You don't have access to view this content
Blog
Best Chocolate Cupcake Recipe (Super Moist)
This is the best chocolate cupcake recipe with a creamy mock Swiss meringue chocolate buttercream. This easy cupcake recipe comes together quickly with no special equipment required. Pair it with chocolate buttercream for a chocolate lover, strawberry buttercream for a springtime dessert, or cream cheese frosting for a perfect birthday treat.
These homemade cupcakes are similar to my famous easy chocolate cake recipe and easy buttercream frosting, but even easier to make! Even my daughter, Avalon could make these cupcakes at 5 years old. The trick is warming your wet ingredients and not over-mixing the batter so that it stays cohesive and doesn't separate.
Table of contents
Chocolate Cupcake Ingredients
Oil – Cocoa powder is very drying so to make your chocolate cupcakes moist, you will need oil. Some recipes use butter (like mine) for added flavor and texture but oil really helps create moist cupcakes.
Warm Buttermilk – Not only does the warm buttermilk help bloom the cocoa powder, it also makes the cupcakes super tender and moist.
Espresso powder - This is an optional ingredient, but helps make them delicious. It doesn't make your cupcakes taste like coffee, it just enhances the flavor of the chocolate. I use hot coffee in my chocolate cake recipe, so it has a similar effect without adding extra liquid.
Brown Sugar - Did you know that white sugar is just brown sugar with the moisture removed? It adds a depth of flavor that is delicious, just make sure to sift it to remove any hard lumps. That moisture is called molasses. If you want to add moisture to a recipe, replace half the white sugar with brown sugar.
Cocoa powder - Really any kind of cocoa powder will work for these cupcakes. You can also use dutch-process cocoa powder for a darker color and more intense flavor, or natural cocoa powder for a more milk chocolate flavor.
Chocolate Buttercream Ingredients
Pasteurized egg whites - Many meringue-based frostings use eggs as a key ingredient. This chocolate buttercream is a mock-Swiss meringue buttercream where you skip the step of heating the eggs with sugar. Pasteurized egg whites are heat treated and are safe to eat without cooking and normally come in a carton. If you only have fresh eggs, I suggest making my chocolate Swiss meringue recipe.
Making Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and prepare your cupcake pan with paper liners.
- For the best results, warm the buttermilk in the microwave (roughly 100ºF), bring the butter to room temperature, and warm the eggs in hot water for 5 minutes. Warm ingredients will create an emulsion and a smoother batter.
- Combine the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla together and set it aside.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder in a mixing bowl and set it aside.
- Cream together the butter, white sugar and sifted brown sugar in your stand mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can use the whisk attachment and a hand mixer, but I would mix the rest of the ingredients by hand to avoid overmixing.
- Add in the eggs one at a time while mixing on low, letting the first one mix in before adding the second. Scrape the bowl to be sure that everything is mixed well.
- While mixing on low speed, add ⅓ of the dry ingredients, followed by ⅓ of the wet ingredients. Alternate two more times until just combined.
- Fill your cupcake liners ½ of the way full. This recipe makes about 24 cupcakes.
- Bake the cupcakes at 350°F for 18-20 minutes until set. Do not overbake.
- Cool completely on a cooling rack before frosting.
Making Chocolate Buttercream
- Place the pasteurized egg whites, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder into the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment and mix on high for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the sugar.
- Add the vanilla, salt, and softened butter in small chunks, then whip on high until light and fluffy, about 8-10 minutes. Once it no longer tastes like butter, it's done.
- If your buttercream looks curdled, remove about 1 cup of buttercream and melt it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds until it is barely melted. Pour it back into the whipping buttercream to bring it all together.
- Switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low for about 10 minutes to remove the air bubbles and create super smooth buttercream. This is optional but will make it extra creamy.
- Frost the cupcakes as desired. I used a 2F piping tip and a piping bag for mine.
FAQ
Oil is important for making moist chocolate cupcakes, but too much oil in a recipe will cause the wrappers to peel away from the cupcake. Some people add sour cream for moisture, but I prefer buttermilk for that moisture and acidity.
If you want to make sure your cupcakes are very fluffy, you want to cream the butter and sugar together really well. I have had a lot of really delicious cupcake recipes that come together in one bowl with no creaming required but the texture is fudgy rather than fluffy.
I used to think it was a problem with the recipe that I was using but the secret to a perfectly domed cupcake is actually how full you fill the cupcake liner. You only need to fill the cupcake liner ½ to ⅔ full. If you over-fill then your batter will rise up and then collapse over the edge.
You can use a medium cookie scoop to get your batter in your liners or you can even put your pan on a scale and pipe your batter into the liners for the ultimate accuracy!
Related Recipes
Recipe
Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Equipment
- Mixer with whisk and paddle attachment (stand or handheld)
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 5 ounces unsalted butter softened (½ cup + 2 Tbsp)
- 6 ounces granulated sugar (1 cup)
- 4 ounces brown sugar sifted (½ cup)
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 ounces all-purpose flour (1 ¾ cup)
- 2 ounces cocoa powder dutched or natural (½ cup)
- 1 Tablespoon espresso powder (optional)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 10 ounces buttermilk warm (1 ¼ cup)
- 2 ounces vegetable oil (¼ cup)
For the chocolate frosting
- 4 ounces pasteurized egg whites (½ cup)
- 16 ounces powdered sugar (2 cups)
- 3 ounces cocoa powder sifted (⅓ cup)
- 16 ounces unsalted butter softened (2 cups)
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and prepare your cupcake pan with paper liners.
- For the best results, warm the buttermilk in the microwave (roughly 100ºF), bring the butter to room temperature, and warm the eggs in hot water for 5 minutes. Warm ingredients will create an emulsion and a smoother batter.
- Combine the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla together and set it aside.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder in a mixing bowl and set it aside.
- Cream together the butter, white sugar and sifted brown sugar in your stand mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can use the whisk attachment and a hand mixer, but I would mix the rest of the ingredients by hand to avoid overmixing.
- Add in the eggs one at a time while mixing on low, letting the first one mix in before adding the second. Scrape the bowl to be sure that everything is mixed well.
- While mixing on low speed, add ⅓ of the dry ingredients, followed by ⅓ of the wet ingredients. Alternate two more times until just combined.
- Fill your cupcake liners ½ to ⅔ of the way full. This recipe makes about 24 cupcakes.
- Bake the cupcakes at 350°F for 18-20 minutes until set. Do not over bake.
- Cool completely on a cooling rack before frosting.
Easy Chocolate Buttercream
- Place the pasteurized egg whites, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder into the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment and mix on high for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the sugar.
- Add the vanilla, salt, and softened butter in small chunks, then whip on high until light and fluffy, about 8-10 minutes. Once it no longer tastes like butter, it's done.
- If your buttercream looks curdled, remove about 1 cup of buttercream and melt it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds until it is barely melted. Pour it back into the whipping buttercream to bring it all together.
- Switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low for about 10 minutes to remove the air bubbles and create super smooth buttercream. This is optional but will make it extra creamy.
- Frost the cupcakes as desired. I used a 2F piping tip and a piping bag for mine.
Video
Notes
- For the best rise, fill your liners ⅔ with cupcake batter or 1 ½ ounces per cupcake
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before mixing your batter (milk, butter, eggs).
- Use clear vanilla extract for that “classic grocery store cake” flavor. Use good quality vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste, or even a vanilla bean for true vanilla flavor. One vanilla bean = 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF for 30 minutes before baking to give your cupcakes a good rise and set the dome.
- Baked cupcakes can be frozen for up to 6 months.
- Buttermilk is essential to this recipe because it adds flavor and moisture. If you have whole milk and white vinegar or lemons, you can make your own buttermilk substitute.
- If you don't have a paddle attachment, mix by hand with a spatula to avoid overmixing.
Nutrition
Homemade Crepe Suzette Recipe
Crêpes Suzette is one of the most famous French desserts made from homemade crepes and a delicious caramelized sauce made of butter, sugar, orange juice, orange zest, and Grand Marnier. Flambé it right before serving to enjoy that amazing orange flavor. The alcohol burns off quickly leaving the caramelized orange sauce behind. My mouth is watering just thinking about it again.
