“This is it, Stef!! This really, really is the ULTIMATE Vanilla Cupcake Recipe!!! I can’t believe we finally found it, but I know in my cupcake-loving heart that we did. I will honestly be dumbstruck if this cupcake isn’t the ultimate because I can’t imagine a more perfect vanilla cupcake.”
That was a quote from Kate Dorman, one of the Vanilla Cupcake Recipe Cupcake Project Explorers (my team of 50 test bakers that helped perfect the vanilla cupcake recipe by baking three rounds of cupcakes and providing feedback).
You should know that the Explorers did not go easy on me. I was sure that the first recipe I sent them would be the best cupcake recipe. It only got a 29% approval rating – ouch! I went back to the mixing bowl and came up with a second recipe for the Explorers to try. “Surely, this will be the one,” I thought. The round two vanilla cupcake recipe fared only a bit better, with a 36% approval rating.
I learned that, for the most part, the Explorers wanted the Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake to be light and fluffy with an intense vanilla flavor. They didn’t want the Ultimate Yellow Cupcake recipe, rather they wanted the Ultimate vanilla cupcake recipe.
The recipe that I created for round 3 (the one that you read the quote about above) took all of the Explorers’ feedback into play. I created vanilla cupcakes where the cake was moist and light with an unmistakable vanilla flavor. They got an approval of 66%.
If you’ve been following the Quest through my blog posts and status updates on Facebook, you know that my goal was for my best cupcake recipe for vanilla cupcakes to receive 80%. However, I’ve concluded that with bakers using different brands of raw ingredients, different ovens, different tools for mixing, and living in places with different humidity and altitude, 80% was an unattainable goal. Finding a cupcake recipe that 2 out of 3 people agreed was not only good but actually the best cupcake recipe for vanilla cupcakes was an amazing achievement. After weeks of debate, I decided to declare the round 3 cupcake the Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake!
Here’s what some of the other Explorers had to say about the Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake Recipe:
- I can officially say that this will be the last round I will participate in for the Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake recipe because I love it so much. I would bake these over and over and recommend it to anyone and everyone I know. This will be a recipe that I can add to my “when I’m having a bad day, I bake” list because baking a favourite recipe always makes my day better and puts me in a great mood.
- I loved this cupcake! I have used this recipe 4 times in the last two weeks. And 3 of those batches were orders other people placed for the cupcakes! This is the Ultimate Vanilla!!
- I really don’t see how you can improve on this one. I have really had a good time with this. I used to be a boxed-mix-girl. This has changed me for life!!!!
- My future grandchildren will thank you for making me a best-baking-granny.
- I’ve been looking for my ‘go to’ vanilla cupcake and I think this is it!
- I loved this recipe – the taste was heavenly.
- It was an easy recipe to follow and the cupcakes came out perfectly.
- Is there any way to give it an 11 out of 10?!
I know that even though the Explorers and I thought this was the best cupcake recipe, some of you will not like these cupcakes. If we all liked the exact same things, the world would be a boring place. But, I encourage you to give this vanilla cupcake recipe a shot. You’ve got a two out of three chance of finding your new best cupcake recipe for vanilla cupcakes!
The Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (225 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 vanilla bean
- 1 3/4 cups (175 grams) cake flour, not self-rising
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/3 cup (75 grams) full-fat sour cream
- 1/4 cup canola oil or vegetable oil (60 ml)
- 1 tablespoon pure (not imitation) vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup (160 ml) whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).
- In a small bowl, combine sugar and seeds from the vanilla bean. (For those of you who are new to using vanilla beans, check out this video to learn how to get the seeds out of the bean.)
- Using the back of a spoon, move around the bowl and apply pressure to break up any clumps of seeds and to better infuse the vanilla flavor into the sugar. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, mix together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the vanilla bean sugar and mix until well combined.
- Add butter and mix on medium-low speed for three minutes. Because there is so little butter, you'll end up with a very fine crumb texture.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, oil, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined.
- Slowly add milk and mix on low speed until just combined. The batter will be liquid. (Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong. It's supposed to be that way.)
- Fill cupcake liners just over 1/2 full.
- Bake for 14 minutes and then test to see if they are done. They are done when a toothpick comes out without wet batter stuck to it. The cupcakes should appear white with specks of vanilla bean. They should not turn a golden brown. If they are not done, test again in two minutes. If they are still not done, test again in another two minutes.
- When the cupcakes are done, remove them immediately from the tins and leave them on a cooling rack (or just on your counter if you don't own a cooling rack) to cool.
Notes
Tips: Because everyone's oven is just a bit different and your liners may be a slightly different size than mine, I highly recommend that if you have time, you bake a test cupcake before baking your whole batch of vanilla cupcakes. Read my FAQ on filling cupcake liners to learn how to do a test cupcake and why it's useful.
Frosting
You can frost the vanilla cupcakes with any frosting that you choose. Check out my top ten frostings for some ideas to get you started. However, for the full vanilla experience, I suggest frosting with vanilla bean buttercream frosting.
Cost Considerations
Vanilla beans can be expensive. In the Whole Foods near my house, one bean costs six dollars. If you plan to bake vanilla cupcakes on a regular basis, I recommend purchasing vanilla beans online. Here are two online vanilla bean sources that I’ve used and feel good about recommending:
- IndriVanilla beans come in three different sizes and can be bought in bulk or in any quantity that you choose. They arrive vacuum-sealed for freshness. IndriVanilla sent me premium beans to use in these cupcakes (they cost $0.75 each if you don’t buy in bulk). IndriVanilla is offering a 10% discount to Cupcake Project readers; just enter the code “thecupcakeproject” at checkout.
- I’ve also been very pleased with the beans I’ve purchased on Amazon from J.R. Mushrooms and Specialties. Their premium beans are a similar quality and price as those from IndriVanilla. The beans did not come vacuum sealed, but they were incredibly fresh and my mailbox has never smelled as good as the day the beans arrived. J.R. Mushrooms does not sell individual beans. However, if you plan to buy a full pound of beans, you’ll see that their bulk prices are currently even cheaper than IndriVanilla’s.
Cupcake Project Explorer Reviews
As a special thanks for being Cupcake Project Explorers, I’ve promised the team that I would share any blog posts they write about this recipe and the Explorer process. As their posts come in, I will add links to them right here.
Is This Your Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake Recipe?
You may have noticed that in the title of this post, I said, “Test Baked by 50 Bakers and Counting.” While you may not have been an official Cupcake Project Explorer, I’d love to hear what you thought of this recipe. If you bake it, please share your thoughts in the comments. What frosting did you use? Did you use any fillings? Did you make any changes that people might want to hear about? Let’s all learn from each other!
I just made vanilla cupcakes yesterday and was thinking about how I wished you had already crowned one. Looks like I’ll need to try to make some more! They look delicious – and 50 bakers can’t be wrong
Hello!
Thanks so much for sharing your recipe, I can’t wait to try it!
I have a question, though: can you use something else instead of sour cream? I live in France so what we have is either ‘crème liquide’ (a bit like whipping cream) or ‘crème fraîche’. Can I use any of them?
Thanks a lot!
I often use creme fraiche in lieu of sour cream when baking. It’s even better than sour cream, flavor wise!
*must…bake…cupcakes…*
http://www.beautyandthearmageddon.blogspot.com
@SweetIntensity2
Ria – The best substitution would be a full-fat thick plain yogurt.
Ria, I’m in Finland and we don’t have sour cream either. I have always used creme fraiche instead, without any problems. Never thought about yogurt, maybe I’ll give it a try.
WOW! Six dollars for one vanilla bean, Thank God I live in Chicago, its only a dollar and some change for one vanilla bean.
WOW! Six dollars for one vanilla bean, Thank God I live in Chicago, its only a dollar and some change for one vanilla bean.
WOW! Six dollars for one vanilla bean, Thank God I live in Chicago, its only a dollar and some change for one vanilla bean.
I’ve been trying to decide what kind of cupcakes to make for my blog this week. I think I’ll have to give these a try! Thanks!
http://www.a-cupcake-story.blogspot.com
Stef, I made these last weekend for my great grandmother’s 100th birthday party. It was the first time I frosted or filled them with anything (because they’re THAT good without). I filled them with cannoli cream and topped them with a mascarpone whipped cream, chocolate drizzle and a cannoli shell wedge. D I V I N E. Truly.
Not surprisingly, it got the seal of approval from my great grandmother. Thanks again for letting me be a part of this!
Erin, that sounds amazing, as i have made the cupcake i cant imagine using the cannoli, perfect perfect,im going to try that…
connie
This looks great! Did you ever try to use vanilla bean paste instead of the bean and vanilla extract? Just curious what the results would be like as I use the paste since there is no alcohol in it.
I used vanilla bean paste and extract and it came out fabulous! I also used the paste for the frosting.
I also use the paste (and use imitation stuff for things that need it to be more liquid or recipes where it’s not that big of a deal) and they came out amazing! Just had extra vanilla bean specks. Which are always pretty.
So excited to finally get to try them. Yes they are amazing . One question, my cupcake wrappers indented during baking. Any suggestions. They are my new favorite vanilla cupcakes. Thanks for all your dedication to this awesome recipe!
I have found that I have that problem too with certain brands of wrappers, but more importantly with how the wrappers fit the pan. If the wrappers are too wide (or not shaped well) they indent more. Likewise if they are too snug, sometimes they will indent. Sometimes the cheap pastel colored ones are the best, even though other prints are fun, I tend to have bad luck with them unless I am buying from a craft or baking store.
Has anyone tried making this in cake form?
Yes I have the same question. I’d like to make this as a 2 layer cake. Does anyone know if it would bake well in 2 8′ or 9′ pans?
Thanks for the shout-out, Stef! I’m glad you liked your vanilla beans. IndriVanilla is also on Facebook! Join us for recipes, news, and ideas! http://www.facebook.com/pages/IndriVanilla-Natural-Bourbon-Vanilla-Beans-from-Java-Indonesia/225684140805640 or at http://www.indrivanilla.com
Asiya – Although I LOVE vanilla bean paste in frosting, I found that in the cupcake the vanilla bean paste didn’t yield as strong as vanilla flavor as the bean itself.
Debbie – Hmm. Not sure what to suggest. Could it be the brand of wrapper?
I’ve been checking in frequently to see how this experiment was going and excited to see you have a winner. I’ll definitely be trying this out as soon as I get a chance and see how it fares against my usual vanilla cupcake. Interestingly, this recipe is not so far off from mine though I stopped using oil in my vanilla a while back as I found it left the tops too shiny and the flavor wasn’t as full as when I just use butter. Comments on that?
I definitely need to try this recipe!!
Looks delicious…and I love that adorable photo of the cupcake with the crown!
I will definitely be trying this recipe…probably soon! Just out of curiosity, what did the third of people who didn’t approve of this recipe have to say? What were their issues with it?
I KNOW that this is like, blasphemy, but if I don’t have a vanilla bean can I substitute extra vanilla extract? What’s your thoughts?
Finally! I can’t wait to try this!
if yall want to buy bigger quantities of vanilla beans this is where i get mine http://amzn.to/rh3ZAb. i didnt know how many i would be using when i did buy them…so like a dummy i bought two 1/2 lb bags…and even at the rate i used them i just opened the second bag a few weeks ago! i bought both bags on aug 11 2010 and the beans are still fresh and moist even a year later! i use vanilla beans in everything now that i have them. i made my own vanilla extract, frostings, cakes, cookies, cupcakes, jams, ice creams..you name it.
