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    Vanilla cupcakes – recipe

    Making great vanilla cupcakes isn’t easy!

    Minh Cakes Vanilla Cupcakes

    When I first started baking, I tested several light vanilla recipes and was disappointed by most of them. The most common issues were:

    • Dry cake
    • Boring flavor
    • Nice flavor, but sunk in the middle and sticky
    • The liners peeled away from the cakes
    • The liners stuck so much to the cake that they were almost impossible to remove

    I often experience this with baked goods: The ones that taste best, are usually the ugliest or they are so soft that it’s difficult to use them for further decorating.

    The reason? The best flavor comes from using sugar and butter. But the higher the sugar and fat content of a cupcake, the softer the end product. Figuring out the right quantities has been a challenge. That’s when I discovered vegetable oil as a great subsitute. I started baking all cupcakes with oil, and have never looked back!

    Minh Cakes Vanilla Cupcakes
    Today I have for you a great recipe for vanilla cupcakes that look and taste great. They are quick to bake and easy to decorate. The oil makes them moist and juicy, but not sticky.

    Everything starts with a good “mise en place”:

    • Line your baking tin with cupcakes liners
    • Preheat your oven
    • Weigh all ingredients and have them ready at hand.

    Let’s begin!

    How to make vanilla cupcakes

    Place sugar, eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl.

    Minh Cakes Vanilla Cupcakes

    Minh Cakes Vanilla Cupcakes

    Minh Cakes Vanilla Cupcakes

    Beat with a whisk until frothy, about 2 minutes.

    Minh Cakes Vanilla Cupcakes

    Add oil and milk, stir well.

    Minh Cakes Vanilla Cupcakes

    Minh Cakes Vanilla Cupcakes

    Combine flour, salt and baking powder in a separate bowl.

    Lastly, sift in the flour and baking powder. Not too much at a time, stir well but not too long.

    Minh Cakes Vanilla Cupcakes

    One level ice cream scoop is the perfect quantity of batter for one cupcake:

    Minh Cakes Vanilla Cupcakes

    Bake for 20 minutes! And leave to cool on a wire rack.

    Minh Cakes Vanilla Cupcakes

    Here’s the recipe for you:

    Vanilla Cupcakes

    • Servings: 12 cupcakes
    • Print

    Ingredients

    • 140 g (2/3 cup) sugar
    • 3 eggs
    • 1-2 tsp vanilla extract
    • 130 g (2/3 cups) vegetable oil (rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil)
    • 60 ml (1/4 cup) milk
    • 140 g (1 cup + 1 tbsp) flour
    • 3 tsp baking powder
    • 1/2 tsp salt

    Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 170 C (350 F). Line the baking pan with the cupcake liners of your choice. Measure all ingredients.
    2. Beat sugar, eggs, and vanilla until frothy (about 2 minutes).
    3. Add vegetable oil and milk, stir well.
    4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Sift this to the batter, stirring slowly but not for too long.
    5. Fill your cupcake liners with batter, using an ice cream scoop. Bake immediately for 20-22 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. After taking out of the oven, remove the cupcakes immediately from the pan and let them cool on a wire rack or on the counter.
    6. Decorate the vanilla cupcakes as you please – for example with Swiss Meringue buttercream.


    Instead of oil, melted butter may be used.

    Will you leave a comment when you bake these cupcakes? I’d love to hear from you!

    Happy Baking!

    Love,
    Minh signature

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  • All posts, Fillings & icings, Recipes

    Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe

    Today I have for you our favorite cake filling recipe: Swiss Meringue Buttercream or SMBC!

    Swiss Meringue Buttercream Minh Cakes SMBC

    Swiss Meringue buttercream is our first choice of frosting for cupcakes and cakes, because it’s very stable, has a long shelf life and is wonderfully fluffy. By heating our meringue to 70 degees Celsius, we make sure to pasteurize the egg whites, so it can be enjoyed by everyone!

    While making SMBC can be a little tricky at first, once you master the temperatures of the ingredients, it should come together really nicely. I do recommend using a thermometer while making this buttercream – you can find inexpensive ones in most household stores.

    Recipe for Swiss Meringue Buttercream

    • Servings: 1kg / 4 cups
    • Print

    Ingredients

    • 250 ml  / 1 cup egg whites (approx. 8 eggs, we tend to use pre-bought egg whites in a carton)
    • 300 g / 1.5 cups sugar
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 500 g / 4.5 sticks soft butter, at room temp (at least 22 degrees Celsius)


    Preparation

    Place sugar, egg whites and salt in a large bowl and heat to 70 C / 158 F over a gently simmering water bath. Stir and scrape the edges with a rubber spatula every 2 minutes or so – you don’t want the egg white to coagulate. Use a thermometer to measure the temperature.

    As soon as the mixture hits the right temperature, transfer it to a clean mixer bowl immediately. Beat it with a whisk on medium-high speed, until you have a stiff meringue. Keep beating the meringue until it has cooled down below 30 C / 86 F.

    If using a stand mixer, swap the whisk attachment for a mixing paddle. Turn the mixer on the lowest speed (this is very important!) and add the butter slowly, one heaped tablespoon at a time. Make sure your butter is really soft – you should be able to cut through it with a knife effortlessly. We must ensure that the meringue and the butter are at equal temperatures – that will make the water-based egg white and the fat-based butter emulsify (mix together) more quickly, while losing a minimum of the volume of the air bubbles in the meringue.