I was extremely happy to learn from our resident pastry chef, Christophe Rull, this is an extremely easy crepes suzette recipe. I always had it in my mind they would be very hard and you had to have a special crepe pan. The batter comes together in a flash and we just used a regular non-stick pan. My favorite part was adding the cinnamon to the flambé and wow what a show!
A crêpe is a little like thin pancakes but it does not contain any baking powder. The texture is light, spongy, and a little chewy with crispy outer edges. Crêpes can be savory or sweet and make wonderful containers for all kinds of crêpe fillings like ham and cheese, bananas and Nutella, or berries and whipped cream.
Table of contents
Crêpe Suzette Ingredients
Crêpes Suzette does contain alcohol so if you're serving to kids, you should leave out the alcohol. They make the perfect dessert for brunch or dinner parties and are often served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
You can replace orange juice with tangerine juice and you can substitute the rum with orange liqueur to make the delicious syrup.
Bread flour has a high protein content so it creates a crêpe that holds up well to being dipped in the sauce and flambéed. If you do not have bread flour, you can use all-purpose flour.
How to Make Crêpes Suzette
There are a few steps to making crepe suzette. First, you make the crepe batter, then cook the crepes, make the caramel sauce, and finally flambé the crepes in the sauce.
Making the Crepes
- First, we need to brown the butter. Add your unsalted butter to a large pot over medium heat. The butter will cook down, so it's best to start with more butter than you'll need for the crepes. (This step is optional but browning the butter adds amazing flavor. If you don't want to brown your butter, just melt it.)
- Continue cooking the melted butter until it has browned and smells rich and nutty.
- Set the butter aside to cool.
- Combine your milk, eggs, sugar, salt, brown butter, and flour in a tall measuring cup or a large bowl and blend with an immersion blender until it is a smooth batter. (Or you can do this in the blender). Pro-tip: You can make the crêpe batter a day in advance and store it covered in the fridge, but it should be room temperature before you use it.
- Preheat a large skillet (non-stick) over medium heat (170ºF) for 5 minutes.
- Coat the pan with a little butter. (You do not need much butter but you should coat the pan in butter after cooking each crepe.)
- Pour about ¼ cup of batter into the center of the pan and use your wrist to swirl the batter around the pan to make an even layer. Make sure there is enough batter to coat the base of the pan.
- Let the crêpe cook until it is golden brown on the bottom. You can check by lifting one side of the crêpe to see underneath. The edges of the should be a little crispy.
- Loosen the edges of the crêpe with your spatula then flip the crêpe over with your hands or the spatula.
- Let it cook a few more minutes and then remove the crêpe to a plate. That's it! In my opinion, easier and faster than a pancake.
- Continue cooking crepes this way with the remaining batter.
Making the Orange Sauce (beurre suzette)
- Add the sugar to a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Move the sugar around the pan to melt it evenly until you have a nice caramel.
- Add your butter to the pan and stir.
- Add in your orange juice and orange zest.
- Reduce the mixture until the sauce thickens.
- Fold your crêpes into quarters and place the folded crepe into the orange sauce four at a time (or however many your pan fits).
- Flip the crepes over and cook until the sauce almost completely disappears.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Add your Grand Marnier and here comes the fun part, ignite the alcohol with a kitchen torch! Be very careful to not burn yourself.
- You can also sprinkle on a little cinnamon which also ignites and makes a fun show if done in full view of the guests.
- Once the alcohol burns off you can serve your crepe suzette with some orange segments, powdered sugar, the leftover sauce, and of course, a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Even a candied orange peel would be pretty!
- Repeat this process for the remaining crepes.
Tips For Making Your First Crêpes Suzette
- Preheat your pan properly as crêpe batter sticks to cold pans.
- If your crêpe gets brown too quickly, reduce the heat a little.
- If you don't have an immersion blender or a blender, you can use a hand whisk.
- You can double the sauce recipe and make it separate from the crepes and pour it over the finished crepes before serving.
FAQ
Yes, store the batter covered in the fridge for up to two days. Some say the crepes are even better after chilling the batter and letting it rest.
Yes, you can store them flat in a Ziploc bag in the fridge with parchment in between. You can even freeze leftover crepes.
Some say that the name of the dish Crêpes Suzette was named after French actress Suzanne Reichenberg by Monsieur Joseph, owner of Restaurant Marivaux. Others say it was accidentally created in Paris by Henri Charpentier for the Prince of Wales when a waiter poured the sauce too close to a candle and caused it to ignite! However it was made though, it is now a beloved dessert.
Crepes do not have any baking powder so they are thin, flat, and have a more rubbery texture. They can be sweet or savory and they are meant to be eaten by filling them with other ingredients like your favorite fruits, whipped cream, ham, cheese, mushrooms, etc. Pancakes are thick and fluffy and are usually served with butter, syrup, and sometimes berries. Pancakes are not usually savory.
A nice sweet white wine or mimosa goes perfectly with this classic French dessert.
Related Recipes
Recipe
Crepe Suzette
Equipment
- 1 Immersion blender
Ingredients
Crepes
- 10 ounces milk (1 ¼ cups)
- 6 ounces eggs (3 eggs)
- 1 ounce brown butter (2 Tbsp)
- ½ ounce granulated sugar (5 tsp)
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 4 ounces bread flour (or All purpose flour) (1 cup)
- 1 teaspoon rum (or Grand marnier) optional
Orange Sauce
- 2 ounces melted butter (4 Tbsp)
- 3 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 9 ounces orange juice (1 cup)
- 1 half orange zest
- 3 tablespoon Grand Marnier
Instructions
Making the Crepes
- First, we need to brown the butter. Add your unsalted butter to a large pot over medium heat. The butter will cook down, so it's best to start with more butter than you'll need for the crepes. (This step is optional but browning the butter adds amazing flavor. If you don't want to brown your butter, just melt it.)
- Continue cooking the melted butter until it has browned and smells rich and nutty.
- Set the butter aside to cool.
- Combine your milk, eggs, sugar, salt, brown butter, and flour in a tall measuring cup or a large bowl and blend with an immersion blender until it is a smooth batter. (Or you can do this in the blender). Pro-tip: You can make the crêpe batter a day in advance and store it covered in the fridge, but it should be room temperature before you use it.
- Preheat a large skillet (non-stick) over medium heat (170ºF) for 5 minutes.
- Coat the pan with a little butter. (You do not need much butter but you should coat the pan in butter after cooking each crepe.)
- Pour about ¼ cup of batter into the center of the pan and use your wrist to swirl the batter around the pan to make an even layer. Make sure there is enough batter to coat the base of the pan.
- Let the crêpe cook until it is golden brown on the bottom. You can check by lifting one side of the crêpe to see underneath. The edges of the should be a little crispy.
- Loosen the edges of the crêpe with your spatula then flip the crêpe over with your hands or the spatula.
- Let it cook a few more minutes and then remove the crêpe to a plate. That's it! In my opinion, easier and faster than a pancake.
- Continue cooking crepes this way with the remaining batter.
Making the Orange Sauce (beurre suzette)
- Add the sugar to a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Move the sugar around the pan to melt it evenly until you have a nice caramel.
- Add your butter to the pan and stir.
- Add in your orange juice and orange zest.
- Reduce the mixture until the sauce thickens.
- Fold your crêpes into quarters and place the folded crepe into the orange sauce four at a time (or however many your pan fits).
- Cook until the sauce almost completely disappears.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Add your Grand Marnier and here comes the fun part, ignite the alcohol with a kitchen torch! Be very careful to not burn yourself.
- You can also sprinkle on a little cinnamon which also ignites and makes a fun show if done in full view of the guests.
- Once the alcohol burns off you can serve your crepe suzette with some orange segments, powdered sugar, the leftover sauce, and of course, a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Even a candied orange peel would be pretty!
- Repeat this process for the remaining crepes.
Video
Notes
- Preheat your pan properly as crêpe batter sticks to cold pans.
- If your crêpe gets brown too quickly, reduce the heat a little.
- If you don't have an immersion blender or a blender, you can use a hand whisk.
- You can double the sauce recipe and make it separate from the crepes and pour it over the finished crepes before serving.
- If your crepes are sticking to the bottom of the pan, you're either not using enough butter or your pan is too hot.
- You can store the batter covered in the fridge for up to two days. Some say the crepes are even better after chilling the batter and letting it rest.
Nutrition
Fresh Strawberry Buttercream Recipe
This is the best strawberry buttercream recipe made from real strawberries! Thick strawberry puree made from fresh or frozen berries mixed into creamy easy vanilla buttercream frosting. This recipe pairs well with lemon cake, vanilla cake, strawberry cake, or even chocolate cupcakes.
The trick to this strawberry buttercream is getting the strawberry puree to the right consistency by reducing it. The longer the berries are reduced, the thicker they will become and the more flavor will be concentrated. When strawberries are fresh, juicy, and warmed by the sun, there’s nothing like it, but frozen strawberries are a wonderful alternative that give the same real strawberry flavor.
Table of contents
Strawberry Buttercream Ingredients
Strawberries: If you have fresh berries available then this is a great way to use them and save that seasonal flavor. If not, frozen berries are just as good because they are picked at the peak of ripeness and flash frozen. The freezing process starts to break down the berries, so as they thaw they will release their juices and break down quicker in the reduction process. Freeze-dried strawberries won't work as well in this buttercream, because the butter will prevent the strawberries from rehydrating and releasing their flavor.
Pasteurized Egg whites: Pasteurized egg whites are heat-treated (like milk) so they are safe to eat. They usually come in a box carton in the egg aisle. If you don’t have pasteurized egg whites then you can use my Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe instead. Note that undercooked egg whites are not recommended for pregnant women just to be on the safe side.
Butter: Using good quality, real butter is best, but you can substitute it with margarine, vegan butter, or vegetable shortening. I can’t guarantee the taste will be the same, but you can use whatever is your preference! You can also mix the strawberry puree into any of my buttercream recipes, like Swiss meringue buttercream, American buttercream, and even cream cheese frosting.
How to Make Strawberry Buttercream
I recommend making the strawberry puree a day ahead, or at least 2 hours ahead so that it has time to cool. The buttercream can be made ahead of time as well, but it comes together quickly so I like to make it when you're ready to use it. You can use store-bought strawberry preserves instead of homemade strawberry puree for an easy version of this recipe. It won't have the exact same flavor, but will still be delicious!
Making the Strawberry Puree
- Place the fresh or frozen whole strawberries and sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, this will break down the berries and release the juices.
- Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Using an immersion blender, blend until the berries are a smooth consistency and there are no large chunks of strawberries. You can also pour the mixture into a food processor if you don’t have an immersion blender.
- Return the berries to low heat and continue to reduce until the excess water has evaporated and you have reached a thick consistency, this can take up to 20-25 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent burning on the bottom of the pan. For this buttercream, we want a thick strawberry jam consistency with an intense strawberry flavor.
- Cool the puree completely before adding it to the buttercream, or it will melt the butter. The puree can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for 6 months. Pro-tip: Make the reduced strawberry puree during strawberry season and freeze it to use during the winter.
- You will only need about a cup of strawberry puree for this frosting. I like to use the rest as a filling, on top of ice cream, or in my fresh strawberry cake or doctored box mix strawberry cake recipes.
Making the Strawberry Buttercream
- Place the egg whites and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, combine the ingredients on low speed and then whip on high speed for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the powdered sugar.
- Add in the salt and vanilla extract.
- Add the softened butter in chunks and whip with the whisk attachment for 8 to 10 minutes until it no longer tastes like butter. It will look curdled at first but this is normal, just keep whipping.
- If your buttercream continues to look curdled, remove about ⅓ cup of buttercream and melt it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds until it is barely melted. Pour it back into the whipping buttercream to bring it all together.
- Switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low for about 10 minutes to remove the air bubbles and create super smooth buttercream. This is optional but will make it extra creamy.
- Add about 1 cup (8 oz) of room temperature strawberry puree and lemon zest to the buttercream and mix until combined. You can add additional strawberry puree a quarter cup at a time until your desired flavor is reached. The more puree you add the less structure the buttercream will have.
- This buttercream has fresh fruit in it, so make sure it stays refrigerated. This recipe makes enough frosting to cover and fill an 8-inch layer cake. Store excess buttercream in the fridge for 2 weeks or freeze it for up to 6 months. Defrost the buttercream in the fridge and re-whip it before using.
FAQ
The buttercream splits because it’s too cold. Take out ⅓ cup of the buttercream and melt it in the microwave until it’s just melted and then whip it back in. That little bit of warm butter helps it all come together again.
YES! I do it all the time, just make sure to chill your cakes until the buttercream is firm to the touch before applying fondant. It goes great with my homemade marshmallow fondant too! Check out my video on how to cover a cake in fondant.
Yes, you can use whatever berry you prefer or your favorite fruits, just follow the same process in the puree.
Yes! Pasteurized egg whites are heat-treated (like milk) so they are safe to eat. They usually come in a box carton in the egg aisle. If you don’t have pasteurized egg whites then you can use my SMBC recipe instead. Note that undercooked egg whites are not recommended for pregnant women just to be on the safe side.
This frosting is great to use with almost any flavor of cake, cupcake, or cake pop and is perfect for piping. For more information on how to frost and decorate your first cake, you can watch my free tutorial on how to decorate your first cake.
Related Recipes
Moist Vanilla Cake From Scratch
Recipe
Strawberry Buttercream
Equipment
- 1 Large saucepan
- 1 Stand mixer with paddle and whisk attachments optional
Ingredients
Strawberry Puree
- 32 ounces fresh or frozen strawberries 6 cups
- 4 ounces granulated sugar ½ cup
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Strawberry Buttercream
- 8 ounces strawberry puree room temperature, 1 cup
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 8 ounces pasteurized egg whites room temperature
- 16 ounces powdered sugar 2 pounds
- 16 ounces unsalted butter room temperature, 2 pounds
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Making the Strawberry Puree
- Place the fresh or frozen whole strawberries and sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, this will break down the berries and release the juices.
- Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Using an immersion blender, blend until the berries are a smooth consistency and there are no large chunks of strawberries. You can also pour the mixture into a food processor if you don’t have an immersion blender.
- Return the berries to low heat and continue to reduce until the excess water has evaporated and you have reached a thick consistency, this can take up to 20-25 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent burning on the bottom of the pan. For this buttercream, we want a thick strawberry jam consistency.
- Cool the puree completely before adding it to the buttercream, or it will melt the butter. The puree can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for 6 months. Pro-tip: Make the reduced strawberry puree during strawberry season and freeze it to use during the winter.
- You will only need about a cup of strawberry puree for this frosting. I like to use the rest as a filling, on top of ice cream, or in my fresh strawberry cake or doctored box mix strawberry cake recipes.
Making the Strawberry Buttercream
- Place the egg whites and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, combine the ingredients on low speed and then whip on high speed for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the powdered sugar.
- Add in the salt and vanilla extract.
- Add the softened butter in chunks and whip with the whisk attachment for 8 to 10 minutes until it no longer tastes like butter. It will look curdled at first but this is normal, just keep whipping.
- If your buttercream continues to look curdled, remove about ⅓ cup of buttercream and melt it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds until it is barely melted. Pour it back into the whipping buttercream to bring it all together.
- Switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low for about 10 minutes to remove the air bubbles and create super smooth buttercream. This is optional but will make it extra creamy.
- Add about 1 cup (8 oz) of room temperature strawberry puree and lemon zest to the buttercream and mix until combined. You can add additional strawberry puree a quarter cup at a time until your desired flavor is reached. The more puree you add the less structure the buttercream will have.
- This buttercream has fresh fruit in it, so make sure it stays refrigerated. This recipe makes enough frosting to cover and fill an 8-inch layer cake. Store excess buttercream in the fridge for 2 weeks or freeze it for up to 6 months. Defrost the buttercream in the fridge and re-whip it before using.
Notes
- If you want a quick and easy version of this frosting, you can use store-bought strawberry preserves instead of homemade strawberry puree. It won't have the same flavor, but will still be delicious!
- The best investment you can make when you’re getting started with baking is a digital kitchen scale!
- Practice Mise en Place (everything in its place). Measure out your ingredients ahead of time and have them ready before you start mixing to reduce the chances of accidentally leaving something out.
Nutrition
Royal Icing Transfer Frog Cake
You don't have access to view this content
Royal Icing Transfer Frog Cake Tutorial
Skill level: Intermediate
Guest instructor Mik Nuzzi from Mik & Cookies joins us today teaching a lovely frog-themed cake. In this tutorial, Mik breaks down how to make and transfer royal icing designs onto cakes. Featuring a delightful frog on a lily pad, daisies and cute little mushrooms, this technique is sure to impress party-goers and guests.
There's a lot to cover in this tutorial, so let's get our tools together and let's get started!
1:07:51 Minutes of Instruction
What You Will Learn
- How to combine cookie and cake decorating techniques to make unique royal icing transfers
- Learn Mik's tips and tricks to get royal icing to look amazing
- How to make small and large transfers
- Learn how to make a frog on a lily pad, daisies and mushrooms
Tutorial Chapters
- Making The Royal Icing
- Coloring The Royal Icing
- Making The Small Transfers
- Making The Frog Topper
- Adding The Small Transfers
- Adding The Frog Topper
Apple Turnover Recipe
This apple turnover recipe is made with homemade rough puff pastry dough and a sweet crisp apple filling with added notes of honey and vanilla. These buttery, melt-in-your-mouth flaky pastries will remind you of freshly made croissants.
Executive pastry chef, Christophe Rull, is back to show us how to make this apple turnover recipe. These delicious puff pastry apple turnovers are buttery, flaky, and the perfect balance of sweet and acidic from the apple filling. A turnover is very similar to a hand pie or fresh apple pie but is traditionally made with puff pastry instead of pie dough.
Table of contents
Apple Turnover Ingredients
Gala apples work best because they’re crisp and mellow in flavor, and their natural sweetness requires less sugar to be added to the recipe. You can use granny smith, honey crisp, golden delicious, or any apples that you prefer.
European butter (like Plugra) has a higher fat content which makes it creamier and more flavorful. Using a higher quality butter will make a super flaky puff pastry dough. Just make sure to use COLD butter.
Vanilla beans have the best flavor, but you can also use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, I recommend using Nielsen Massey vanilla.
High Gluten Flour (like bread flour) contains more proteins and develops more gluten which helps your dough rise more evenly. You can use all-purpose flour if that's all you have.
Honey adds some extra sweetness and moisture to our apple filling. It has a distinct flavor that goes really well with apples and will give them a sweet taste!
Cornstarch is going to help to thicken our apple filling in this recipe. Mixing cornstarch and a liquid will make a slurry that will thicken jams, compotes, and other fillings.
Making Apple Turnovers From Scratch
This recipe goes over how to make rough puff pastry dough, laminate the dough, make the apple filling, and assemble apple turnovers from scratch. You can simplify this recipe by buying canned apple pie filling and store-bought puff pastry sheets to skip the lamination process. It may not be "quite" as flaky and buttery, but will still be delicious!
Making Rough Puff Pastry
- Add the flour, salt, cold water, and melted butter into the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix on low speed with the paddle attachment for 1-2 minutes until the ingredients are just combined.
- Cut the cold butter into cubes and add it to the mixer.
- Mix again on low speed until the butter is barely combined with the dough. Make sure to not over mix, we want to see pieces of butter in the dough (this will create the crunch and flakiness).
- Place the dough onto the table and shape it into a rectangle with your hands.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about 2 hours until it’s firm to the touch.
Laminating the Dough
- Once the dough is chilled, flour the work surface, take the dough out of the fridge, and roll it out in a long rectangle that is about 24″ long and 8″ wide.
- Give it the first book fold by folding each end towards the middle making sure the ends meet.
- Fold the dough in half along the seam to close the ends like a book. (Hence the term book fold.) Turn it a quarter of a turn so that the dough is now facing lengthwise.
- Repeat steps 1-3 once more by rolling out the dough to do a second book fold. If your dough is bouncing back at the edges and is not rolling out easily, your gluten needs to relax. Wrap the dough and put it back in the refrigerator for an hour and try again. Also if your dough is too soft and warm, put your dough back in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Once your second book fold is completed, wrap and rest your dough for 30 to 60 minutes in the fridge.
Making Apple Filling
- Peel and cut your apples into small cubes.
- Add the honey, sugar, and vanilla to a medium saucepan.
- Cook the mixture over medium heat for about 3 minutes or until it reaches a light blonde color. If you want an extra rich flavor, you can substitute some of the honey and sugar for brown sugar.
- Add in the butter and apples and stir the mixture together.
- Cook over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes or until the apples are slightly soft and translucent. Don’t overcook the apples here, you want to avoid them getting too mushy when they bake later.
- Combine the cold water and corn starch in a small bowl and add it to the apple mixture. Pro-Tip: Use equal parts of Clear Jel instead of corn starch for a more translucent and shiny apple filling.
- Cook for about 1 more minute on medium heat, then remove it from the heat. It will continue to thicken as it cools. If you like a more tart apple filling, you can add a few tablespoons of lemon juice.
- Pour the apple filling into a medium bowl and cover it with plastic wrap so it’s touching the surface of the filling. This is to prevent a film from forming on top.
- Refrigerate the apple filling for about an hour or until it’s cooled down to room temperature. This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for up to a week or frozen for a month.
Assembling the Turnovers
- Once your dough is chilled, cut it in half. Then roll one half out in a long rectangle that is about 24″ long and 8″ wide. One batch of this rough puff will make about 12 apple turnovers.
- Place the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Use a 4-inch ring to cut three or four equal circles out of the dough. You can also use a sharp knife or a pizza cutter if you don't have a circle. This dough cannot be rolled out again, but if you slice up the rest of the dough into strips, twist them, and bake them with some butter and a cinnamon sugar mix for delicious cinnamon sticks.
- Repeat with the other half of the dough.
- Dock the dough circles with a fork so that they don't overdevelop in the oven.
- Mix an egg and water together in a small bowl and use a pastry brush to brush the egg wash halfway around the outside of the circle.
- Scoop about 1 Tablespoon of apple filling into the center of the dough and fold it in half.
- Gently press the turnover on the edges to make a good connection with the egg wash. Touch the dough as little as possible to avoid heating up the butter too much.
- Dip a 3 ½-inch ring in flour and press down to glue the edges together. Cut through to make a clean line, then remove the excess. This is optional, but it will make the turnovers extra pretty.
- Place the turnovers on a lined baking sheet and brush them with egg wash. Egg wash makes the dough golden and shiny when baked.
- With an Exacto blade or a sharp knife, gently score a few small slits on the top of each turnover. This shouldn't cut through the dough but make a beautiful shell pattern and extra flaky layers.
- Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes until they are flaky and golden brown.
- Set the turnovers aside on a wire rack to cool completely and brush with simple syrup for extra shine (optional).
FAQ
Apple turnovers are made with puff pastry dough or sometimes pie dough. Store-bought pastry sheets will work, but homemade puff pastry or rough puff will give the best crunch texture and flaky crust.
Keep your baked apple turnovers in an airtight container stored at room temperature to avoid added moisture. They will last for about 3-4 days. If you want to make them ahead of time, you should assemble them, freeze them, then bake them the day you need them for ultimate freshness.
Gala apples are perfect for this recipe due to their mild sweetness. Granny smith apples and golden delicious apples are also good because they hold their crispness well when cooked, but have a more tart flavor.
Yes, you can assemble them, freeze the unbaked turnover, and bake it when you're ready to serve. Frozen turnovers will last for up to 2 months.
Puff pastry is folded (or turned) over to enclose the apple filling.