Haahahahah that will teach me to actually read the entire post instead of scanning it! you mentioned the same place i get mine from! YAY
Being from England i always have problems with recipes in cups! Before i have always just ignored the recipe or done a very very rough conversion. i NEED to try this recipe and as so much effort has gone in to calculating exact amounts i would be grateful if someone knows what the quantites are in grams!
Steve
I agree with Steve! Being from Australia I am often put off buy recipes with cup measurements, It would be wonderful converted to grams!!
So… I made these last night… And, I gotta admit. I was a little underwhelmed. For them to be called the “ultimate,” I guess I expected something mind-blowing… And, these weren’t mind blowing. They were good, don’t get me wrong… they just weren’t AH.MAZE.ING. I made them for my husband’s grandmother’s 75th birthday today, and nobody shouted their praises… I had to ask if they were good, and everyone was just kind of like, ‘Oh. Yeah. They’re good.’ Like I said, underwhelmed.
Also, they were a little *too* moist. Is that possible? I think I might like a more dense cupcake… this was just too fluffy and light and moist. It was kind of hard to chew sometimes…
So, I don’t think I’m in the 66% that LOVES them, but I’m also not in the 33% that doesn’t. I’d say I’m in the 1% of gray area. Good recipe… but, just good. (I will, however, probably make them again…)
Sugar Daze – I found that the cupcake was too heavy with only butter. The oil lightens it up.
Maggie – There was no one consistent problem that they had. That was part of the reason that I stopped at this one. With the other recipes, most of my tasters agreed on the flaws so I could work on fixing them. With this one, the people who didn’t think it was the Ultimate either thought it was very close but was just missing something, preferred a denser cupcake, or ended up with cupcakes that did not come out looking right.
Bryna – If you don’t have a vanilla bean just leave it out. The cupcakes will still be good, they just won’t be the Ultimate vanilla. I don’t think that adding more extract will help much.
Steve and Kate – I’m working on it! Check back soon for updates to this post.
Erin – Try it without the oil and with double the butter. If you prefer your cupcakes denser, you might like it better that way.
Looking forward to trying this recipe!! Any chance we can get recipe 1 and 2? This would give the rest of us the opportunity to be explorers too.
Thanks!!
Hi Stef! Any idea how I can make it without the eggs, yet have the cupcake turn out the same (at least similar)? Thanks for the help!
Kate21 and Steve and anyone needing to bake by weigh, (I think it’s a better way anyway,) here’s a on-line conversion site that I use often: http://www.onlineconversion.com/weight_volume_cooking.htm
Stef.
I didn’t have any vanilla beans handy so I substituted a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste instead. Since I live in Florida and the humidity usually affects the cupcakes if there’s too much liquid, I used all butter instead of butter/oil. I get much better results with an acidic batter (not having the batter flow over the cups) if I do not use baking soda. I baked them in commercial 1.75 oz. cup pans for 14 mins. (yield 48 cupcakes) (I checked the oven temperature with another thermometer and it is correct).
The cupcakes had a slight dome, taste like vanilla and are light and fluffy (not as light as box cake but not dense either). My grandchildren ate them warm without frosting.
Thanks to all the Explorers for testing the recipes. I will be making this again.
oh my, this is a great project. Trying to find the best recipe.
AMAZING!!! Had my own small panel of testers and they all loved it!!! And one of the testers was a past home ec teacher at our school if it passed her tasting you know it is amazing!
I have a vanilla cupcake recipe that I like to use but am always looking for something even better. With it passing the test of 50 bakers I’m sure it really is the ultimate vanilla cupcake recipe. I like your suggestion that you can substitute yogurt as I like to find healthier alternatives when possible. I’ve just starting working with vanilla beans and love the flavor; it really does make a difference. Thanks for sharing! I can’t wait to try this one.
I just made this as a wedding cake.. LOVE that it bakes almost flat, and it is absolutely the BEST tasting vanilla cake I’ve ever made! I had a question though… the first 2 8″ cakes I made looked perfectly fine, but the rest of them (three 10″, three 6″ and 1 more 8″) all had a ring in the middle of it that was a darker color. I can’t figure out what I could’ve done to make it different.. I doubt it makes it taste any different, but just wondered if you had a thought as to what I may have done. Thanks so much for such a AMAZING recipe!! btw each batch (there were MANY bc I didn’t want to double it as I was afraid it would change the batter) made 2 8″, 3 6″ and 1 10″ (layers- I stack them 3 high)
I will be making this for my son’s first birthday cake this weekend, for roughly 40 people. Any suggestions on amounts? I can’t wait to taste it!!
I’ve tried multiple vanilla recipes and this is my favorite by far! I’m not a vanilla fan so I look for a little extra, this was flavorful but not overpowering, light, fluffy and for the small amount of butter, it still had a nice buttery taste. I did a honey cream cheese frosting with cinnamon streusel as a play on crumb donuts. Props to you and the testers!
can i just take out the vanilla bean???
I’m going to bake a rainbow version of these for a bake sale this thursday. I hope it turns out as fantastic for me as it has for others!
I mead these for my hubby when he got home from a weeklong trip. Vanilla bean is his favorite and these did not disappoint! I topped half with your vanilla bean buttercream (delish, by the way) and the other half with a milk chocolate frosting that is a staple in our house. They were awesome! Perfectly light and fluffy, I will be making these again. Thanks!
Thank you Steph for the recommendation to IndriVanilla. I just placed an order for 1/4lbs gourmet beans, and I’m so excited to get them. The customer service was EXCELLENT! Would definitely recommend! I’m so excited to receive my beans, I have never tried real vanilla beans before, as I have always found them to be outrageously priced in stores. If I remember, I’ll update on the beans when they arrive!
I just baked these and gosh! these are so good. I did make some changes (yogurt instead of sour cream, plain flour instead of cake flour but I used confectioner’s sugar so I think it balances out). Here’s my post:
http://foodiezone.blogspot.com/2011/10/beach-cafe.html
ohhhh my goodness, this is devine – perfect texture!!! I subbed plain yogurt for the sour cream, still turned out delicious. I think this will be my go to recipe, thanks so much for sharing!!!
I have a go-to vanilla recipe… So I’m going to have to give this one a shot.
I don’t know what went wrong! These cupcakes turned out greasy on the bottom, any tips?
I suck at baking but i’ll definitely try making this. thanks for sharing the recipe. I’ll get back on how it went
I made these last night, they are the BEST I have ever had!
Thanks very much for the ingredient weights! Cant wait to try it now! (and hopefully use some of your conversions for other recipes!)
Steve
HI, I AM FROM MEXICO LOVE YOUR BLOG. I WANT TO BAKE THESE CUPCAKES FOR A FRIEND JUST I QUESTION, WHAT IS THE FROSTING YOU USED IN THE PHOTO?
…I tried these cupcakes along with the icing this past weekend and here are reviews I got:
Mike (son-in-law) said he hates send the rest to his house so I am not forced to eat them
Kira (granddaughter) said these taste just like the ones at Cupcakes on Kavannaugh (her favorite place to eat cupcakes).
Eli (grandson) said these are better than the ones at Cupcakes on Kavannaugh.
Summer (daughter) said – she was trying to figure out how to sneak another one in without the kids finding out.
I thought they were excellent. Best I have ever eaten…..
Anon – I’d rather not share one and two. There was a reason that they weren’t chosen.
Nisha – I don’t have an answer for you. But, I may give that a try sometime.
MagdaHondi123 – You could, but then it would only be good – not the Ultimate.
Ruth K. – Hmm.. I don’t know what happened. Sorry to hear.
Anon – I used my vanilla bean buttercream.
PamP – Sounds like they were a success! Thanks for the full report!
Hi,
The vanilla cupcake recipe is great! But I have a quick question! Can I substitute the canola oil with butter?
Thanks,
Madcup!
Love it! From the looks of it, this is really the King of Vanilla cupcakes. Add me to the groing list of bakers who tried out this recipe. Thanks a lot.
I did replace vanilla extract for the bean, 1:1, and they were still delicious. Obviously using the beans would be much better, but it still makes for a great cupcake! Thanks!!
I just made these cupcakes and they were so delicious! The only change I made is that I soaked the de-seeded vanilla bean in the milk! Very very delicious. Topped with milk chocolate sour cream frosting!
Madcup – You can, but it won’t be as light and fluffy. I’ve tried it with all butter and it is a lot denser.
These cupcakes are fitted for my little princes! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe with us!
Just made a double batch of these and they are excellent! Limited by the ingredients I already in the house, I used only vanilla extract and made it with skim milk instead of whole…and they were still wonderful! Looking forward to making them again with the vanilla bean and whole milk. Thanks for the great recipe!!!
Hi! Your cupcake project is the most beautiful and tastiest I have ever seen. If I were the judge, I would have given it a rating of 100%. I will surely keep your recipe in my list of “special recipe” for a special occasion. Thanks for sharing it!
Hi! I’m glad to have found these. I’m making cupcakes for my daughter’s 3rd birthday tomorrow and she actually requested vanilla. Did you make the crown out of fondant or is it paper? Thanks for the help. meelers@gmail.com
Camilla – The crown is made out of paper. Although, I’m sure if you are good with fondant, you could make a fondant crown.
Can we freeze the cupcakes without the frosting? If yes, then for how long? In my country we don’t have vanilla extract only essence. Is it ok to use that or should i opt for powdered vanilla instead?
Meemz – Yes, you can. Typically you can freeze cupcakes for 3 months or so. Although I haven’t tried these specifically. I’m not sure on the essence question as I’ve never worked with it. Sorry. You may have to experiment.
Thank you thank you thank you!!!!
I just made this recipe and they are beyond fantastic!
Everything that I have been searching for in vanilla cake. I have tried & tested countless recipes that had the taste but never the texture I wanted. This is it for me
I used vanilla bean paste and butttermilk (that’s what I had on hand) and it is now officially my “go to” vanilla recipe.
Pam
THANK YOU thank you thank you!! I have been searching for a vanilla cupcake recipe that incorporated oil as well as butter for months!! Honestly I have. Finally a moist & fluffy vanilla cupcake, the recipe was spot on in my opinion.
One question, were the tops of your cooled cupcakes sticky? I followed the measurements perfectly. Any input I would appreciate.
love your website! what would you replace the eggs with?
Update from Pam commenter #62…
please help!
the next day the cupcake papers started peeling away from the cupcakes
Any ideas on how to prevent this from happening? I love everything about this recipe but would hate to give someone cupcakes with wrappers peeling off
Thank you so much! This is really the ULTIMATE VANILLA Cupcake. The texture of the cupcake was fluffy. The vanilla bean did the trick. It is delicious. With the vanilla bean seeds. One thing I noticed though, after the cupcake cooled down, the top of my cupcake was a little harder than the inside. Any suggestions/comments on what I may have done wrong?
http://myredmixingbowl.blogspot.com/
http://www.artpiececakes.com
I agree with Erin – I’m kind of in the middle. I was expecting the cupcake to blow me away given the fact that they were crowned the ultimate…and it didn’t. I baked these for a child’s birthday party and they generally didn’t inspire any “wow factor” compliments. However, i would eat the raw batter ALL. DAY. LONG….tastes like the ultimate vanilla ice cream, only melted =) Added bonus: you inspired me to finally trade in my raw vanilla bean virginity
This recipe is delicious. It’s become that go-to vanilla cupcake recipe I’ve been searching for! I don’t have vanilla beans so I made it without, but I definitely would like to try it with. The texture was great, my favorite part, nice a fluffy!
PLEASE do a ultimate chocolate cupcake! And maybe a red velvet… And of course any other flavor you’d like to add!
Thanks so much for sharing!
I’ve tried out quite a few different cupcakes in my fairly short life (you can say that when you’re under 30, right?!). This is by far THE best vanilla cupcake recipe to date. WOW, the texture, the taste the ‘more-ish-ness’ (is that even a word? I’m from Denmark, so I guess I’m excused!)I’ve shared this recipe with as many of my fellow baking enthusiasts as possible – and they love it to death too!
Thanks a ton for sharing – FYI I used creme fraiche and they were fab!
Louise
Lizzie – I may create a vegan version some day, but I have not done so yet. Sorry.
Pam – You may want to try a different brand of wrapper. That problem happens more with some brands than others.
PosterGal – Hmm.. the tops do typically get just a bit harder than the insides. Be sure to remove the cupcakes from the trays immediately to help with that.
I made these last week for my son’s birthday party – absolutely wonderful! Tried another recipe I found first which came out very cornbread like. These are light and fluffy and the consistency of a cupcake, not at all like cornbread. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe and all of your hard work! I must say one thing – I should have done a test cupcake because they rose higher than I anticipated, next time I will know. Awesome!!! I will use again and again and again….
Also a quick question – I want to purchase some greaseproof liners – black and brown for the holidays. Do you have a favorite brand? Thanks!
Hi thanks so much for the recipe! I just made them and they taste awesome. I followed the recipe exactly… But just have one problem, my cupcakes have tunnels. What could I have done wrong? Over mixed maybe? Please help thanks
Viviana
Kristy – I use so many different kinds of liners because I’m always looking for new patterns. I’ve been really happy with the solid color ones from Fancy Flours. They hold their color really well.
Viviana – I’m not sure. It’s possible that it was over-mixing, but it’s hard to say.
where can i buy the vanilla bean to make the cupcakes?
I just made these cupcakes and they were divine…I am having a hard time not eating them one right after another. They remind me of the vanilla cupcakes a popular coffee shop brings out around Valentine’s Day. Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe.
what is the best brand of cake flour to use?
Anon re beans – I have links for buying beans in the post.
Anon re cake flour – Great question. I used Swans Down, but I haven’t really experimented with other brands.
I was looking for an oil based recipe and this is it!! they are soooo good even without the frosting. I substituted sour cream with buttermilk and tad more of butter. I agree that using oil instead of butter gives all kinds of cupcakes a lighter and spongier texture even after being refrigerated. Thank you so much for this recipe! it’s definitely for keeps!
This recipe was AWESOME! I used a little less than the 1/4 cup of oil. It was perfect! Everyone at my office party loved it! Thank you for this recipe! Can you do an ultimate chocolate recipe?????!!!!
I always been interessed to cupcakes. They are cute, and seems to be so tastefull. I am good in the kitchen, but never really try to make homemade cupcakes.
Yesterday I tried the Ultimate Vanilla cupcakes with the Vanilla Bean Buttercream frosting.
My wife, my daugher and I totally APPROVED the result. For the Vanilla lover, those recipes are a must.
Not only the taste is great, but the cake is so moist, it melt in your mouth! Yummy!
Now, what should be my next trial ?
I just want to thank you soooo much for posting amazing recipes. I love to bake and this site is always my first stop for recipes! Keep up the great work.
am i able to cut out the cake flour and use all pupouse instead? if so would i need to sift it and what would the measurments be?
These cupcakes are amazing! I’ve probably made them over twenty times and they never disappoint. Everyone oohs and ahhs over them! I change two things when baking them only because I like a little bit denser cupcake. I use all butter and sub buttermilk for the milk. They still come out light and fluffy. One person I made them for said they taste like a vanilla cloud
topped with your vanilla bean Buttercream…oh my goodness! A little piece of heaven. Thank you!
Wendy
Mine just came out the oven. Wow wow wow, I am so proud of myself (thank you for the recipe).
South Africans who grew up on tea with “queens cakes,” are going to love them. They are soft and hmmmmm.
This is now my secret recipe that I will be making flop proof – Oh and I did not have sour cram so I mixed 2tbsp of lemon juice with fresh cream and it worked.
Tea is calling….
These are so delicious,Vanilla pods a tad expensive but oh soooo worth it!
Thanks for sharing
Stef, thank you for your sharing your recipe. I made these tonight, and used Arrowhead Mills Organic Pastry Flour (says it good for pastries and cakes) because I couldn’t find cake flour at the store. My cupcakes turned out tasting like sweet cornbread. I’m guessing my choice of flour is the problem? Thank you for your help!
Jacquelyn – Unfortunately, the flour was probably the problem. I’ve never tried this recipe with pastry flour though, so I can’t say for sure.
So I made this the other night, but silly me got Self Rising Cake Flour, rather than Swans Down Cake Flour which doesn’t have the added baking powder and salt. So what I did was omit the BP and salt from the recipe. I LOVED them! I always find that getting a good vanilla cake or cupcake has been such a hassle and this recipe is amazing! I always use vanilla beans in my vanilla/yellow/white cakes, but this recipe is just perfect! Thanks so much! Now to find an icing I love!
this is by far the BEST vanilla cupcake recipe out there!!!! just tried it and my stepson can’t get enough of it! I had to hide the rest of the cupcakes from him
Is there a difference in using granulated sugar or just “sugar”? Thanks!
Tiffani – Same thing.
I made a test batch of these cupcakes today, and they came out delicious but had a “wheaty” taste to them…I wonder what caused it? I’m making a another batch for my daughter’s party this Friday and would love to correct this “wheat” taste….any suggestions? I followed the recipe exactly…I didn’t shift the flour though…so I will shift it this time around and hopefully that will help! Otherwise these cupcakes are great…light and fluffy!
Here it is early Christmas morning and I have just finished baking and in a moment of relaxation discover this wonderful vanilla cupcake recipe. Oh, do I wish all the ingredients were on hand!
New Year’s day vanilla cupcakes are in the works. Thank you.
OMFG I just made these last night & they are amazing!!!! So soft, vanilla-y & moist. I bow to you. Finally, a vanilla cupcake that isn’t dark, dry, buttery or just plain boring. I ate like five without the frosting lol whoops
I tried out this recipe yesterday and they came out great!! Loved the bread!! Although, the bread came out way too soft. Thanks for the recipe!!!
P.S. The vanilla bean was waaay too expensive!! 9 dlls for only ONE vanilla bean!! oh well, it was worth it!
i cant get hold of any cake flour, if there really no other flour i can use instead?
this is THE BEST vanilla cupcake recipe ive ever baked..i’ve been experiementing for a year now and have not found a single recipe that wasnt dry and bland, until now. i used 2 tsp vanilla in place of the vanilla bean and it worked just as well.
Hi Stef! I made this for my brother’s bday and I thought it was really good! However, my cupcakes turned pointy, I only had one which had a dome shaped top. What would be the culprit, was it the overmixing? I use a hand mixer by the way. Other readers, please help too! Thanks a lot!
I left out the vanilla bean and used our leftover eggnog as the milk, topped with cream cheese frosting. A double batch turned out good. It really made a difference to take them out of the oven exactly on time, in my oven that was at 11 minutes.
My friend and I are in Oxford, England waiting for school to start so we just made these and absolutely love them!!! We used the chocolate cream cheese frosting since neither of us are big buttercream fans, and both the cake and the frosting were delicious. I put a shout out for them on my blog. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes as we procrastinate on our degrees
Here’s a link to the blog post if you want to see our experience baking them and pictures http://buyinganelephant.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/the-first-cupcake-experiment/
Thanks again for the recipe!
oh yesss these are VERY good
I used Wilton Buttercream icing:) My new go-to recipe!
I made these today and I was a bit disappointed. The flavor wasn’t as strong as I hoped it would be, and the cake was a bit too moist/airy.
Yummmm! Made these cupcakes tonight with your vanilla bean buttercream frosting. My daughters, who normally just eat the frosting, ate the whole thing! Hubby was quick to go back to seconds. We’re definitely part of the 2/3s in favor of this recipe! It is the best vanilla cupcake that I have baked yet.
So I made these cupcakes for a football party and I have to say, they were ALL gone before half time! Definitely by far the BEST vanilla cupcake recipe! Thanks!!
I am so glad I found/tried this recipe before I did another one. I knew when I saw butter and oil I was going to have a winner. I didn’t have vanilla bean so I used vanilla bean paste and I used half/half instead of whole milk and it was sooo good. I had a little batter left and sprinkled some french vanilla pudding and it was STILL good! Thank you so much for this recipe! It is so in rotation!!!
I made these today. I was scared because I do not typically have good luck with baking cakes. I has some vanilla infused olive oil on hand so I used that. THESE ARE AMAZING!
I am going to make these for my boys birthday party. THANKS!
Amber
Gilbert, AZ
I’ve been searching for vanilla recipes that will be my “go-to” recipe and found this. I can’t wait to try. Just a question though, how many cups of batter can this recipe make? can this make a 6″x3″ round cake? Thanks!
Thank you so much for the recipe kuddos to all 50 bakers. I substitute yogurt for sour cream and vanilla milk for the whole milk since I didnt had vanilla beans in my kitchen, but the texture of this cupcake is AWESOME!. Im making them again once my vanilla beans arrive so i can get a full vanilla flavor.
I too was underwhelmed by this recipe. I love your blog, but these just didnt blow my mind like I thought they would. I am baker by profession and was thrown off by the way these were mixed, and I think it was the oil that dominated the flavor in these. It overwhelmed the vanilla in my opinion, given the quantity of it, it should been very vanilla forward. My crowd, who is honest and mostly loves my creations gave these a “meh”. However this does not stop me from loving you or your blog any less!
i was wondering if vanilla bean paste would do the same as the vanilla bean? i have paste on hand but if you think it wont ill wait to make these
They are really the best!!!!
Woo-hoo! You did it!! This really is the recipe for the Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake! This is the first vanilla cupcake recipe that I will make again (and again, and again…)! I made these for the dessert table for my daughter’s wedding. I used vanilla bean paste (my only change), and they rose beautifully and taste so yummy! Thank you so much!!!
Hi Stef,
This is the first recipe I saw on your blog, and I tried it today. I totally agree with all who have said that this is the best vanilla cupcake ever…I have never tasted a better one,anywhere! My husband and kid who only eat desserts with chocolate in them raved about this one, and wanted second helpings! Changes I made – sub homemade yoghurt with sour cream. I also didnt have vanilla extract, so I added more vanilla bean seeds and 1tblsp extra yoghurt to balance the liquid measurements. I had to bake them for approx. 18 minutes. Noticed that after they cooled down, the top was slightly harder than the inside. But I thought that the mildly crunchy crust and the crunch of the vanilla seeds added to the taste of the cupcake. Thank you for this keeper recipe!
AC – As I never make cakes, I’m not really sure. Sorry.
Wilene – You can use paste. But, my Explorers found that it was better with a bean.
Uh-mazing. My husband and I are vanilla cupcake connoissiurs, and these are most definitely among the the best we’ve had. Delish. THANK YOU!
I can’t wait to try this recipe! I just have one question though… when I mix in the sugar/vanilla bean mixtuer with the flour etc, do I use an electric mixer, or shall I use a wooden or metal spoon?
Just thought I would ask, as sometimes the outcome of how well they rise depends on if I use an electric mixer or a spoon.
Thanks for the great recipe, keep up the good work! Philippa.
Thanks so much for sharing your recipe, I can’t wait to try it!