    Then comes the easy part: Sit back and wait! Keep the mixer on the lowest setting. Don’t panic if the mixture looks liquid or curdled. The buttercream will go through what I call the “cottage cheese” stage. And soon afterwards, it should emulsify beautifully and look like a fluffy buttercream.

    Once it has reached this stage, you can turn the mixer on high again and beat your buttercream on medium-high for 5-10 minutes, to incorporate some more air. You will notice it will get a lot lighter in color.

    Your buttercream is done! Now you can add color and flavors of your choice.

    The moment when SMBC emulsifies… it’s like magic, every time!

    Here are some flavoring ideas for Swiss Meringue buttercream:

    If you make SMBC, please leave a comment!

    Thanks and happy baking,

    Minh signature

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  • All posts, Baking, Cupcakes, Fillings & icings, Recipes

    Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese – recipe

    Today I’ve got a very popular recipe for you:  Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Buttercream.

    If you’ve never heard of red velvet before: It’s a very popular chocolate cake flavor from the US, traditionally decorated with a creamy frosting. People liked to eat it 100 years ago! Back then, the red color was due to the cocoa powder, back then it was not alkalized and turned red from a reaction with the buttermilk. This cake used to be called “devil’s food” cake!Minh Cakes - Red Velvet Cupcakes Rezept

    Today the name is more elegant – “red velvet”. Nowadays, cocoa powder is made alkaline during the production (“dutch process”) and doesn’t turn red anymore. So bakers typically add red food coloring or beet juice to help develop the traditional color. Baking soda also helps the color turn red – but only if used in large quantities, which isn’t really advisable for taste.

    Red Velvet cake has a very mild flavor. It contains a pinch of cocoa, some buttermilk and vanilla extract. The red color makes it fun to eat – and the oil and buttermilk give it a fluffy and velvety consistency. The tartness of the cream cheese goes perfectly with this cake.

    Thanks to the TV series “Sex and the city” and the Magnolia Bakery, red velvet cupcakes have gained worldwide fame.

    And now you can make your own at home!

    How to make red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese buttercream

    This is what you’ll need: (scroll down for a full printable recipe): Sugar , flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, one egg, oil, vanilla and some apple vinegar.

    Minh Cakes - Red Velvet Cupcakes mit Cream Cheese

    Whisk the egg and sugar together until foamy.

    Minh Cakes - Red Velvet Cupcakes mit Cream Cheese

    In a separate container, mix buttermilk, oil, vanilla and vinegar well. (Read more here about baking with oil in German for now).

    Minh Cakes - Red Velvet Cupcakes mit Cream Cheese

    Now add red food coloring until you have reached maximum saturation. (No matter how much more color you add, the color doesn’t get darker).

    Minh Cakes - Red Velvet Cupcakes mit Cream Cheese

    Add the liquid to the egg-sugar-mixture.

    Minh Cakes - Red Velvet Cupcakes Rezept

    In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda, and sprinkle those over the batter. Mix gently until just combined.

    The batter is ready! One ice cream scoop per cupcake liner is perfect. Bake for about 18 minutes at 180C.

    Minh Cakes - Red Velvet Cupcakes mit Cream Cheese

    Cool completely and decorate with cream cheese buttercream.
    Minh Cakes - Red Velvet Cupcakes mit Cream Cheese

    Here’s the full recipe to print for you:

    Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese by Minh Cakes

    • Servings: 12 Cupcakes
    • Print

    Ingredients

      For the cupcakes:
    • 1 large egg, room temp
    • 150 g sugar
    • 120 ml buttermilk
    • 120 ml oil (I use rapeseed oil with butter flavor such as the brands Sabo bei Coop, or Alba-Öl online)
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • 1 tsp apple vinegar
    • approx. 1/2 tsp concentrated gel color (Rainbow Dust Progel or Sugarflair Red Extra)
    • 125 g flour
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1/2 tsp baking soda
    • 10 g cocoa powder

      • For the Cream Cheese Buttercream:

    • 400 g Swiss Meringue Buttercream
    • 100 g Philadelphia cheese
    • 100 g Mascarpone
    • 3 EL Instant Vanille-Pudding-Powder (with modified starch as thickener)

    Preparation

    Bake the cupcakes Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F) with normal heat (no fan). Prep your muffin pan with paper liners.

    In a mixing bowl, whisk the sugar and egg until foamy.

    In a separate container, stir together buttermilk, oil, vanilla extract and vinegar. Then add red color until full saturation is reached. Pour the liquid to the egg-sugar foam and mix well.

    In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Sprinkle over the liquid batter and stir gently until just combined.

    Fill the cupcake liners immediately and bake for about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove immediately from the pan and leave to cool on a wire rack.

    Make the cream cheese frosting Make Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC) following my recipe (English version coming soon), then measure out 400g.

    Stir together shortly Philadelphia und Mascarpone. The cheeses MUST be a room temperature for this! Stir in the instant vanilla powder and wait 1-2 minutes to thicken. Stir the cheese gently by hand into the SMBC. Don’t stir too long, or the SMBC could break.

    Assembly: As soon as the cupcakes have cooled down, place the buttercream into a piping bag and swirl it onto the cupcakes. (I used the #1A round tip by Wilton on the photos). Decorate with red velvet crumbs, sprinkles, grated coconut – whatever you please!


    Notes

    These cupcakes are good for about 3 days in the fridge. They are best eaten at room temperature.

    minhcakes.ch/en/red-velvet-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese


    Mmmmh… enjoy!

    Minh Cakes - Red Velvet Cupcakes Rezept
    Have fun making and eating these red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese! Please leave questions and comments below.

    Love,
    Minh signature

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