More Apple Desserts
Recipe
Apple Turnover Recipe
Equipment
- 1 4" round cutter optional
- 1 3 ½" round cutter optional
Ingredients
Rough Puff Pastry
- 170 grams cold water
- 50 grams melted unsalted butter
- 12 grams salt
- 340 grams high gluten flour bread flour (AP is okay too)
- 230 grams European unsalted butter cold and diced
Apple Filling
- 400 grams fresh apples gala
- 80 grams granulated sugar
- 80 grams honey
- 40 grams unsalted butter
- 1 whole vanilla bean or 1 tablespoon extract
Instructions
- This recipe goes over how to make rough puff pastry dough, laminate the dough, make the apple filling, and assemble apple turnovers from scratch. You can simplify this recipe by buying canned apple pie filling and store-bought puff pastry sheets to skip the lamination process. It may not be "quite" as flaky and buttery, but will still be delicious!
Making Rough Puff Pastry
- Add the flour, salt, cold water, and melted butter into the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix on low speed with the paddle attachment for 1-2 minutes until the ingredients are just combined.
- Cut the cold butter into cubes and add it to the mixer.
- Mix again on low speed until the butter is barely combined with the dough. Make sure to not over mix, we want to see pieces of butter in the dough (this will create the crunch and flakiness).
- Place the dough onto the table and shape it into a rectangle with your hands.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about 2 hours until it’s firm to the touch.
Laminating the Dough
- Once the dough is chilled, flour the work surface, take the dough out of the fridge, and roll it out in a long rectangle that is about 24″ long and 8″ wide.
- Give it the first book fold by folding each end towards the middle making sure the ends meet.
- Fold the dough in half along the seam to close the ends like a book. (Hence the term book fold.) Turn it a quarter of a turn so that the dough is now facing lengthwise.
- Repeat steps 1-3 once more by rolling out the dough to do a second book fold. If your dough is bouncing back at the edges and is not rolling out easily, your gluten needs to relax. Wrap the dough and put it back in the refrigerator for an hour and try again. Also if your dough is too soft and warm, put your dough back in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Once your second book fold is completed, wrap and rest your dough for 30 to 60 minutes in the fridge.
Making Apple Filling
- Peel and cut your apples into small cubes.
- Add the honey, sugar, and vanilla to a medium saucepan.
- Cook the mixture over medium heat for about 3 minutes or until it reaches a light blonde color. If you want an extra rich flavor, you can substitute some of the honey and sugar for brown sugar.
- Add in the butter and apples and stir the mixture together.
- Cook over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes or until the apples are slightly soft and translucent. Don’t overcook the apples here, you want to avoid them getting too mushy when they bake later.
- Combine the cold water and corn starch in a small bowl and add it to the apple mixture. Pro-Tip: Use equal parts of Clear Jel instead of corn starch for a more translucent and shiny apple filling.
- Cook for about 1 more minute on medium heat, then remove it from the heat. It will continue to thicken as it cools. If you like a more tart apple filling, you can add a few tablespoons of lemon juice.
- Pour the apple filling into a medium bowl and cover it with plastic wrap so it’s touching the surface of the filling. This is to prevent a film from forming on top.
- Refrigerate the apple filling for about an hour or until it’s cooled down to room temperature. This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for up to a week or frozen for a month.
Assembling the Turnovers
- Once your dough is chilled, cut it in half. Then roll one half out in a long rectangle that is about 24″ long and 8″ wide. One batch of this rough puff will make about 12 apple turnovers.
- Place the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Use a 4-inch ring to cut three or four equal circles out of the dough. You can also use a sharp knife or a pizza cutter if you don't have a circle. This dough cannot be rolled out again, but if you slice up the rest of the dough into strips, twist them, and bake them with some butter and a cinnamon sugar mix for delicious cinnamon sticks.
- Repeat with the other half of the dough.
- Dock the dough circles with a fork so that they don't overdevelop in the oven.
- Mix an egg and water together in a small bowl and use a pastry brush to brush the egg wash halfway around the outside of the circle.
- Scoop about 1 Tablespoon of apple filling into the center of the dough and fold it in half.
- Gently press the turnover on the edges to make a good connection with the egg wash. Touch the dough as little as possible to avoid heating up the butter too much.
- Dip a 3 ½-inch ring in flour and press down to glue the edges together. Cut through to make a clean line, then remove the excess. This is optional, but it will make the turnovers extra pretty.
- Place the turnovers on a lined baking sheet and brush them with egg wash. Egg wash makes the dough golden and shiny when baked.
- With an Exacto blade or a sharp knife, gently score a few small slits on the top of each turnover. This shouldn't cut through the dough but make a beautiful shell pattern and extra flaky layers.
- Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes until they are flaky and golden brown.
- Set the turnovers aside on a wire rack to cool completely and brush with simple syrup for extra shine (optional).
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Strawberry Crunch
Learn how to make strawberry crunch to use as decoration for cakes, cupcakes, or on top of your favorite ice cream. Shortbread cookies, freeze-dried strawberries, and melted butter are all you need, but adding a little strawberry emulsion gives it that authentic flavor.
These strawberry shortcake crumbles will remind you of the classic strawberry shortcake ice cream bars you got from the ice cream truck as a kid. The best part was always the vanilla and strawberry crunchies on the outside of the bar, so why not have a whole bowl of them?!
Table of contents
Strawberry Crunch Ingredients
Vanilla shortbread cookies have a high butter content and stay crunchy while they stick to the cake. Many other recipes use golden Oreos and vanilla pudding mix, but I like the flavor of shortbread or vanilla wafers. I use Keebler because they're easy to buy at the grocery store, but you can use your preferred brand of cookies. Or you can make your own shortbread cookies, just leave the lemon out of my recipe.
Freeze-dried strawberries work best for this recipe, but you can always use strawberry jello if you can't find any.
Strawberry emulsion is not required for this recipe but it adds a sweet strawberry flavor. You can also use strawberry puree or strawberry extract. I like LorAnn oil's strawberry emulsion.
How to Make Strawberry Crunch
- First, add the vanilla shortbread cookies to a food processor and chop them until they're broken into very small crumbs. If you don't have a mixer, you can cut them up with a knife or put them in a Ziploc bag and grind them with a rolling pin or mallet. Don't worry if your crumbs aren't all uniform, but break up the bigger pieces with your hands.
- Then add the strawberry emulsion to the cookies and blend until it's combined. If you don't have emulsion, you can skip this step or use strawberry extract.
- Transfer the mixture to a separate large mixing bowl. The strawberries and cookies blend differently, so I do not recommend mixing them in the blender all at once.
- Add the freeze-dried strawberries to a food processor and chop them until they're broken into very small crumbs. Add the strawberries to the bowl with the cookie crumbs. Pro-Tip: Blend your freeze-dried strawberries straight from the bag and work quickly, as they tend to absorb moisture in the air and will become gummy in your food processor.
- Next, add the melted butter to the large bowl and stir with a whisk to combine the mixture and break up any big crumbs. That's it!
- Store the strawberry crunch topping in a large Ziploc bag or an airtight container in the fridge or freezer for about up to a month, however, they're best used within 1 week.
How to Use Strawberry Crunch
- Add it as a topping to strawberry ice cream
- Stir it into yogurt
- Strawberry hot chocolate bombs with white chocolate
- Roll it onto a vanilla ice cream sandwich
- Decorate the sides of a cake
- Sprinkle it on top of cupcakes
My favorite way to use strawberry crunch is with my homemade strawberry crunch cake. Use a doctored box cake mix to create two delicious white cake layers, and add a little bit of strawberry reduction to make a strawberry layer for the middle. I like using my easy buttercream recipe, but whipped cream or cream cheese frosting would also be delicious. Push the strawberry crumble on the sides and the top of the cake to make an irresistible summer treat.
FAQ
If your strawberry crunch crumbles are sticky, you either added too much butter, or it wasn't sealed and absorbed some of the moisture in the air. Spread it onto a baking sheet and bake it at 350°F for 5 minutes to dry it out.