My favorite vanilla is from Mexico, and can be found at http://www.MexicanVanilla.com.
I just now made these cupcakes, and I’m tempted to eat them all myself! NOMNOMNOMNOM
I’m working on making the vanilla bean frosting to go with them right now. Can’t wait ’til it’s all done!
Not overly impressed, and neither was my panel of 12 taste testers. Out of 10 kinds of cupcakes critiqued this weekend, this vanilla cupcake (which I did a white-on-white, using a vanilla buttercream frosting) received the lowest ratings from my panel. Won’t be using this one for making wedding cakes or cupcakes.
These are FANTASTIC.
I add just a splash of almond extract and it takes them over the top yummy!
This is my new go-to vanilla cake recipe.
i just made these..
MAJOR FAILURE
for some reason they didn’t rise and now they are small and wet..yuck
Check the expiration date on your baking powder or baking soda. Also, if the soda has sat around for longer than 2 months opened… always go grab a fresh box. It absorbs so many odors that it can really create a weird taste, also.
I just made these amazing cupcakes! Everyone at the party raved about them in fact I had to print the recipe and pass it out. The only change I made was using Vera Cruz Mexican Vanilla (available on line at http://www.veracruzvanilla.com or in No. Cal whole foods markets) and also used their Mexican vanilla beans. The difference using the Mexican vanilla was incredible. Thank you for a great recipe I’ll definitely be using again for future parties
Best vanilla cupcakes I’ve ever baked!! Thanks for the recipe!
outennesLOVE THESE!!! MAKING THEM FOR MY WEDDING
Thank you!!!
These were good but not knock your socks off great. Am an experienced baker and followed directions exactly. Will keep looking for the ultimate cupcake….
I am not sure why others either had problems with or said this was just an ok cupcake. Mine came out beautiful, were light and fluffy, tasted DIVINE!!! All my ingredients were fresh and my vanilla beans were nice and moist. I also make my own vanilla extract. Maybe the vanilla bean makes all the difference in the world in the flavor? Thanks for the wonderful recipe!!!
I have to add to the stream here…these were incredible. I doubled the batch, and it was a good thing, because I probably ate half before I even shared them with anyone else! Thanks for sharing! YUM.
The batter is delicious…not sure if they’ll make it to the oven
I made these cupcakes, taste really good, moist and fluffy but they are really oily. The cupcake liners are covered in oil, right after they were taken from the muffin tins (before putting them to the cooling rack). Oh well, maybe I will try to bake them again and see what happens. I still wonder what I did wrong…
Dear Stef,
http://www.reteteveggie.com/en/2012/02/13/the-ultimate-vanilla-cupcakes/
I baked these a few days ago and I still can’t take my mind off them. They came out so perfect I simply couldn’t believe my tastebuds. I used French Meringue Buttercream for frosting and filled them with blueberry jam. They were just sensational. I am one happy baker, and I really want to thank you for perfecting this recipe! I hope it’s not contrary to your blog policy to have links in comments (and I appologize if it is), but here is a link with pictures to the result
Hugs from Romania!
Andie
Philippa – You don’t need an electric mixer. You can just use a spoon.
I just tried this Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake recipe and it was a total DISASTER!!!! I have never seen worse looking cupcakes!
I did everything right, but they just burned in the oven and were still runny inside 
Can anyone help me!?? Is it just my oven?
Hi, I was just wondering if you can make these white cupcakes?
These were amazing! I made them as mini cupcakes for a coworker’s birthday, and people were raving! Thanks so much for the recipe!
These are the perfect vanilla cupcake! I filled and frosted mine with canoli and chocolate chip filling – amazing! Your recipes have perfect texture, thank you for sharing!
“Vanja, I’m no longer exited about what it’s like in Paradise. I just had a taste of one of you cupcakes.” This compliment was given to me a couple of weeks ago from a coworker when I had brought left over cupcakes to work. These vanilla cupcakes are really amazing! They are fluffy, yet moist, and really, REALLY tasteful. I have made them 6 times now, and here’s a few tips for those of you who still haven’t tried them, and for those of you who have tried them, but for some reason failed:
* It’s crucial the eggs have room temperature. If they are too cold, the cupcakes will collapse, making a crater on top.
* Do NOT replace full fat sour cream with a lighter type! If you do, the cupcakes lose some of their substance.
* Use LOW speed when mixing the batter. If you go medium og high, the batter won’t “stick” to the cupcake liners.
* Weigh the batter when filling up the liners. For regular size liners, 48-50 grams will give perfect size cupcakes.
* I added an extra 25 grams of baking flour (= 200 g).
* I think the cupcakes taste even better using only 1/2 vanilla bean, replacing the other half with 1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar.
I really wish for you that you’ll succeed in making these. I bake a lot for sale, and through all my years of baking, these are by far my my favourite <3 Thank you SO much, Stef!
Vanja – What a wonderful compliments! Thanks so much! Also, I’m sure that others will find these tips really helpful!
My friends absolutely LOVE these! Served them at a Mary Kay homeparty two weeks ago, made another batch for the annual ski weekend with some other friends and making yet another batch for the knitting get together in my house next Monda. Just can’t get enough! LOVE them!
Is it possible to use all purpose flour in this recipie???? Please help, its all i can get my hands on…..
Yes, it will just make a denser cupcake.
I am an experienced home baker…I’ve been looking for a fabulous vanilla cupcake recipe for years. Everything I tried was too crumbly, too gummy, too sweet, too sticky, too dry, too something. These are PERFECT. This method of mixing is called (by America’s Test Kitchen) the “Reverse Creaming” method. It works great. I used a food processor to combine all the dry ingredients with the butter, until it was perfectly homogenous. Then I mixed all the wet ingredients together (including the milk, a departure from the instructions) until they were totally mixed. Then I dumped the dry ingredient/butter mixture into the wet stuff and gently mixed them by hand. PERFECT. No curdly looking stuff because I had everything at room temp. THIS IS KEY!!!
Heat your milk for 20 seconds in the microwave. Let your eggs sit in a bowl of hot tap water for 5 minutes. Let the sour cream sit out and warm up a bit.
I am in love!
These are absolutely phenominal! I can’t stop making them! But please Can you come up with the ULTIMATe Chocolste cupcake! I’ve tried so many recipes only to be disappointed! Help! Lol.
Decided to do a vanilla cupcake showdown with some friend using this recipe and 3 others I found on other blogs. I didn’t have vanilla bean, but followed the rest of the recipe. Even without the vanilla bean, this recipe was voted the favorite!
Stef, Thank you so much for your wonderful blog and beautiful cupcakes! I made a double batch of the Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake tonight and I made them gluten free!
OMG I’m in heaven! They are So GOOD. I followed the recipe exactly using a kitchen scale and weighing out everything (thanks for listing out both type of measurements…weight seems to work so much better when baking gluten free). Just in case anyone wants to know I used C4C, Cup For Cup by French Laundry which you can buy at Williama-Sonoma.
Thanks! Suzanne
p.s. your frosting is fabulous too!
YUMMMMMMMMMMMO, I”m a vanilla cup cake freak, I try a new recipe every week, so far this is my all time fav. recipe, so light and moist, I did add a little more vanilla, just because. Delicious! I give this cup cake 5 stars, I made a butter cream frosting, with flour, butter, sugar, milk and mor vanilla. Awesome! I will make these again, ( tonight if I have sour cream ) Thanks for sharing!
I’m definitely going to have to test this recipe out. Sounds very yummy!
The first time I made these cupcakes they turned out perfect! The second and third time they have come out lumpy on the top. I was planning to make these for my daughter’s birthday tomorrow but am worried the bumpiness will make them difficult to frost.
Anyone have any tips to avoid getting the bumps??
A bit wet and oily – I think I’ll try a different recipe next time. Still love the Cupcake Project though!!
Hi stef.
Just wondering if this could be made into a cake?
Also, do these cupcakes dome?
Thanks
Luella
Yes and yes.
hi i was wondering how should i change the recipe around if im trying to bake a six in. cake for my daughters birthday using this recipe. thanks
Not sure what a six in is. The only difference in baking this as a cake is that the bake time would be longer.
Wasn’t impressed with it. Thought it would be over the top but tasted eggy to me.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-ONE-LB-Madagascar-Bourbon-Org-Extr-Vanilla-Beans-6-7-/230688786581?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b61f8895
This is where I got my last bunch of beans… they’ve lasted me almost a year and I put them into everything instead of vanilla extract…but just in case, I used some to make my own extract.
It was a nice deal, because for certain amounts of beans ordered… you get free extra beans. It’s a good deal.
Also, I’m going to try this recipe in the next few days. I like a denser cake, so I’m going to sub the oil with doubled butter instead like you mentioned in an earlier comment. I’m also going to try baking as a cake instead.
Thank you for the recipe.
I tried the cupcakes. and they do taste yummy! although mine look quite ugly! they looked beautiful and domed until they came out of the oven, then they shrunk back looking wrinkled and with a medium bump in the middle. Are they meant to dome and stay domed? or be flat? would it be that I used normal plain flour with 2 tbl corn flour substitued ( as we don’t have cake flour readily available in Aus). I’m going to try make it as a cake- as it would be handy having a flat cake!!!!
They should have a small dome and yet, cake flour substitutions don’t work quite the same as real cake flour so that could be it.
oh and mine browned and went golden on top, even though the recipe says they/re not meant to. do i need to turn my oven down considerably? would that be why they shrunk?
Have you checked your oven with an oven thermometer? That could definitely be the problem.
looking forward to trying the recipe
thanks
I made these today and they are AMAZING! The flavor is out of this world and they are gorgeous! I made vanilla bean swiss meringue buttercream and it complemented the cupcakes perfectly. Thanks for posting this wonderful recipe!
I came across your blog and was looking to improve upon the vanilla cupcake recipe that i use in my online cake bakery and was very excited to try this ultimate vanilla cupcake!
It is my birthday, so i thought id use this recipe to make my birthday cupcakes – i was a bit alarmed at how liquid the batter was and that the cakes have to come out of the over with batter still on the tester – to me this is underdone, but i did as i was told and i didn’t regret it! They really are very good! very very moist without being raw, this will now be my vanilla recipe! As a note, i used vanilla paste, not a pod (in the UK these are really expensive!) and i used yoghurt instead of sour cream and they were none the worse for it!
Have you ever substituted vanilla yogurt in place of the sour cream? I use vanilla yogurt in my recipe and it’s very moist and adds to the vanilla flavor!
I haven’t but I’m sure it’s great.
Exactly the cake I was looking for! Soft, fluffy, moist, delicious! Instead of unsalted butter plus the pinch of salt I just used a lightly salted butter and I used semi-skimmed / half fat milk and they still tasted great!
I frosted mine with a white chocolate buttercream frosting using a little cream cheese too. yum!
I baked these for a get-together yesterday with cream cheese frosting, and they were fabulous. I thought I had a favorite before, but this is it. I didn’t have a vanilla bean, so I used extract and paste. Thanks for going through all the effort to get the best vanilla cupcake.
Finally a vanilla recipe from scratch that is actually light and fluffy! I have been looking for this for years!
The texture is amazing! The first time I made these I added 1/2 cup cocoa to make a sort of red velvet and they were delish with cream cheese icing. Tonight I made the original vanilla and Im in heaven! I did replace the sour cream with fat free yogourt both times because that is what I had on hand and they are still amazing and perfectly domed.
ok so i made these and AMAZING. best vanilla cupcake ever! and i have made some pretty shitty vanilla cupcakes.
I did it! it was spectacular! woow! I used Créme Fraîche instead and worked perfectly! You have the receipe of vanilla cupcakes in Spanish in my blog: http://www.lacocinadecarolina.com/2012/03/la-receta-de-cupcakes-de-vainilla-mas.html
xxxxxx
Carolina
I have only made a gluten free version of this cupcake. It was delicious, fluffy, and had a nice flat top. I replaced the cake flour with…
1/3 & 1/4 cup tapioca flour/starch
1/3 cup corn starch
1/3 & 1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
I also added an extra spoonful of sourcream and an extra tablespoon omoisture; because gluten free baked goods need a little more moisture.
I just took these out of the oven about 10 minutes ago. When I tell ya’ll that this thang is delicious!!! This cupcake is certainly a blessing to my soul! And I haven’t even frosted them yet!
OMG… indeed this is the real thing… just made it today and was so proud to tell you this is really the best vanilla cupcake! been searching far and long for the right consistency and been testing different kinds of recipe and I’m so happy to find this waaaaaaaaaaaah! I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU ALL
I’m not sure what the deal is with the random people who hated this recipe, but I made them tonight for the first time and they were delicious. I was looking for a moist recipe with a fine grain and this was perfect. I might try it with just butter to see how dense they come out. This will also be a good base for cakes as well. Thanks for sharing!!
You do realize that not everybody has the same tongue? People don’t necessarily have to go crazy over a certain recipe. Sometimes they just prefer something else.
So the texture is perfect, it’s fantastically moist and sweet but as for the vanilla, I can’t even taste it. I could smell it in the sugar and it smelled divine, but could not taste it at all in the cupcake. It just tasted like a sweet white cupcake to me.
I made these yesterday and my husband couldn’t stop going on about them. they are by far the best looking and best tasting cupcakes I’ve ever made. thank you! can’t wait to try out your other recipes, i’m hooked!
After trying out 4 other recipes this one won taste buds down! I baked 6 dozen for a wedding shower with ultimate vanilla buttercream sunflowers as decoration…OH My GOODNESS…not only beautiful but scrumptious!
A-Maze-zing , defo the best, i also injected with strawberry jam, & topped with vanilla buttercream, delicious!! Had to sub a couple of ingredients but still turned out fab! i used fat free yoghurt instead of sour cream & I used coconut oil! Still amazing & so light!!
Just made this recipe!! And let me say.. it IS the ULTIMATE vanilla cupcake recipe!! I used vanilla bean paste in the actual cupcake instead of a vanilla bean and it turned out fine. All I would say is Double the vanilla bean frosting recipe :]]]
made these for my birthday yesterday and they turned out great! perfect texture. light, but moist…and fluffy. it had a delicious vanilla flavor and was perfect with chocolate cream cheese frosting. saving this one in my recipe book for sure!
I made these and they came out awesome. Loved the taste and texture, except that I got tunnels. What happened?
I live in high altitude (7,000 ft to be exact) and am wondering how this works. Has anyone tried it in high altitude? Any substitutions? Thanks!!
Hi!
Keeping the recipe as it is for high altitude places turns out a complete disaster (based on my experience).
Doing some research: you need to cut down baking powder and sugar and add more liquid and turn up oven temperature a bit. Not quite sure amounts but. Hope this helps
As I weigh my ingredients, I noticed that the weight listed in the recipe did not match up to the products I was using. Luckily I noticed right away. While some flours & sugars are very similar in weight not all so just make sure to check when weighing. The nutritional value on the flour and sugar will tell you how many grams per 1/4 C. I just grab a calculator and figure out how much I need per the recipe.
Hi I am also searching for the best vanilla cupcake recipe. I would really want to try this but the problem is Vanilla beans are not available here in the Philippines and shipping costs a lot. Vanilla is only available in extracted forms. Will it be a good substitute?
Helga
you can buy vanilla beans at Gourdo’s. I saw it in Gourdo’s Trinoma.
This recipe is fantastic. I’ve made it several times and everyone has raved about it every time. I cook it for slightly longer though. I was following the recipe strictly and then I left one batch in the oven for a few minutes too long. They were lightly golden on top and I thought I’d ruined them but I liked the flavor even more. They were still lovely and moist on the inside.
what can i use instead of non self rising cake flour? its just that i live in mexico city and i looked everywhere and they dont sell them in any place
Hi!
There are a couple things you can do:
use plain/all purpose flour + cornstarch/cornflour (1 cup cake flour= 1 cup plain flour-2 tablespoons flour + 2 tablespoons cornstarch joyofbaking.com
less plain flour (1 cup cake flour = 1 cup plain flour – 2 tablespoons flour) sweetapolita.com
Jessica
I’ve just made these vanilla cupcakes and I’m really pleased with the results. The ultimate test is when i put them in the fridge overnight, will they still be as moist & fluffy. I normally get orders for 80+,so need to bake them all the day before.
The recipe is very forgiving, because i accidently added the milk to the eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream & oil mix & they still turned out perfect.
I didn’t use a vanilla bean because they are so expensive & this was my test batch, but i will definitely be using them for special occassions & orders.
I have 1 Smeg oven & 1 Bosch oven, the smeg bakes beautifully, with just a slight dome but cupcakes in the bosch oven alway turn out very peaked. Obviously different ovens give different results.
I’m making these for a birthday party, but I think I have to make a second batch because I’m eating them all!
I’m making mini cupcakes with this recipe. These are (as indicated in the directions) VERY time-sensitive. If making mini cupcakes, I’d recommend baking 7-8 mins and checking them every 1 minute until they’re done. They won’t look done, so doing a toothpick test is a must. Worth the time and effort! Thanks for making me look good, Stef!
I got so excited with this recipe (for my baby christening party) that I forgot to adapt it to a high altitude city!It was a 100 cupcake disaster. Must try again.
Jessica (from a high place in Mexico)
I, too, wasn’t impressed with this recipe. They were too fluffy and tasted like muffins that can be found in our local supermarkets here in Malaysia. Still, love the reading the feedbacks from the readers.
Still searching for that one perfect vanilla cake/cupcake recipe!
Sounds like a very good recipe but I can’t imagine paying that much for a vanilla bean! You may want to try an ethnic store. I actually buy mine at a little Japanese farm store around here and they are half the price (and still organic
)
Budget Earth – Baked Acorn Squash Recipe
Made these for my daughters birthday celebration at school. They were a huge hit. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
What tip did you use to frost? Made these today…big hit. Thanks!
These were the first cupcakes I have ever baked…and they turned out to be the best cupcake I have ever had! They were so light and delicate and had a wonderful, natural vanilla flavor. I am in love with baking cupcakes now!
I followed this recipe to the T and the cupcakes deflated when they cooled down.
I am so disappointing in this recipe. I was really hoping that it would be my go to vanilla recipe. But unfortunately wasn’t. The only good thing about it was the vanilla. Other than that the cake itself didn’t have any flavor. Will not make them again sadly.
They were a little too light to me. Oh well, I guess it was worth a shot. I’ll stick with my recipe
I have just made these and was dissapointed as they did not rise. When I took them out the oven they sank. Any tips as the flavour is great.
I just made a batch of Vanilla Bean cupcakes with your recipe and they are simply delicious!
I was wondering, if i were to make a chocolate version, what would the recipe then call for?
You can email me at pamie07@hotmail.com
- Pam
I just made a batch and they were simply delish! If I would like to make a chocolate version, what would the recommended ingredients be?
hi i was wondering if i could make this cupcake into a strawberry one?? would that ruin the cupcake?
Just took my test cupcake out of the oven, which I shared with my vanilla cupcake-loving 17 year old son. The recipe yielded 19 slightly mounded, golden, fragrant cupcakes. They took 16 minutes to bake in my oven. My son described the texture as “dense” and the flavor as “really good”, emphasis on the “really”. I, admittedly a lifelong chocoholic and therefore possibly should be disqualified as a judge, prefer the lighter texture and flavor of Billy’s Vanilla Vanilla cupcake. I haven’t decided on a frosting yet, but my son requests some be left plain. They are that good. “Really”.
I made these perfectly vanilla cupcakes this weekend for my daughter’s 12th birthday party. One word…AMAZING!!!! I followed the recipe exactly and they came out great. I had never split open a vanilla bean before, but I did it and it made all the difference in this cupcake. Everyone loved how the cupcake was light and fluffy. I followed your advice and used the vanilla bean buttercream frosting….wow! Again, I never worked with vanilla bean paste, but I will now!! Both the 12 year old girls and the adults’s comments were all positive and that this was the perfect vanilla tasting cupcake! I found that the recipe made 19, not 16 cupcakes (bonus!!). I will definitely be making these again! Thank you for your tireless work in perfecting the most amazing vanilla cupcake!
I made these the other day, topped with italian meringue buttercream, and it was awesome for me. But my boyfriend said he thought my standard recipe for vanilla cupcakes, the one from Joy of Baking, had more vanilla flavor than this one. Could you imagine? As for me, I was between the two. Can’t decide.
This is my ultimate vanilla cupcake: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=384957218222152&set=a.232437856807423.76831.100001236318214&type=3&theater
Hi stef, I’d like to make these for my son’s first birthday. If I need to double the recipe do simply double the ingredients? Always so unsure about baking powder etc… Thank you so much!!! Elizabeth
We love this recipe… Thanks for sharing with us.
OMG..OMG..OMG.. So, I have shed many, many tears… I have spent many long nights, many endless days searching and baking and tweaking and failing and sacrificing many innocent ingredients in trying to find the perfect vanilla cupcake… My search ended when I came across your recipe… And then I cried some more because I was so happy… These are truly amazing!!! They are so light, fluffy, moist, and they rised and domed beautifully!! DELICIOUS!! …I can’t stress enough though, that having your cold ingredients at room temperature is of VITAL IMPORTANCE for success. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this recipe with us! Now.. How about an ultimate chocolate cupcake recipe
Rosy
Made these today and everyone in the house loved them! Making them for Mother’s Day! Thanks!
I just made these cupcakes and they were Delicious! I made some modifications based on what I had (I didn’t use a vanilla bean, i also used fat free sour cream and 2% milk). I also made them rainbow so they are extra festive
I just made these cupcakes. 1 problem: the cake itself tasted good, but the tops were sticky and shiny, not like they should be. What did I do wrong?
I’ve tried many, many vanilla cupcake recipes. Most of them are too dry. This is definitely my favorite. Its moist, tender and rises nicely. I’m a fan! Thanks for sharing!
Can someone tell me how well these hold up being baked a day or two before eating? (If you can manage to not eat them all, that is.)
I am a wedding cake baker, so I need recipes that hold up well for a couple days. I’m a committed scratch baker, but I’ve found most scratch cakes only do well for the day-of, and that’s just not possible for me.
I’m intrigued by the recipe though, because it’s reverse creaming AND both butter and oil — what I’ve been looking for in a new recipe.
Hello Debby,
I made these cupcakes (frosted with the vanilla bean buttercream) a day ahead and they were still fantastic the next day….I don’t know about two days ahead though as they were all devoured that same day lol
Wow, these cupcakes were such a hit! I brought them to work to share with the office and everyone loved, loved, loved them. I frequently bring in new cupcake recipes for them to try and I believe this was their favorite. I live in Denver so I had to adjust for the altitude, but I got it right with the first try
I tried this recipe last night and fell in love with this recipe. Thank you so much for coming up with this recipe and now this recipe is my go to vanilla cupcake recipe.
These looked great at 14 minutes, just a little underdone, and then fell horribly by 15 minutes. We’re talking, practically donuts because they indented so deeply – nearly an inch. I don’t think there’s enough frosting in the world to cover these up.
I don’t think I overfilled, but I’m still going to try again with much less batter in the cups, just in case. The alarming part of all this is that I have THREE more batches with the dry ingredients already mixed and everything measured out, just waiting to go in the oven – this is for my son’s first birthday party and this is supposed to make 48 cupcakes for me – so this could be a colossal disaster. I wish I had baked a test batch first.
This is in my top 5 favorite cupcake recipes! I was feeling experimental, so I substituted 1/2 c cocoa for 1/2 c of flour & they were delicious! Light & chocolatey! This is my go-to vanilla recipe~~Thanks!!!
Made these for my friend’s birthday. They tasted ok. The flavor wasn’t strong enough and it wasn’t sweet enough either. i expected more out of these cupcakes and was disappointed.
Can this recipe be adapted to make a cake i have made these cupcakes and mini cupcakes and they were a huge hit a friend asked me to make an anniversary cake and thought this batter would be perfect can anyone tell me if i wanted to make a three tier wedding style cake what would the measurements be…..THANKYOU.
I’m crazy about white cake. Always have been. Right when I saw this recipe I knew I had to make them. I just made them yesterday and I’m very impressed. VERY impressed. They are delicious. The texture is perfect and they are super easy to prepare. I posted the results on my blog last night so please take a look. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe. It’s definitely a keeper.
heidibakes.blogspot.com
Thanks,
Heidi
Normally I’m a straight chocolate girl, but I was intrigued by the claim, so of course I had to try the recipe. O M G. They deserve every bit of praise we can heap on them. Fabulous taste, fabulous crumb. I think I’m in love.
BEST CUPCAKE RECIPE EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER. NO JOKE
yum <3
totally agree!!!
I tweak this recipe to make my Sweet Iced Tea cupcakes and they are absolutely divine. I had a family member tell me that it gave them a flavorgasm!
That’s some very high praise right there!!!
These were really the best vanilla cupcakes I have ever made and I bake A LOT (facebook.com/sugarlilysweets). I used buttermilk in place of whole milk and the result was phenomenal. Finally, a counterpart for my moist and fluffy chocolate cupcakes! Also, 1.5 ounces of batter per cup was perfect for me.
Hii, I have a very important question.
I just tried this recipe and whenever I put my cupcakes in the oven the bottom always gets too brown/burns or isn’t eatable while the top of the cupcakes seem to be fine. I tried placing the liners in the middle of the oven (height-wise) but still the cupcakes seemed to dry.
My oven is driving me crazy. I don’t know what to do with it anymore, it’s so frustrating. Should I add more milk/sour cream to keep my cupcakes soft and give it a juicy texture? Any suggestions/advices, please?
Thanks!
a general rule of thumb when it comes to ovens is the lower the cooking temperature the lower you should place the rack in the oven. Maybe your oven is cooking hot my old one used to? maybe try a test batch at 25 degrees lower at the middle rack? make sure you don’t preheat your pan – just the oven.
I’ve made this recipe about three times. Every time I’ve produced insanly fluffy, light, and moist cupcakes. Absolutely delicious. However, by the next day, they dry out considerably. I store them in an air-tight container, as I do with other cupcakes. Can anyone offer any advice?
So how did your cupcakes fair in the fridge overnight? My cupcakes taste so delicious the day of, then start drying out by the next day.
I am going to make a test batch of these – I’m looking for a great vanilla cupcake recipe to make for wedding cupcakes for my sister in laws wedding – so this looks perfect! Question – how many cupcakes does this recipe make?
Thanks!
Just made these (made minis) and they are delicious and moist with a wonderful vanilla flavour. This will be my new go-to vanilla cupcake recipe! Thank you
I agree with you Erin. I just tried them and they were only “OK” for me. Followed everything to a “T” …just not that great…grrr. I really wanted them to blow me away too …I soooo want to stop looking for that PERFECT vanilla cupcake. The search goes on….
These are amazing! I made them yesterday, but by the time my friends got their hands on them, there are only 2 left! Definitely the ultimate vanilla cupcake!
~Stephanie
P.S. I like your name!
the taste is AMAZEBALLL!!!!! thanks for sharing~
Vanilla bean source update to what is mentioned above!
The JR of JR Mushrooms retired and sold his business to Olive Nation. So, the same vanilla beans (and the same deal!) are available there–at least last time I checked.
http://www.olivenation.com/Vanilla-Bean-C54.aspx
They are still also available on Amazon as JR Mushrooms & Specialties vanilla beans. I just wanted to let people know these are the same beans, in case the Amazon version disappears!
FYI I was the web designer for JR Mushrooms, but I am not involved with the Olive Nation website.
Thank you for the wonderful recipe. Have baked it and loved it. Your cupcake looks lovely. Would you be able to share the piping technique? What is the piping tip? Thank you and happy cupcake baking!
Has anyone used William Sonoma ground Tahitian vanilla bean? I would really like some input in using this to substitute pod. Will the flavors change greatly?
How much vallina extract should you put in if you want to use that instead of vanilla bean?
The vanilla extract is not a replacement for the bean. Just leave the bean out if you don’t have one. I make it like that all of the time and it’s still delish.
I have been looking for a fabulous vanilla cupcake recipe for a while, after trying these my daughter told me the search was over! I made them for a July 4th party, topping them with creamcheese frosting, raspberries and blueberries. They were a huge hit. Thank you!
I had a problem with my cupcake cups indenting as well because they were Wilton and my pan is Goldtone from Williams Sonoma. I find the Martha Stewart cupcake cups are less fluted, I’ll have to stick with those!
it was amazing! they were really THE most ULTIMATE VANILLA CUPCAKES ever!!! i used plain low-fat yoghurt instead of sour cream, and vanilla essence instead of the beans. Turned out just fine!!! TIP: When mixing the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and later the butter, use a sifter. Makes the job very easy and gets rid of clumps
I was very exicted about this recipe but it did not work for me. They look horrible and they are way too soft…
Yummy cupcakes! We tried it with avo instead of sourcream and they were delicious! keeping this one for the future.
Wow these cupcakes looks fabulous ~ I need to make a cake for my sister next weekend for her birthday ~ was wondering with 1 amount of batter can I make 2 x 8 inch round cake and if so how long should I bake it for?
Thanks
as far as a yellow cupcake goes, this one was not my favorite… however I was in search of “The Perfect Pistachio Cupcake” and this recipe plus one packet of jello instant Pistachio Pudding mix is the perfect pistachio cupcake (and the 5th different one I have experimented with)
Mine were exactly the same, they looked fantastic when i took them out of the oven but as they cooled they sunk. I can’t get “cake” flour in England, just plain, self raising or bread. I just use plain usually. I didn’t get my cream or milk to room temperature either though so that probably didn’t help. I will be trying again at the weekend though
Amanda
These are definately the Ultimate! They are AMAZING!!! Thank you for this recipe!
Anyone know whether these freeze well? I’ll be making 250 cupcakes — as well as all the other food and hosting at my home, so I can’t be baking the night before the party.
Absolutely fantastic recipe. Light, fluffy, clean clear vanilla flavor. I am planning to pair this with a vanilla buttercream, the twist, infuse the heavy cream with lavender flowers. Thank you do much for posting the recipe.
Just tried this recipe today and it turned out great everyone loves it. Would try it again tomoro. Thank you for sharing.
wow! these came out amazing!! i used them to make tie-dye/rainbow cupcakes, and the texture and taste were wonderful! thank you
I think I need some help. I am a novice cook. I love this recipe and it always comes out tasting fantastic. However, the cakes often shrink in their cases and become quite a bit smaller than when they come out the oven, often peeling away from the cases. I hand rub the butter into the dry ingredients, and use a single stem electric whisk to mix the rest. Any ideas where I’m going wrong. I have wondered about trying some self-raising flour to see if they keep their size and shape better.
Just made a batch now a your chocolate cream cheese frosting – OMG
Making mine right now, your directions were easy to follow and I added a teaspoon of lemon zest
Hi, I baked the cupcakes according to the recipe given. Baked them just yellow, not brown. It was fluffy and moist and tasted good. Then when I left the cupcakes for 2 hours on the plate, there was moisture on top of the cupcake. I never encounter such in other recipes. Did I not bake long enough?
I agree with you Erin about it being too moist and stuck to my teeth when I took a bite. It is nice though but I won’t term it the ultimate vanilla cupcake for me.
Absolutely perfect. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
OMG. You’ve saved my sanity and probably my life with this recipe. It’s perfect. It’s the texture of a box mix, but the flavor of homemade, and the little cupcakes are just beautiful with the speckles of vanilla bean. They’re all just so lovely. We made a batch last night that turned out 12 normal sized cupcakes and about 80 minis. My only sad thought about these cupcakes is that it’s so perfect that we can’t use our Nutella Buttercream with them! The buttercream takes away from the perfectness of the cupcakes, and makes it a little overwhelming I think. We’re going to try your vanilla cream cheese frosting recipe, and I’ll probably cry a little bit from sheer happiness when I taste it. Thank you thank you thank you!
I made these today after stumbling on your blog and reading all the reviews and must say these were just so soft,moist and light….I didn’t have cake flour so used all purpose and didnt have sour cream so mixed yoghurt with single cream and frosted with blueberry buttercream and they were absolutely delicious….my son cldnt stop asking for more!…..thank u sooooo much for this recipe.
Hi, I’m confused about the flour amounts you listed. It has 1 and 3/4 cups flour or 175 grams but the conversion for that amount should be closer to 220 grams. When you baked them, did you go by weight or cups?
This recipe is a keeper! Just baked these n thou I substituted the sour cream w yoghurt, it still turned out great!!!
I will try w sour cream again!
Thanks for sharing!
hi flavor wise these cupcakes are extremely yummy! when I made them though they didn’t come out as moist as the other reviewers mentioned. I’m wondering what I am doing wrong, I measured the ingredients exactly so I think it may be my oven, I also don’t know if foil liners impact the dryness of it because I felt they were still very hot when I removed them from the tin pan.
Blech. The texture of these cupcakes was very eggy. Followed the recipe exactly, and I am no novice cupcake maker. Would definitely not make these again.
You did something wrong. I have made these MANY times, and they are always perfect.
I used to live in a country with no extract. It is very unfortunate as I find they taste very different. I wonder if you can buy beans online and make your own extract by putting the beans in a bottle of vodka? It takes many months to a year so not a quick fix but worth a try. Likewise you can probably buy vanilla extract online. I believe essence is just an artificial clear substance. Also I believe a few drops is equivalent to a tsp.
Found this recipe my typing in google “best cupcake recipe” and in one word… WOW!
I have been looking for a cupcake recipe that was soft like a cupcake should be, as opposed to most recipes that come out more like a muffin. I think half the secret is the cake flour! Thank you so much!
Best cupcake ever!! Thank you so much. I have tried so many vanilla cupcake recipes and they have never turned out right. This is perfect! I hate using boxed mix and knew that there must be something way better out there but disnt find it until I can here. I made rainbow cupcakes with them today, and will be making a huge order of them for Eid al fitr. Thanks again!
these blew my mind!!! I used a tablespoon of vanilla bean paste pluse a a half a teaspoon almond extract and used buttermilk instead of whole. the taste and texture were out of this world!! thank you! had so much flavor. I feel like so many cakes are just a base for the frosting but these were so tastey all by themselves.
