No celebration is complete without some of the most colourful cupcakes around, white vanilla funfetti! These white vanilla cupcakes are light and fluffy, topped with a silky smooth white buttercream and exploding with colourful sprinkles. They’re the perfect party cupcake for any special occasion.
White vanilla cupcakes are made just like regular vanilla cupcakes but without the bright yellow egg yolks, meaning they come out of the oven much paler in colour and with less of a yellowish tinge. This makes them perfect for special celebrations, when you might be looking for a more classier cupcake to decorate the table.
How do you make these vanilla cupcakes?
So, how are easy are these cupcakes to whip up. Well, we start off by creaming the butter and sugar together in a mixer until thoroughly combined and a light and fluffy texture has been achieved. It is imperative that the butter is at room temperature for this, so that the ingredients are incorporated into the batter correctly. Once finished with the creaming method, the egg whites are whisked in one at a time until a gloopy mixture forms. Be careful not to ovemix here but we do want them to be whisked in completely! The vanilla exctract is added next and mixed in too. In a separate bowl, the flour, ground almonds, salt, Xanthan Gum and baking powder is sifted together and then slowly added to the wet ingredients and mixed in until just incorporated. We don’t want to overmix and lose those nice airbubbles that we’ve achieved in the previous whisking. The dry ingredients are mixed in in batches, alternating with the lukewarm milk. Funfetti sprinkles are carefully folded into the mixture in the final step being baking. The mixture is then scooped into 12 cupcake cases and baked at 160 degrees in a fan assisted oven for around 20-25 minutes until slightly golden and springy to the touch. After cooling, the buttercream is whipped up and piped on, before an explosion of sprinkles rains down upon them to finish them off. And there we have it, the perfect party cupcakes!
What equipment do I need for these cupcakess?
- 12-hole cupcake baking tray
- 12 large cupcake cases – I atually use muffin cases (50 x 44mm) because you can really fill them up and have some decent sized cupcakes at the end
- Piping bag fitted with a large open-star tip (Wilton 1M)
What ingredients do I need?
Sugar – White caster sugar adds structure and sweetness to these cupcakes and helps to keep them white during the baking process.
Egg whites – Only egg whites are needed for this recipe in order to avoid adding any yellow tinges to the sponge. The yolks can be used up in an omlette for lunch instead!
Butter – Use unsalted butter for this recipe so that you can control the amount of salt being added. The butter needs to be softened to room temperature for both the cupcake and buttercream. Butter also contains natural pigments called beta-carotenes which give it that bright yellow colour, and different brands contain differing levels of pigmentation. As a yellowish colour is less desirable for these cupcakes, I would recommend buying butter that is lighter in colour. Compare different brands to find one that suits.
Gluten-free flour – A gluten-free flour blend which contains a variety of flours is perfect for gluten-free baking. This ensures the cupcakes contain all of the necessary components needed to create the perfect crumb which a gluten-containing flour would natually contain.
Xanthan gum – Xanthan gum is essential for most gluten free recipes and there’s no exceptions here. Doves Farm is my preferred choice but you can use any brand. Xanthan Gum is a gluten replacement for gluten-free baking and helps to replace the lost elasticity that gluten provides, keeping your cupcakes together and stopping them from crumbling into dry pieces later on
Baking powder – Baking powder acts as a leavening agent, helping the cupcakes to rise. Any baking powder will work, just again, check that it is definitely gluten-free as not all brands are.
Salt – A pinch of salt in a recipe enhances the flavours of the other ingredients and offsets the sweetness of the cupcakes. I like to add a pinch of salt to the buttercream too, sounds strange, but trust me, it works!
Milk – I use whole-milk (1.5%) for this recipe but a semi-skimmed can be used too
Vanilla extract – A few drops of vanilla extract enhances the flavour of the cupcakes. Vanilla paste can be used too or vanilla from a vanilla pod. I prefer to use a clear liquid extract for this recipe in order to avoid adding any unnecessary yellow tinges to the mixture.
Funfetti sprinkles – Try to get the most colourful gluten-free sprinkles possible, I prefer rainbow sprinkles for these cupcakes
Icing sugar – Icing sugar or confectioner’s sugar adds the sweetness and structure to the buttercream. It helps the buttercream to set once you’ve piped it into beautiful swirls on your cupcakes
Gel food colouring – It is extremely different to achieve a truly white looking buttercream without a bit of gel food colouring to help. Here’s where the science of baking comes in! If you can’t get your hands on a really pale butter or some white gel food colouring, then a few teeny-tiny drops, and with teeny-tiny I do mean a toothpick drop, of purple food colouring will counter-balance the yellow tones of the buttercream, making it appear more white! It sounds bizarre, but it works! Be careful not to over-do the purple as you don’t want to risk accidentally turning your buttercream purple
White Vanilla Funfetti Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 200 g gluten-free self-raising flour blend
- 115 g unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 3 large egg whites room temperature
- 40 g ground almonds
- 120 ml milk room temperature
- 120 g sour cream or plain yogurt room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp Xanthan Gum
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
For the buttercream
- 250 g unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 450 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 tbsp double-cream
- Few drops white or purple food gel colouring *see notes
- ⅛ tbsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160C Fan and line a 12-hole muffin tray with 12 cupcake cases.
- Cream the butter in a mixer on the highest speed for 2-3 minutes until lighter in colour and fluffy in texture.
- Add the sugar and cream together with the butter, scraping down the sides as neccesary, until well combined.
- Whisk in the egg whites one at a time until fully incorporated. Next, add the vanilla and sour cream or yogurt, and whisk again.
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients; flour, ground almonds, salt, Xanthan Gum and baking powder. Whisk until well combined.
- Sift in the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, and mix on a low-medium speed until just combined and no pockets of flour remain. Take care not to overmix.
- Use an ice cream scoop, to spoon one generous scoop into each of the cupcake cases. This ensures even distribution of the mixture and thus evenly-sized cupcakes.
- Bake on the middle shelf for around 20-25 minutes, or until springy to the touch and an inserted toothpick comes out clean with no wet crumbs on it.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool for 2-3 minutes before transfering them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled, prepare the buttercream by creaming the butter in a mixer on the highest setting for 5-6 minutes, scraping down the sides as neccesary, until the butter becomes much paler in colour and fluffy in texture.
- Sift in the icing sugar in small batches and continue to whisk on the highest setting until fully incorportated.
- Add the vanilla extract and the double cream and whisk again for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- If using the white food gel colouring add the few drops and whisk until completely incorporated into the buttercream. If using the purple food gel method, add a tiny drop at a time and whisk in well after each one, until the yellow tones of the buttercream fade and the colour is paler and whiter. Be careful here not to add more than a small drop each time, so as not to turn the buttercream purple. (see notes*)
- Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large open-star nozzle and pipe a blob in the centre of the cupcake to act as support for the swirl. Starting at the base, pipe the buttercream in a swirl around the cupcake 3 times.
- Sprinkle with funfetti rainbow sprinkles to finish.