Freeze-dried strawberries will make your life a lot easier than fresh strawberries for this recipe. If you only have fresh berries, you can dry them yourself.
Strawberry Crunch, or Strawberry Shortcake Crumble, is a mixture of ground-up shortbread cookies, freeze-dried strawberries, and butter. This nostalgic topping is perfect when sprinkled over ice cream, mixed into yogurt, or used to decorate cakes and cupcakes.
Related Recipes
Moist & fluffy vanilla cupcake
Recipe
Strawberry Crunch Recipe
Equipment
- Food processor or knife
Ingredients
- 1 ounce freeze-dried strawberries (1 cup)
- 8 ounces shortbread cookies (2 ½ cups)
- ½ teaspoon strawberry emulsion optional
- ¼ cup melted unsalted butter (4 Tbsp)
Instructions
- First, add the vanilla shortbread cookies to a food processor and chop them until they're broken into very small crumbs. If you don't have a mixer, you can cut them up with a knife or put them in a Ziploc bag and grind them with a rolling pin or mallet. Don't worry if your crumbs aren't all uniform, but break up the bigger pieces with your hands.
- Then add the strawberry emulsion to the cookies and blend until it's combined. If you don't have emulsion, you can skip this step or use strawberry extract.
- Transfer the mixture to a separate large mixing bowl. The strawberries and cookies blend differently, so I do not recommend mixing them in the blender all at once.
- Add the freeze-dried strawberries to a food processor and chop them until they're broken into very small crumbs. Add the strawberries to the bowl with the cookie crumbs. Pro-Tip: Blend your freeze-dried strawberries straight from the bag and work quickly, as they tend to absorb moisture in the air and will become gummy in your food processor.
- Next, add the melted butter to the large bowl and stir with a whisk to combine the mixture and break up any big crumbs. That's it!
- Store the strawberry crunch topping in a large Ziploc bag or an airtight container in the fridge or freezer for about up to a month, however, they're best used within 1 week.
Notes
- The best investment you can make when you’re getting started with baking is a digital kitchen scale!
- Practice Mise en Place (everything in its place). Measure out your ingredients ahead of time and have them ready before you start mixing to reduce the chances of accidentally leaving something out.
- You can freeze strawberry crunch in a plastic bag to keep it for months.
Nutrition
Strawberry Crunch Cake
This Strawberry Crunch Cake is based on the classic strawberry crunch ice cream bars. It comes together with a few simple ingredients using my easy doctored box cake mix recipe, real strawberries, shortbread cookies, and a batch of easy buttercream. Cover it in a layer of homemade strawberry crunch topping to make a beautiful layer cake!
The best part of this recipe is using a cake mix for dependability and ease. You can make this cake from scratch by using my homemade white velvet cake and fresh strawberry cake as well. You will need to make a strawberry reduction for either recipe you use, so make it ahead of time.
Table of contents
Strawberry Crunch Cake Ingredients
Strawberries: I am using strawberries in 3 ways for this recipe. Fresh (garnish), frozen (reduction), and freeze-dried (crunch). I use thawed frozen berries to slightly speed up the reduction process. The cell walls of the frozen berries have already broken down, so once the heat is applied it can get right to evaporating water and intensifying flavor.
Strawberry Emulsion: This is an optional ingredient, but I really like the distinct strawberry flavor it gives the cake and crumbles. It adds a little extra pop of color, smells amazing, and tastes like my favorite ice cream bar would taste. Combined with real strawberries it enhances the natural flavor.
Box Cake Mix: A doctored cake mix that is well-used by bakers all over the world that produces a delicious cake that tastes almost like scratch. The dependability of the mix allows additions like the strawberry puree and it still bakes great. This is why I chose to use a box mix for this cake, so I could use one recipe of cake and still get 2 different flavors of cake. It saves time and stress. I like Duncan Hines white cake mix as a base, but any brand will work.
Shortbread Cookies: Shortbread cookies have a high butter content and stay crunchy while they stick to the cake. Many other recipes use golden Oreos and vanilla pudding mix, but I like the flavor of shortbread or vanilla wafers. You also save time by not having to scrape Oreos. I use Keebler because they're easy to buy at the grocery store, but you can use your preferred brand of shortbread cookies. Or you can make your own shortbread cookies, just leave the lemon out of my recipe.
Making Strawberry Crunch Cake
Starting one day ahead for this recipe is a good idea. The reduction should be made far enough in advance that it has time to fully cook and cool before using it in the cake mix. Then make the cakes, chill them, make the strawberry crumble, make the buttercream, and decorate.
Making Strawberry Reduction
- Defrost the strawberries or chop up your fresh strawberries.
- Add the strawberries and sugar to a heavy bottom saucepan and stir them together.
- Cook over medium heat until they begin to break down and release their juices.
- Add in lemon zest, juice and salt and turn off the heat.
- Blend the berries until smooth using an immersion blender. If you do not have one, carefully pour the berries into your blender.
- Over low heat, bring the berries back to a simmer and allow them to reduce by about half (20-30 minutes).
- Stir occasionally to prevent the berries from burning. The reduction should look like tomato sauce, not watery.
- Let it cool before using. Reserve ¼ cup of the reduction to be used in the strawberry cake layer. If you are making the reduction ahead, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to use it. It can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Making Cake Layers
- Prepare 3 six-inch round cake pans with cake goop or parchment paper.
- Add the white cake mix, flour, sugar, salt, sour cream, melted butter, milk, egg whites, and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed.
- Divide the batter into 2 of the 3 prepared pans, if you are using a scale each pan should hold about 17 ounces (or 3 cups) of batter. Leave the remaining third of the batter in the mixing bowl.
- Add ¼ cup of the strawberry reduction and the (optional) ½ teaspoon of strawberry emulsion to the reserved batter and stir until combined. Add a drop of red food coloring (optional) to counteract the berries turning slightly purple when they bake.
- Pour the strawberry cake batter into the third prepared pan.
- Bake the cake layers at 335° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The strawberry cake may finish before the white cakes. The added liquid changes the chemistry slightly.
- Let the cakes cool until you can touch them (about 10 minutes) and flip them out onto a cooling rack until completely cooled.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and flash freeze for up to an hour before layering the cake.
Making Strawberry Crunch
- Add the shortbread cookies to the food processor bowl. Pulse until medium crumbs are formed. Don't worry if your crumbs aren't all uniform, but break up the bigger pieces with your hands.
- Add the strawberry extract or emulsion to the cookie crumbs and pulse until small crumble pieces are formed and place them in a separate large bowl. Be careful not to create a fine texture, or it will not be crunchy.
- Add the freeze-dried strawberries to the food processor and pulse until the crumbs are roughly the same size as the shortbread crumbs. Add the strawberry crumbs to the shortbread crumbs. Pro-Tip: Blend your freeze-dried strawberries straight from the bag and work quickly, as they tend to absorb moisture in the air and will become gummy in your food processor.
- Add the melted butter to the bowl of crumbs and mix until the butter is evenly distributed and the crumbs are evenly saturated. Set aside while you layer your cake.
- If you plan to use the crumbs at a later time, store them in an airtight container or Ziploc bag, they are shelf stable for a week. Or keep them in the freezer to avoid them going stale.
Assembling Strawberry Crunch Cake
- Starting with a trimmed white layer of cake, smooth a thin even layer of easy buttercream frosting over the cake, and then pipe a dam of buttercream around the edge. You can use any frosting that you like for this cake, whipped cream or cream cheese frosting would also be delicious.
- Spread about 3 tablespoons of strawberry reduction in the center of the dam.
- Spread another layer of buttercream on the bottom of the strawberry layer of cake and place it on top. This seals the cake to avoid the strawberry reduction from soaking into the cake layer.
- Continue the same layering process with the strawberry flavor cake and then again with the top layer of white cake.
- Give the whole cake a crumb coat to seal and set the buttercream and chill it in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Frost the cake with the final even coat of buttercream and smooth.
- Holding the cake over a sheet pan or large bowl of strawberry crumble, gently coat the sides of the entire cake. You will want to do this while the buttercream is still “sticky,” if it is too cold the crumb will have a harder time sticking to the cake.