So I made these the other day just as an initial test knowing they wouldn’t be nearly the true ‘ultimate’ because I didn’t have all the right ingredients. I am planning to buy vanilla pods online (can’t bring myself to pay store price), so I skipped that part and also, can you believe my supermarket doesn’t carry cake flour (which I went to town specifically to buy) so I had to settle for normal flour.
Regardless, the batter tasted out of this world, so I hoped for good things. When my daughter tasted them she said, and I quote: “this is the best thing I have ever put in my mouth.” haha! Pretty cute. Anyhoooo, I didn’t personally feel they were THAT good, but I do think with the vanilla pods they could be. They were still very good though.
My question is, how important is the cake flour (since my store will probably never have it stocked)? I will find it somewhere if i have to (I’m living in UK at the mo, so I have no idea how hard or easy this flour is to find)! How detrimental to this cupcake’s ‘ultimicity’ will all-purpose be?
Thank you!! I’ve recently found your site. Can’t wait to try the Tiramisu cupcakes, pina colada cupcakes and cookie dough cupcakes! I think I better start a new exercise plan, as well!
I made these a couple days ago and they were awesome! The cupcakes had a really nice texture and had a very light vanilla flavor. And wow that icing is the bomb just an amazing flavor. My husband who doesn’t even like buttercream frostings was in love with this frosting.
Next time I make these I’m going to double the frosting batch so I can use an even bigger tip then the wilton 1m I used this time.
Thanks for sharing!
Christine
Thank you so much for this recipe! I have been searching and had it narrowed down to yours and Magnoliia Cupcakes recipe. I made both and took to work and had them vote. Hands down, this recipe was the winner! Made for a housewarming party and they raved about them! Hint on vanilla bean, found at World Market for $2.99 for 2! They were large also! Cheapest i found.
Awesome Awesome Awesome! I made these a few days ago and they are absolutely the best. I make my own vanilla sugar, so I got to skip that step. I had already done so on a larger scale. I keep that stuff around, now I have another reason to make more. I just got a shipment of fresh beans. (beanilla.com has the best)I used a white chocolate ganache frosting and they were perhaps the best cupcakes I have ever made or tasted! Great job with this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing.
I made these the other night, just to try them out, but one of my customers had a birthday “emergency” and wanted to buy them off of me. She took them and passed them around, and I had another order for 3 dozen of them within hours. I say that’s success! Thanks!
Hi Stef, I’ve made these many times since discovering your Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake recipe two months ago – bridal showers, parties, and just to eat at home. The first time I made them, there were ‘tunnels’ (the oven must have gotten too hot), but every batch after that has come out tasting like a vanilla cloud. Light, fluffy, airy and moist vanilla bliss!
The vanilla bean makes all the difference, it does! I start with all the ingredients at room temperature and test every minute after minute #14. I used extra virgin organic olive oil once, but the taste was too overpowering, so now I use peanut oil but any oil without a strong flavor would probably work.
Thanks again for this amazing recipe! I’ll be posting my test results on your Chocolate Cupcake recipe next!
http://graciecooks.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-ultimate-vanilla-cupcake-bar-none.html
I made these yesterday and they turned out absolutely awful. Recipe was followed exactly but it turned out to be a big doughy mess. I wasted eggs, sugar, flour and vanilla and the cupcakes have to be thrown in the garbage.
I can’t remember. Looks like it might have been a Wilton 2D.
I actually got the same result, I tried the recipe today and it was so pretty in the oven and then came out and slowly started deflating and the tops once cooled got all wrinkly and looked quite hideous. I just came home and checked up on them and now they look even worse. Really sticky at the top, it was so much nicer and tastier when it was still nice and hot out of the oven. I’ve made cupcakes before and never had this issue so is there anything I might have done wrong?
i have tryed these cupcakes twice now but they go very brown on the top(not burned) what am i doing wrong yet they taste really scummy
Gotta be honest. Not a fan of Vanilla Cupcakes, but decided to try this for a friend who won’t eat anything with chocolate.
The moist and tender crumb was a surprise! I tried to do the squish test, and it would softly spring back instead of disintegrate in my hand. I finished the whole cupcake… and that’s still without frosting! I have tasted many that were either too dry or heavy like a rock.
I am looking forward to the giant cupcake I am making with this recipe. *fingers crossed*
OMG the best cupcakes I have ever made/eaten. Thank you so much. i have been looking for a recipe like this.
I tried these and they were beautiful. One question though, it says here 13/4 cups cake flour which I weighed and it was was more than 175g! Am I imagining or doing something wrong. I went for cups and the cake was a bit dense but still nice. I guess I’ll try grams next and see how it turns out.
Hi,
I converted your recipe into an engagement cake for 60 and frosted it with vanilla and lemon buttercream and topped it with decorative almond flavoured fondant. Two weeks later, the guests are still praising it on Facebook – memorable!!!
Thanks for your efforts and sharing
They were too fluffy and tasted like muffins that can be found in our local supermarkets here. Thanks for sharing.
Made these today, and they’re incredible! I used some of them to make the fried cupcake nuggets from another of your post. The rest will be frosted tomorrow
I was also going to use the vanilla bean paste in place of the bean but was wondering how much?!
Followed directions eactly. mixed 3 min. on suggested speed as directed. Tasted good Looked good except inside had some small air holes. Noticed some small bubbles when baking. Is this because the batter is so liquid
Hello,
I wrote about your recipe on my new blog, because I’m absolutely obsessed with it. Your website is wonderful, and I can’t wait until you finish coming up with the ultimate chocolate cupcake recipe. You can read my post here: https://adventuresofahopelessfoodie.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/sam-bakes-cultural-food-night/
Thanks again for this wonderful recipe! I love it!
~Sam
all I can say, after having tried these, is a huge OMG! And I substituted soy milk for the milk and low-fat yogurt for the sour cream. I’ve been baking for years, and these are really the absolute bestest ever! the texture is sooooo mmmmmmmm and the flavor so WOW! Put them out for dessert last night for my family of chocolate lovers, and they were gone gone gone in the blink of an eye.
Any idea why my cupcakes shrunk when out of the oven? I’ve tried the recipe twice, in pleated cupcake holders (those that do not require muffin pan). I love the texture and would definitely like to improve the look of them.
Jade
This is just the information I am finding everywhere. Thanks for your bridal gowns blog, I just subscribe your blog. This is a nice blog..
I am usually so bad with recipes but I was very careful with this one…(except that I added a bit more vanilla extract than this recipe calls for). I love vanilla so I thought the more the better and YUM! This is by far THE BEST cupcake I’ve ever tasted. Could not have done it without the recipe!
I made half the recipe but without the vanilla beans. The topping was just a simple Marshmallow last 5 -6 minutes in the oven. I gave it to a group of my coworkers before making two full batches for my daughter’s birthday this weekend. Not only was so easy, but it took me only 50 minutes from begining to end. The best coment from a cupcake lover was “Best cupcake ever”.
Teaching my 10 year old that things are more delicious when they are homemade and this was great proof – THX!! She is a huge cupwars fan and would love to take this recipe and add different flavors. Has anybody found some variations that they love? THX
Great recipe!! I had to substitute many ingredients, such as cake flour for regular white flour, yogurt for sour cream, no vanilla bean, etc., and they still came out amazing!!! thanks so much!!!
Made them, loved them, so did everyone else. Next time I’ll try the butter as I enjoy dense cupcakes. The buttercream was a tasty disaster due to several superhot days and a very hot kitchen (had to put the butter back into the fridge to firm up as it kept melting on the counter).
I plan to make these for my daughters birthday coming up. I tried two trial testing all butter and 1/2 butter and 1/2 oil. The half and half cupcakes were very light and the all butter denser. The one thing I found was that 175g as listed in the recipe is not 1 3/4 cups of flour. I even did some research online and found that approximately 196-200 g (depending on what site) was the actual weight for 1 3/4 cups. The recipe did say the batter would be runny – yes that is true when I used less flour. When I used the correct amount of flour the batter was thick not runny and the cupcakes were dense – I did use all butter for these so that may also have contributed to the heaviness – they were not dry just dense. Did anyone else find this problem? Should the other ingredients be altered due to the increase of flour – maybe any of the wet ingredients? If anyone could offer their comments / thoughts that would be great as my daughters birthday is this weekend and I don’t know which way to go? Thanks
I had a party on the weekend and I tried the recipe! It was a hit! Thank you so much!
Hello Vanja,
I just wanted to ask that when you added the extra flour if your batter was now thick and not liquidy as stated in recipe. I did find that 1 3/4 cups was not 175g. The difference between the two (175 g and 200g) I found was kind of extreme – very light and fluffly and then quite dense. Not sure if that was becuase I used all butter with the batch with more flour. Just wondered what you did and how you found your cupcakes with the additional flour.
Thanks!
Ok I have finally arrived at my go to Moist Vanilla Cupcake recipe destination!! I thought it was only right to come and comment after using this recipe TWICE in one week! I made them for some real and honest critics, “preschoolers” and they LOVED them. I then made them for my own family and, you guessed it, they were a HIT! THANK YOU, THANK YOU AND THANK YOU!!!
hi stef! i have tried quite a few buttermilk cupcake recipes and most of them have turned out not as fluffy as i like them to be. after going through these threads, it seems like butter seems to be the cause of the denseness. would substituting the 160mls of milk with buttermilk make the cupcakes even fluffier? would really appreciate it if you can advice. thanks!
Just baked these for the first time. They came out perfect. Light, moist and fluffy. Thanks for the fab recipe!
Can I substitute Whole Milk for 2%? I have everything else and would so so so not want to go back out to the market!
Thanks!!
I made this yesterday as a mini-cupcake for a co-worker’s birthday. For the frosting I used milk chocolate carmel. There were so many I sent half to my husband’s work. One of his co-workers left a note which read, “Best thing that’s happened to me all day”. I will definitely use this as my go-to vanilla recipe.
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I want to use this recipe for my daughter’s birthday cake. I’m planning on making a 3 tier ruffle ombre cake. What would you different on a cake as opposed to cupcakes? I ask this as I sit looking at my poor cake that fell apart when I put it on the cooling rack
I can’t wait to make these cupcakes! I just started cupcake blogging and uploaded my first post a couple days ago. Check out my blog at dreamincupcakes.blogspot.com
I just happened to stumble across this recipe and was eager to try it. Oh boy! was this a hit:) The cupcakes were devoured by my colleagues at work and someone even said these were extremely professional in taste. Thank you Stef for a simple yet delicious recipe:)
They taste like pancakes and seem to be a little too oily/moist. We don’t have cake flour in Australia so had to use plain with a little corn flour
My daughter has tried many vanilla cupcake recipes, she just can’t find one that she likes. I came across this one and shared it with her. We made it together today and she loves it!! She loves to bake cupcakes for family and friends. This will be the recipe she will use from now on, when vanilla is requested. Thanks so much!!
THANK YOU! I have made these a couple of times and they are always DIVINE and PERFECT! They are always a hit! I especially love the Vanilla Bean Frosting on them! I did have one question?! Since there still isn’t an Ultimate Chocolate cupcake, do you think I would be able to omit the vanilla bean and add cocoa powder to this recipe to convert it to Chocolate???
I just made these for a holiday party and they are as promised the ULTIMATE vanilla cupcake, so moist and rich! Delicious! I have been on a quest to find the perfect vanilla cupcake since I stop at my favorite bakery in Minneapolis every time I travel there, just for their vanilla princess cupcake. Thanks to you I can make my own. They are fabulous and I know everyone at the party will want the recipe!!
