , its not so difficult after all ( thats true for almost all things I guess, not just buttercream !) . And the taste… that smooth buttery taste of it … ! If you want a professional tasting buttercream that doesn’t taste like your entire sugar canister exploded in it , then this one should be worth whipping up.

I made the buttercream strawberry , because I am still not over them yet (almost there though!) and vanilla goes so well with strawberry right. They did go so well together !!!

Ingredients

190 grams or 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
114 grams or 1/2 cups unsalted butter , at room temperature
150 grams or 3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
120 ml or 1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
 

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 180 C or 350 F. Line your cupcake pan with paper liners (or grease and flour the cavities well)

  2. Whisk or sift together the flour , baking powder and salt. Keep aside.

  3. Cream together the butter and sugar for 5-10 minutes with an electric beater or a wooden spoon until light and fluffy.

  4. Add the eggs (one at a time) with the vanilla and mix well until incorporated.

  5. Add 1/3rd of the flour mixture and beat until incorporated.

  6. Add half of the milk and beat. Add another 1/3rd of flour followed by the remaining milk followed by the last 1/3rd of the flour , beating well each time .

  7. The batter will be light and fluffy.

  8. Fill the cupcake liners or cavities about 2/3rd full . Bake at 350 F or 180 C for 20-22 minutes. The top will spring back to your touch and a toothpick inserted will come out clean. Cool for five minutes in the pan , then remove from pan and cool completely before frosting.

Ingredients

2 egg whites , at room temperature
114 grams or 1/2 cup unsalted butter , at room temperature
100 grams or 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp strawberry puree ( around 3-4 large strawberries )
 

Steps

  1. In a metal bowl (or bowl of your stand mixer) , measure out your egg whites and sugar.Set it over a saucepan with a little water. The bowl should fit snugly and the bottom shouldnt touch the water.

  2. Heat the saucepan over medium heat while whisking continuously. Do this until all the sugar is dissolved and you can’t feel any granules . This may take 3-5 minutes. The sugar mixture will be frothy and warm.

  3. Take the bowl off the saucepan and the heat. Using your stand mixer or an electric handheld mixer, beat the sugar and egg white mixture . Beat until soft peaks form and the outside of the bowl is cool to the touch. Add the butter , about a tablespoon at a time , beating until all the butter is incorporated.

  4. Once all the butter is added , keep beating. The mixture may look curdled at some point. But don’t worry , it ‘ll come together.

  5. Keep beating until you have smooth , fluffy buttercream.

  6. Add the strawberry puree and beat until incorporated. If you want vanilla or coloured buttercream , add the extract or colour now.

  7. Your buttercream is ready!

Also:

  • These cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container for upto 2 days in room temperature , 5-6 days in the refrigerator and frozen for two months.
  • The buttercream can be stored in an airtight container for a week in the refrigerator or in the freezer for a couple of months, Bring to room temperature and re beat before using.
  • The recipe makes enough to pipe simple swirls on 12 cupcakes or such high frosting (as in the pic) for 6 cupcakes.
  • The strawberry puree will give you only a light pink colour. For a darker colour , you can use food colouring.
  • You can use strawberry jam instead of puree.

 

 

These cupcakes turned out to be fabulous (they disappeared in like 5 minutes flat when the box at work was opened!) . The cupcakes are light and that silky frosting is to die for . Yum yum yum!

If you prefer not to have eggs in your baking , then you must try these just as fabulous egg free cupcakes , and pair them with some ganache , fluffy nutella frosting or cream cheese frosting maybe.

20 thoughts on “My best vanilla cupcakes with strawberry swiss meringue buttercream”

    1. Hi Priya…. this recipe will give you 12 regular sized cupcakes or sometimes upto 15 if your liners are smaller!

  1. Yes Ambika… Crush the oreos and dust with one tablespoon of the flour . fold in at the end โ˜บ

  2. Hi Akshata am planning to make cookies and cream cupcakes, do u think I can fold in some crushed oreos to the batter?

  3. Thank u so much Eleena… happy you liked how they turned out… they are the only vanilla cupcakes i make.. Thanks for the feedback.. keep baking n sharing ๐Ÿ™‚

  4. hey…. i tried these cupcakes without the frosting… they are simply awesome… super soft and moist… not too sweet…. just the way i like them.

    thanx a ton for sharing this recipe… its the first time i baked cupcakes and they turned out to be so yummy

    1. Thank u so much Eleena… happy you liked how they turned out… they are the only vanilla cupcakes i make.. Thanks for the feedback.. keep baking n sharing ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. hey…. i tried these cupcakes without the frosting… they are simply awesome… super soft and moist… not too sweet…. just the way i like them.
    thanx a ton for sharing this recipe… its the first time i baked cupcakes and they turned out to be so yummy

  6. Wow,these are the best ones ,i have seen in a while.oh the cupcakes look perfect, and beautiful topping.honestly, I don’t take the effort to comment, bit this I was taken away and sure the next in my to try list, thank you

  7. Wow,these are the best ones ,i have seen in a while.oh the cupcakes look perfect, and beautiful topping.honestly, I don’t take the effort to comment, bit this I was taken away and sure the next in my to try list, thank you

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *