hi everyone,

I know baking cupcake seems to be a science!

What recipe would you recommend for a complete beginner?

Easy-peasy scratch vanilla cupcake recipe:

4.5oz butter - room temp
4.5oz sugar
4.5oz flour - all purpose
2 eggs - room temp
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Throw it all in a mixer and beat it on medium-high speed for 2 minutes (start slow or your flour will shoot out the bowl).
Line cupcake pan with 12 liners.
Use an ice cream scoop to get exactly 12 cupcakes.
Bake at in the centre of the oven which has been preheated to 160ºC (320ºF), for 17 minutes.
Leave in pan for 2 minutes, then remove from pan and place on a cooling rack to cool.

Oops, forgot the 3 tablespoons of milk (room temp) which should be added after your 2 minutes of mixing, just by stirring it in, sorry!

I would recommend to take a recipe and just do it. When it comes to the process of making cake or cupcakes, the batter is all prepared the same way. It would be hard to pinpoint that one perfect recipe from the 1,000's available on the internet. I say jump in with both feet and start baking. There is always someone around who are willing to eat them - perfect or not.