- I used a pastry ring to guide where I wanted the crumble to go on top of the cake. I did not want any crumbles to fall where I was going to pipe dollops, as they would lift off. Sprinkle strawberry crunch crumbles on the top center of the cake.
- Using a fluted tip, pipe buttercream dollops around the top edge and place a cut strawberry in each dollop.
Tips For Success
- Is this your first time decorating a cake? Watch my free video tutorial on how to decorate a cake for the first time.
- Use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients for the best results. Baking is a science!
- I used a stand mixer to make my cakes but you can also use a hand-held electric mixer. If you use a hand-mixer then you may need to mix for longer to achieve the same batter consistency.
- Room temperature ingredients are important. Make sure your dairy and eggs are slightly warm and your butter is melted but not hot so that your ingredients mix together properly.
FAQ
Yes! I recommend using my White Velvet Cake for the white layers and my Strawberry Cake for the middle layer. You will need to make Strawberry Reduction for either recipe you use, so make it ahead of time. I chose a box mix for this cake because I actually wanted to mimic the flavors of the ice cream bar, which uses some artificial colors and flavoring.
The advantage of freeze-dried berries for the crunch is that they are already crunchy, fresh berries are going to be great for the reduction and the decor, but they will make the cookies in the crunch soggy. If you do not have freeze-dried strawberries, you can use about 3 tablespoons of strawberry jello powder, just omit the strawberry emulsion.
Strawberry Crunch, or Strawberry Shortcake Crumble, is a mixture of ground-up shortbread cookies, freeze-dried strawberries, and butter. This nostalgic topping is perfect when sprinkled over ice cream, mixed into yogurt, or used to decorate cakes and cupcakes.
Related Recipes
Recipe
Strawberry Crunch Cake
Equipment
- 3 6" x 2" pans
- Food Processor or blender optional
- Stand Mixer optional
Ingredients
Cake Layers
- 1 box white cake mix duncan hines
- 5 ounces all purpose flour (1 cup)
- 7 ounces granulated sugar (1 cup)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 9 ounces sour cream (1 cup) room temperature
- 4 ounces unsalted melted butter (½ cup)
- 8 ounces milk (1 cup) room temperature
- 4 large egg whites room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ounces strawberry reduction ¼ cup
- 1 drop red food coloring optional (for the strawberry layer)
- ½ teaspoon strawberry emulsion optional (for the strawberry layer)
Strawberry Reduction
- 36 ounces fresh or frozen strawberries (5 cups) thawed
- 4 ounces granulated sugar (½ cup)
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 pinch salt
Strawberry Crunch
- 1 ounce freeze-dried strawberries (1 cup)
- 8 ounces shortbread cookies (2 ½ cups)
- ½ teaspoon strawberry emulsion (or extract) optional
- ¼ cup unsalted melted butter
Instructions
Strawberry Reduction Instructions
- Defrost the strawberries or chop up your fresh strawberries.
- Add the strawberries and sugar to a heavy bottom sauce pan and stir them together.
- Cook over medium heat until they begin to break down and release their juices.
- Add in lemon zest, extract and salt and turn off the heat.
- Blend the berries until smooth using an immersion blender. If you do not have one, carefully pour the berries into your blender.
- Over low heat, bring the berries back to a simmer and allow them to reduce until about half (20-30 minutes).
- Stir occasionally to prevent the berries from burning. The reduction should look like tomato sauce, not watery.
- Let it cool before using. Reserve ¼ cup of the reduction to be used in the strawberry cake layer. If you are making the reduction ahead, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to use it. It can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Strawberry Crunch Cake Instructions
- Prepare 3 six-inch round cake pans with cake goop or parchment paper.
- Add the white cake mix, flour, sugar, salt, sour cream, melted butter, milk, egg whites, and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed.
- Divide the batter into 2 of the 3 prepared pans, if you are using a scale each pan should hold about 17 ounces (or 3 cups) of batter. Leave the remaining third of the batter in the mixing bowl.
- Add ¼ cup of the strawberry reduction and the (optional) ½ teaspoon of strawberry emulsion to the reserved batter and stir until combined. Add a drop of red food coloring (optional) to counteract the berries turning slightly purple when they bake.
- Pour the strawberry cake batter into the third prepared pan.
- Bake the cake layers at 335°F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The strawberry cake may finish before the white cakes. The added liquid changes the chemistry slightly.
- Let the cakes cool until you can touch them (about 10 minutes) and flip them out onto a cooling rack until completely cooled.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and flash freeze for up to an hour before layering the cake.
Strawberry Crunch Instructions
- Add the shortbread cookies to the food processor bowl. Pulse until medium crumbs are formed. Don't worry if your crumbs aren't all uniform, but break up the bigger pieces with your hands.
- Add the strawberry extract or emulsion to the cookie crumbs and pulse until small crumble pieces are formed and place them in a separate large bowl. Be careful not to create a fine texture, or it will not be crunchy.
- Add the freeze-dried strawberries to the food processor and pulse until the crumbs are roughly the same size as the shortbread crumbs. Add the strawberry crumbs to the shortbread crumbs. Pro-Tip: Blend your freeze-dried strawberries straight from the bag and work quickly, as they tend to absorb moisture in the air and will become gummy in your food processor.
- Add the melted butter to the bowl of crumbs and mix until the butter is evenly distributed and the crumbs are evenly saturated. Set aside while you layer your cake.
- If you plan to use the crumbs at a later time, store them in an airtight container or Ziploc bag, they are shelf stable for a week. Or keep them in the freezer to avoid them going stale.
How to Assemble the Strawberry Crunch Cake
- Starting with a trimmed white layer of cake, smooth a thin even layer of easy buttercream frosting over the cake, and then pipe a dam of buttercream around the edge.
- Spread about 3 tablespoons of strawberry reduction in the center of the dam.
- Spread another layer of buttercream on the bottom of the strawberry layer of cake and place it on top. This seals the cake to avoid the strawberry reduction from soaking into the cake layer.
- Continue the same layering process with the strawberry flavor cake and then again with the top layer of white cake.
- Give the whole cake a crumb coat to seal and set the buttercream and chill it in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Frost the cake with the final even coat of buttercream and smooth.
- Holding the cake over a sheet pan or large bowl of strawberry crumble, gently coat the sides of the entire cake. You will want to do this while the buttercream is still “sticky”, if it is too cold the crumb will have a harder time sticking to the cake.
- I used a pastry ring to guide where I wanted the crumble to go on top of the cake. I did not want crumble to fall where I was going to pipe dollops, as they would lift off. Sprinkle strawberry crunch crumbles on the top center of the cake.
- Using a fluted tip pipe buttercream dollops around the top edge and place a cut strawberry in each dollop.
Video
Notes
- The best investment you can make when you’re getting started with baking is a digital kitchen scale! Weighing your ingredients will help you avoid cake failure. Using a kitchen scale for baking is super easy and gives you the best results every single time.
- Practice Mise en Place (everything in its place). Measure out your ingredients ahead of time and have them ready before you start mixing to reduce the chances of accidentally leaving something out.
- Need more help with making your first cake? Check out my how to decorate your first cake blog post.
- Make sure all of your cold ingredients (e.g. butter, eggs, milk) are at room temperature or a little warm. Why? Because we want to create an emulsion and allow the ingredients to fully mix together.
- Make your own pan release (cake goop!) The best pan release ever!
- Chill your cakes before frosting and filling. You can cover a frosted and chilled cake in fondant if you wish. This cake is also great for stacking!
- You can buy pre-made strawberry shortcake crunch if you don't want to make your own.
Nutrition
Profiteroles Recipe
This classic profiteroles recipe is a staple in French pastry and is a great recipe to follow if this is your first time making pâte à choux. Each delightful bite-sized frozen treat is a crisp pastry shell filled with a scoop of homemade vanilla bean gelato and topped with a warm chocolate sauce. If you're a fan of cream puffs and ice cream sandwiches, then you will love this recipe.
