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Cupcakes have proven themselves to be much more than a fleeting baking trend. With the amount of cupcake bakeries, reality television shows, and recipes in general, it’s clear they’re here to stay. Cupcakes are much easier than layered cakes to bake and transport, not to mention their cute size makes them the perfect indulgence for just about any occasion or holiday, like Halloween! It’s no wonder they’re so popular.
Despite their popularity, many cupcakes you find at the grocery store bakery are either bland or cloyingly sweet. Not to mention so many have an awful crumbly or greasy texture and artificial aftertaste. Homemade cupcakes are always better, and most recipes out there for basic yellow cupcakes are fairly similar. Small changes in the flour, fat, baking times, and baking temperatures, however, can result in very different cupcakes.
For this round of kitchen experimenting, I tested six batches of cupcakes to discover what makes a cupcake domed or flat, rich or crumbly, soft or slightly chewy, to help you create your version of the perfect cupcake. Since most cupcake recipes are very similar, I used a very basic recipe that is from no one source in particular as my control recipe. From there I tested how cake flour, extra egg yolks, sour cream, oil, and a lower baking temperature affect the cupcakes. To keep the results as consistent as possible, I used the same ingredients, utensils, techniques, and bakeware when applicable. I also maintained a 350°F oven temperature and a twenty-minute baking time when applicable. Take a look at the results to see the ins and outs of cupcake baking; I hope they help you discover the tricks to making your version of the perfect cupcake!
Control Recipe
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (6.35 ounces)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients and milk alternatively, starting and ending with the flour, beating well after each addition. Continue beating for one minute. Divide the batter between the cupcake cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cake Flour
For this test I substituted the 1 1/2 cups (6.37 ounces) all-purpose flour in the recipe with 1 1/2 cups of sifted Swans Down brand cake flour, which weighs 5.25 ounces after sifting. Everything else in the recipe was left as-is. The cupcakes were visibly lighter in color with very domed tops. The texture was super fine and soft but also on the dry side with a slight crumbly feel. In taste testing these cake flour cupcakes I felt that using all cake flour was too much. If you want to make your cupcakes softer you might consider using half cake flour, half all-purpose flour.
Learn more about the science of cake flour and how it works in baking here.
Egg Yolks
In addition to the one whole egg called for in the control recipe, I added an additional two egg yolks to test how they affect the cupcake’s texture and flavor. The additional egg yolks not only lended a deeper yellow tint to the cupcakes, they also domed slightly more than some of the other tests. The batter itself looked a little grainy, which concerned me, but the baked results were slightly chewy yet still soft, ultra moist, and full of rich flavor, all desirable traits in a cupcake. These egg yolk cupcakes would stand up nicely to a rich and thick frosting. I enjoyed the taste and texture of these cupcakes and will probably use at least one additional egg yolk in my yellow cupcake recipes from now on.
Sour Cream
The control recipe calls for milk, but there are many cupcake recipes that call for sour cream instead so I decided to test the difference. I substituted the exact amount of milk with plain sour cream. The batter itself was visibly thicker and tighter, not quite as loose as the control batter. The finished cupcakes were denser and slightly chewier than the control, with the perfect amount of moisture. They also had a slight tang, which added a nice depth of flavor. These sour cream cupcakes and the egg yolk cupcakes proved to be my favorites.
Oil
Most yellow cupcake recipes use butter as the main fat, however quite a few recipes for chocolate cupcakes or red velvet cupcakes use oil instead. I wanted to see what kind of difference oil makes so I substituted 1/2 cup canola oil for all the butter called for in the control recipe. Instead of beating the oil and sugar together, I simply mixed very well by hand. The resulting cupcakes were unsurprisingly very similar to muffins in their appearance and texture. They were spongier than any of the other cupcakes but also had the worst flavor. These cupcakes almost tasted like they were fried to me, that’s how pronounced the oil taste was. There’s definitely a reason why oil is only reserved for chocolate or red velvet cupcakes, which include flavorful ingredients that mask the oil flavor. I would definitely stick to using butter in yellow cupcakes because it provides that characteristic buttery flavor and light, finer-textured crumb.
325°F Baking Temeprature
For this test I took the exact control recipe but baked it in a 325°F oven for 22 minutes. I peeked through the oven window to watch these cupcakes as they baked and they domed up surprisingly high during baking but proceeded to collapse slightly during the last minutes of baking and during cooling. As expected, they didn’t brown as much as the control cupcakes and were actually extremely difficult to remove as the edges had overflowed and stuck to the tin. Since they were so soft and tender, I ended up damaging a few of the cupcakes while trying to remove them from the tin. This dilemma surprised me and I would certainly avoid baking cupcakes at a lowered temperature again, though the lower temperature would probably work well for producing ultra soft and tender layer cakes.
Final Comparison
More Ultimate Guide Posts
- The Ultimate Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies
- The Ultimate Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies Part II
- The Ultimate Brownie Guide
The article The Ultimate Cupcake Guide was originally posted at Relish.com.
Hola!!!Lamento no escribir inglés!!!Pero no puedo dejar de felicitarte por tus incursiones y pruebas, que tanto nos ayudan en la cocina!!Cariños y quedo esperando mas buenas notas !!!
This was so useful! I’ve always wanted to do this test myself or try to find a simpler explanation as to why some recipes call for this and that. Thanks for teaching me a little something and making me a better baker!
Great comparison! I found it really useful to learn how different ingredients affect cupcake texture and taste.
My challenge is that I can’t have any cow dairy (I can’t tolerate a protein found in dairy milk). I’m wondering if anyone has tried making cupcake with goat milk or goat butter instead?
I use rice milk in muffins and they taste good, but the domes fall.
Hi Beth, unfortunately I haven’t tried using any goat milk products. I have had good luck with almond milk and Earth balance butter in baking, but haven’t tried them with cupcakes. Mel below commented saying that macadamia oil is a good butter substitute, that might be worth trying!
What would you recommend I use for a frosting on the chocolate stuffed red velvet cupcakes?
Another alternative to sour cream is (always) yoghurt!
Hello I’m from France we don’t have sour cream here what could be a good substitute ??? Thank you 🙂
Hi! Fromage blanc is a good substitute, and creme fraiche should work too!
I actually did my own tests with this recipe. Since it was so basic, you could really go anywhere with it. I didn’t have enough sour cream to substitute the milk completely, so I added in half of each. I also added in one extra egg yolk. The cupcakes definitely yielded more than a dozen for me, and the results (looks-wise) matched the cake flour one. However, the texture was heavy , yet spongy and light–something dense that melts in your mouth, but you could have another and another. I wanted to enhance the tang of the sour cream, since the batter did smell a little plain, so I squeezed in some lemon juice and added in more vanilla as well. With some frosting, it was a great confection that everybody couldn’t wait to get their hands on. Thank you.
So awesome! Thanks for such brilliant work! 🙂
great guide!
Girl, you amaze me!! Headed to check out the post now!
This is SO interesting. I’m on the never-ending quest for the perfect yellow cupcake. I wonder how they would taste with part cake flour, egg yolks and sour cream? I guess the possibilities are nearly endless!
Your round-ups are awesome. I headed over right now!