Homemade vanilla cupcakes paired with a creamy maple sea salt buttercream that is simple to whip up.
Ever feel like a homemade cupcake but didn’t want a whole batch of 24 cupcakes? Then do we have the perfect recipe for you. This easy to make homemade vanilla cupcakes and maple sea salt buttercream recipe only makes a batch of 9 cupcakes.
Nervous about making cupcakes and frosting from scratch? Don’t be we promise you it is really easy. We have a few helpful tips to help you create the best cupcakes you have ever tasted.
Ready to start baking?
Ingredients you’ll need:
- Cake flour. When it comes to making a homemade cake you always want to use cake flour. Cake flour is lighter, finer, and softer which in turn creates a light, fluffy, and tender cupcake. We use the Swans Down Cake flour.
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Butter. We use salted butter but feel free to use unsalted if you like.
- Olive oil
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Buttermilk
- Powdered sugar
- Pure Maple Syrup. Don’t get this confused with regular maple syrup that you would use on your pancakes!
- Ground cinnamon
- Coarse sea salt. This will be to sprinkle on top of the cupcakes. Over favorite coarse sea salt is Maldon Sea Salt Flakes.
Tips for making the perfect vanilla cupcake:
- Make sure your eggs, butter, and buttermilk are at room temperature.
- Fill each cupcake liner ¾ of the way up with batter. Filling it up to the top will create mushroom tops and too little batter won’t create that nice dome we look for in a cupcake.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting to keep the frosting from melting.
Tips for making the maple sea salt buttercream:
- Don’t let your butter get too soft. This will affect the consistency of the frosting. It should be at least 68 degrees. You can check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer.
- Be sure to sift the powdered sugar to avoid any clumps of sugar in the frosting.
- Add more pure maple syrup to increase the maple flavor.
- If the frosting is too wet add more powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.
- If your frosting is too dry. A half teaspoon of milk a little at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.
- The piping tip we used for piping is the Ateco 846 tip.
More recipes you might enjoy:
Small Batch Vanilla Cupcakes with Maple Sea Salt Buttercream
A small-batch of homemade vanilla cupcakes paired with a maple sea salt buttercream that is simple to make.
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- 1½ cup plus 3 tbsp Cake Flour Do not use All-purpose flour
- 1/2 tbsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/4 cup Butter room temperature
- 1/4 cup Olive Oil
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs room temperature
- 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp Buttermilk room temperature
Maple Sea Salt Buttercream
- 3/4 cup Butter room temperature
- 2 cups Powdered Sugar sifted
- 1/2 tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 4 tbsp Pure Maple Syrup
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/8 tsp Cinnamon
- Coarse Sea Salt to sprinkle on top
Instructions
Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350° Farenheight. Prepare a cupcake pan with liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment cream together the butter, olive oil, and sugar. Scrape down the sides if needed.
- Add each egg in one at a time making sure that each one is well incorporated before adding the next one.
- Stir in the vanilla extract.
- On low speed add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk. Mix until combined.
- Divide the batter evenly into the cupcake pan filling each one 3/4 of the way up.
- Bake for 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
Maple Sea Salt Buttercream
- Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment beat the butter on medium speed for 5 minutes.
- On low speed add the powdered sugar a little at a time until fully incorporated.
- Add in the vanilla extract, pure maple syrup, salt, and cinnamon. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. About 3-4 minutes.
- Pipe or frost onto the cooled cupcakes and then sprinkle the tops with the coarse sea salt.
Notes
Add more powdered sugar at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.
For more maple flavor you can add in more maple syrup.
Enjoyed the recipe? Be sure to tag us on Instagram using the hashtag #wonderandcharm
Looking for more cake recipes? You can find them here.