I just made this but very disappointed. Mine came out soft and moist and taste delicious. But texture wise isnt exactly like cake. It’s …pancake-y. I wonder what’s wrong. Maybe because of the mixing method? And also it tastes a bit eggy and the bottom is a bit oily. The cupcake is done with no wet centre, but I have impression like biting on an undercooked cake. Very sad, do you know what’s wrong with my cake? Thanks.
Stef – I too have been in search of the perfect vanilla cupcake. I love, love, love these cupcakes! However, mine came out looking like mini volcanos — rose to a point but with an indentation in the point. Very odd. I would say I’m a good and frequent baker but can’t figure out what I did wrong. Any ideas? Maybe over/under mixing – error in soda or powder measuring? But as I said, delicious. I will try again but thought perhaps you’d know what my problem could be. Thanks!
Stef – Love, love, love the taste and texture of these! However, mine came out very pointy – like mini volcanos! Any ideas about what I did wrong? They come to a point in the center of the cupcake but with a slight indentation in the center of the point. Very odd. I bake frequently but can’t figure out what the problem could be – obviously no one else had that issue. Thanks for any thoughts!
After reading all of the feedbacks I can’t wait to bake these right now, hope it turns as moisty and delicious as most of you have said, greets from Monterrey, México.
After having tried several vanilla cupcake recipes that claimed to be the best, I was very hesitant to test one more recipe.
But I am glad that I did because it was well received by all testers. The cupcake is very moist, fluffy with a strong vanilla flavour.
I may try to sub some of the oil with butter to make it a tad more dense.
On the whole, definitely a keeper and my go-to vanilla cupcake recipe.
Hi,
I live in Asian, Singapore and I just wanna said “Thank You” for sharing this recipe! I baked this vanilla cupcakes for Boxing Day. My husband said that these cupcakes are very moist & I should keep it for our future baking. I also left the cupcakes for days in room temperature & it’s still moist. Now am going to try you Chocolate cupcake & hope the same result too….Thank you so much!
Hi stef! Im Victor. Am a bit confused about the correct measurement of the flour, 1 3/4 cups (175 g) cake flour. i normally weigh my ingredients using a digital scale and 1 3/4 cups of cake flour is 262 grams. just wanna know which measurement is correct. thank you! =)
Hi, I made these and the taste was excellent. However, I used the weight measurements, and I do think your flour by weight is off. 1.75 cups of cake flour should = 222 grams, not 175. I used 175 grams and the cake was a bit dense.
I have been searching for the ultimate eggless cupcake recipe. Has anyone tried this without eggs and what did you use instead?
omg..i can’t wait to bake a super good and tasty vanilla cupcakes..i’ll try your recipe later..
They were perfectly fine, but definitely not my ULTIMATE vanilla cupcake. I’m certain that they’ll be consumed quite quickly at work tomorrow, so I don’t consider it a loss at all. Worth the try, and I’ll probably come back to this recipe in the future, but I’m going to have to keep looking for my version of the best vanilla cupcake ever.
Stef this is the BEST vanilla cupcakes I have ever made. its just melts in your mouth- like small clouds!!! OMG! Divine. I think my hunt for the best vanilla cupcake might have just ended, thank you!
Thank you , Thank you!!! I made these for my daughters 2nd Birthday party and they are the best cupcakes I have ever made! I have to say that I tested this recipe and one other I found on another blog and this one won for me, hands down! They taste amazing and the texture is perfect! I live at 5200 ft, so I did make a few adjustments for high altitude and, like I said before, they turned out great! This will definitely be my go to for vanilla cupcakes from now on.
I made these over the summer and forgot to comment! I had an order of two dozen vanilla cupcakes with Nutella frosting. I wanted the best cupcake since it was one of my first orders and then I came across this one! I ordered Madagascar vanilla beans off Amazon (a vacuumed sealed pack of about 54 beans was $27, couldn’t beat that!) and used one of them in this recipe. I only had skim milk at the time so I used that instead of whole milk–this didn’t make the cupcakes any less moist…they were AWESOME! I only know this because I had about a half dozen left over that I brought down to the beach with me and my family the next day. They loved them too! I highly recommend these with the Nutella butter cream. I am planning on making about 4 dozen minis of this recipe for next weekend for an order. Those are going to be frosted with vanilla butter cream. Thanks for this recipe!!
I made these cupcakes for an office function and everyone loved them. While I loved the texture of the cake, I expected more of a vanilla taste. I frosted the cupcake with a vanilla bean swiss meringue frosting but the burst of vanilla I was hoping for was somehow missing. I will make these again because the recipe made areally good fluffy cake; but I may tweak it a bit so that the burst of vanilla flavor I am looking for will shine through. Not sure how I will do it yet but working on it. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
My ones came out quite brown after 14 minutes. Is the temperature quoted in the recipe (175C) for non fan assisted ovens? They were still delicious but just a bit overdone! Please answer me because I am making more of them tonight?
Thank you so much for this recipie. The texture of these cupcakes are divine- soft, airy and extremely moist! These have to be the ultimate cupcakes ever!!!!
tried this and was a hit. however can i try baking it as a full round cake and how many inches round pls. i wld like to bake it in a 10 inches round pan.
I have baked it twice but the second time I changed much in it . First try I found it too sugary and oily , and more to yellow cupcake . I think due to being from another country ingredients really don’t carry the same characteristic . This is the final recipe I made and I have found it just how I would like a vanilla cupcake . These are what I have changed ( 150 grams sugar / 170 grams yogurt instead of sour cream / 1/8 cup veg oil , all purpose flour instead of cake flour and 1/2 cup water instead of milk .) even for all purpose flower I have to choose specific product .
I Really think you should try it . And thanks for cupcakes project really I love to read you . You are always inspiring .
This cupcake turned out great! I had made it and got very excited when watching them bake. They rose so evenly and looked and tasted wonderful! I like all the different fats used in this recipe. Sometimes all oil cupcakes can turn out too greasy and all butter cupcakes can be dense. So this was the perfect balance! This will be saved in my recipe box!
THANK YOU!!!!
WOW ! Amazing recipe
I posted some images of the cupcakes that I did on my blog here: http://brownieboxblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/perfect-vanilla-cupcakes-for-valentines-day/
These are definitely the best vanilla cupcakes I’ve ever tasted.
Can I make this as a cake? Does it come out as moist as the cupcakes?
Thank you in advance!
Absolutely incredible! The texture is fantastic! Extremely airy. I will definitely make these again!
I have to say, I was disappointed. They kind of tasty like bad pancake batter somebody decided to bake in muffin tins–but hey, maybe t’was just a fault on my part.
I just baked these cupcakes for my boyfriend’s birthday. When they first came out of the oven I was concerned they weren’t done. However, 14 minutes was just the right time. The cupcakes are the lightest and fluffiest I have ever baked. I also made the Vanilla Bean frosting. It piped so well my cupcakes looked professional!
Tried this after all the hype – sadly it came out boring and was a huge letdown
Dont know where I went wrong, followed recipe to the letter incl splitting up my vanilla pod.
the worst cupcake ever made
These cupcakes are definitely the best! I’ve made them in cake form twice and they’re still incredible!
Made these today,cake is very tasty but very moist. I used castor sugar,would that make a difference?
Also your picture of the cake is a lot paler than mine,I used unsalted butter like the recipe says?
made two batches of these, both came out exactly the same dark brown on top and still uncooked on the inside, i placed them in the middle of the oven first batch then on ht bottom for the second one, the flavour is lovely but they just won’t do what i want them too! any tips?
Great cupcakes!! I used plain yogurt instead of sour cream, and Badia vanilla instead of vanilla bean.
I tried this recipe today and had to split the batch into 2 to try 2 types of flour. I couldn’t find cake flour without added raising agents so trialed Italian 00 Flour and a cake flour that had cream of tartar and raising agents already added to it. The Italian 00 Flour gave a flat topped, low rise result with a richer flavour and a hint of subtle custard softness in the crumb than the other flour, which somehow wasn’t as flavoursome with a less luxurious crumb. The Italian 00 Flour won hands down. I will make this again in 2 weeks to fill a birthday order for my hubbys colleagues so I can return to provide the feedback I get from them, and they are mostly older men so will be interesting.
This recipe is now my go to Vanilla recipe. I’ve used it in cake and cupcake form. Both work beautifully! I really want to thank you for the IndriVanilla link. After so many orders for this flavor, paying $6.00 per bean retail really started cutting into profits. Getting the 10% discount by typing in the ultimatecakeproject was really nice. Once again, THANKS so much!!
I’ve baked these a few times, and I have to say they are very forgiving and turn out great every time. Once I even had to omit the sour cream and substituted the closest thing I had, which was cream cheese! I know, I know… but they still turned out great. I’ve also made it without the vanilla bean, and just used a little bit more vanilla extract. I live in a very dry climate, so the batter is never runny for me, like you’ve indicated in the recipe. No matter. Works great. Thanks for the recipe!
What size vanilla bean did you use in this recipe. Trying to purchase from Indivanilla but I have no idea what size I need to purchase?
I purchased the med. size and I used 2 of them in the recipe. It worked out great for me. Good luck and happy baking!
I have made this recipe many times and love the way these cupcakes taste the first day. My problem is how to store them so they stay fresh and moist. I cool them immediately on a rack and store in airtight tupperware containers at room temp prior to frosting. They are so dry and crumbly after 2 days. Refridgerating dries them out, too. I have a wedding order to fulfill and would love to use this recipe. Please help with storage ideas!
Have you ever made this into a layered cake?
Were they all baked from the same batch of batter? If yes, my only suggestion would be that the longer the batter sits, everything is not as perfectly blended together as when you first complete the mixing and pour into the pans – although not necessarily easy to see, the longer the batter sits, the more some ingredients separate out a bit, i.e. are less emulsified, causing that ringed appearance. Try giving a few gentle stirs each time before you pour into each pan.
These are really The Ultimate Cupcakes. I made these and it’s my first ever attempt to make cupcakes from scratch, these are fluffy, moist and very tasty. I use some of my own tricks, I mixed all dry ingredients and leave in separate bowl, than all liquids, I put milk in microwave for 1 minute and than add vanilla extract to it, I separated eggs, and beat egg whites with mixer until fluffy and light, i mixed all liquids one by one, egg yolks, hot milk with vanilla, than sugar, butter and oil in it, than i mixed it with the hand mixer. Than add all dry ingredients slowly and mix it on low speed, just for 2 minutes, than mix it with hand, in the last just fold egg whites in the batter. I fill the cupcakes holders 1/2 and than add chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, caramel chips, in each cupcake batter a different taste to add. i made one with red food color. All turned out so yummy. Definitely these are my Ultimate Vanilla Cupcakes forever. Thank you so much. kindly if you share your Ultimate chocolate chip cookies recipe and for Pizza dough also. Thank you again. Stay blessed.
HI,
First of all, I would like to thank you because I thought I stood no chance EVER at baking, but you just gave me sooo much hope. The cupcake turned out amazing.
They taste amazing and are easy to make. I am a big fan of yours now.
Hey Stef! I was wondering if you could help me out. I tried the recipe and the cupcakes sunk, didn’t rise. I’m pretty certain thisis because I am from Mexico city and the sea level here is probably different, so I was wondering how to adapt the recipe to my sea level. Could you give me any pointers? I can send you a picture of how they came out if that helps. Thanks!
Maybe this will help.
I made this recipe and it was a hit at work!!! Thank you!!!