This profiterole recipe is courtesy of our Executive Pastry Chef, Christophe Rull, who will walk you through the basics of making pâte à choux. It's important to have crisp pastry shells with your choux recipes because a soggy profiterole isn't as good as a fresh one. Make the dough and freeze it ahead of time, or bake the choux buns in advance and fill them with vanilla ice cream when you're ready to serve!
Table of contents
Profiteroles Ingredients
Vanilla beans give the ultimate flavor, but you may use vanilla paste or extract if you’d like.
Ice Cream Stabilizer is exactly what it sounds like. It keeps water crystals small and soft, making the gelato denser and smoother. This will help the gelato hold its consistency under frozen temperatures. We are using cremodan 30 in this recipe, but you can leave it out if you do not have it.
Glucose is widely used in Europe over corn syrup, but some glucose is made from different plant sources while corn syrup is made from corn starches. It can be hard to find glucose, so you can use corn syrup and it will have the same effect. It’s used to keep the chocolate glaze soft when you put it in the freezer, so you don't have a hard bite of chocolate with your profiterole.
Glucose Powder is used to sweeten and stabilize the gelato. Since this gelato is a cream base, it does not need any more moisture which is why we are using powder over corn syrup.
64% Dark Chocolate will result in the best flavor for your chocolate sauce. You can use any type of chocolate you'd like, or even store-bought sauce if that is easier. The percentage you see on the chocolate package is the percentage of actual cocoa in it. The higher the percentage, the darker the chocolate. If you prefer milk chocolate, that would be delicious too!
Making Homemade Profiteroles
This choux pastry recipe comes together quickly, but try to plan ahead if you're making all of these components from scratch. The gelato base needs time to chill before churning it, the chocolate sauce needs time to cool before pouring it, and the cream puffs need time to cool down before filling them. Make the gelato first (preferably a day ahead), then the pastry shells, and finally the chocolate ganache sauce when you're ready to serve.
Making the Cream Puff Shells
- Add the milk, water, salt, sugar, and butter to a medium saucepan, then bring it to a boil. It is important to make sure that the butter is melting at the same rate the milk is heating so that the milk doesn't boil before the butter is melted. Slowly moving it around with a wooden spoon helps distribute the heat evenly.
- Once the mixture has come to a boil, turn off the heat and add the sifted flour all at once.
- Begin stirring immediately with a wooden spoon, and continue to stir for 1 minute until the flour is fully incorporated, it will look a lot like mashed potatoes.
- Turn the heat back on to medium-high heat and continue to stir and keep it moving to dry out the dough.
- Once you see a browning layer on the bottom of the pan, the dough is dry enough and you can remove it from the heat.
- Put the dough immediately into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment and begin to mix to cool it down, this should take about 30 seconds.
- Add the eggs one at a time, letting each egg incorporate fully before the next. Mix on low until the dough is fully combined with no spots of dry flour, and stiff enough to hold its shape, but pull to a soft peak when picking up the spoon.
- Prepare a pastry bag with a large round tip, Christophe is using an Ateco 809 tip. Fill the piping bag with the dough.
- On to a prepared baking tray, pipe the pâte à choux rounds slightly smaller than your desired final size, as they will “puff” and expand in the oven. Chef Christophe is using a "silpain" baking mat, but parchment paper will work as well.
- Gently smooth the top of the cream puff with a wet finger.
- Bake at 350°F (176°C) for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Let them cool on a wire rack to room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Making the Gelato
- Add the milk, cream, half of the sugar, glucose powder, and the vanilla bean to a medium saucepan over the stove, stir with a spatula and cook it over medium heat until the mixture reaches 80°C (175°F).
- Mix about half of the remaining sugar into the ice cream stabilizer, and stir it together well to avoid lumps. We're using cremodan 30, but you can leave it out if desired.
- At 80°C (175°F), add the sugar and stabilizer mixture to the pot and whisk constantly.
- Mix together the rest of the sugar (¼ of the total sugar) into the egg yolks.
- Bring the milk mixture to a simmer and turn off the heat.
- Add about 1 cup of the hot milk mixture to the eggs and stir it together until combined. This is called tempering the eggs and will help prevent lumps in your gelato.
- Add the egg and milk mixture back into the pot and cook over medium heat until it reaches 83°C (181°F). Stir around the bottom and sides of the pan in a figure-eight shape to prevent burning.
- Pour the ice cream base into a medium bowl and place it in the refrigerator for 1 hour until completely cooled, or place it in an ice bath to cool it down faster.
- Add ice and ice cream salt around the outside of your ice cream machine bowl. I'm using a Bosch universal plus stand mixer with an ice cream attachment in the center.
- Pour the base in the center and mix on high for about 20 minutes until the ice cream is thick. Churn the cooled-down ice cream base in an ice cream machine.
Making the Chocolate Sauce
- Heat the glucose in the microwave for about 15 seconds until it is very liquid.
- Add the glucose and milk to a small saucepan over the stove, stir with a spatula and bring it to a simmer over medium heat.
- Fill a large measuring cup with the chocolate and pour the milk mixture over the top. Wait for about 1 minute until the chocolate melts.
- Blend the chocolate sauce with an immersion blender until smooth and fully combined. You can use a whisk if that's all you have.
- Refrigerate the sauce until it's completely cold, about 30 minutes.
- Fill a pastry bag with the sauce and snip off the tip.
Assembling the Profiteroles
- Take your gelato (or ice cream) out of the freezer to start warming up so that it's easy to scoop.
- Slice the fully cooled cream puff in half with a serrated knife, this will avoid crushing the hollow shell.
- Place a small scoop of ice cream on the bottom half of the cream puff and add the top lid.
- Keep the profiteroles on a baking sheet and move them in and out of the freezer as you're assembling to keep the ice cream from melting.
- Pipe the chocolate sauce on top when you're ready to serve.
- Freeze the profiteroles in an airtight container for 1-2 days.
FAQ
The main difference is the filling. Cream puffs are typically filled with vanilla pastry cream or whipped cream, while profiteroles are filled with ice cream and topped with a chocolate glaze.
Yes, pipe your choux dough into balls and freeze them on a sheet pan, then let them thaw out and bake when you're ready to serve. You can also bake them, store them in an airtight container and re-crisp them in the oven before filling.
Once you fill them with ice cream, freeze them right away and they can keep up to 1-2 days.
Sadly profiteroles are made with pate a choux which tends to go soggy once refrigerated or frozen. After baking, make sure to let them cool fully on a wire rack so that they dry out. Before filling them, you can re-crisp cream puffs by placing them in a 350°F oven for 5 minutes on the day you intend to use them.
The eggs must then be added little by little, while you beat the batter as vigorously as possible, both to incorporate them and to add air to help it rise. The dough also needs to be dried enough so that they develop a hollow inside.
Related Recipes
Recipe
Profiteroles Recipe
Equipment
- emersion blender optional
- Piping Bags
- Silpain baking mat optional
Ingredients
Cream Puff Shells Ingredients
- 160 grams whole milk
- 160 grams water
- 4 grams salt
- 6 grams granulated sugar
- 140 grams unsalted butter European, like plugra
- 180 grams all-purpose flour sifted
- 200 grams large eggs
Vanilla Gelato Ingredients
- 500 grams whole milk
- 170 grams heavy cream
- 130 grams granulated sugar
- 30 grams glucose powder
- 4 grams ice cream stabilizer cremodan 30
- 1 whole vanilla bean
- 30 grams egg yolks
Chocolate Sauce Ingredients
- 220 grams whole milk
- 120 grams glucose
- 180 grams 64% dark chocolate
Instructions
Making the Cream Puff Shells
- Add the milk, water, salt, sugar, and butter to a medium saucepan, then bring it to a boil. It is important to make sure that the butter is melting at the same rate the milk is heating so that the milk doesn't boil before the butter is melted. Slowly moving it around with a wooden spoon helps distribute the heat evenly.
- Once the mixture has come to a boil, turn off the heat and add the sifted flour all at once.
- Begin stirring immediately with a wooden spoon, and continue to stir for 1 minute until the flour is fully incorporated, it will look a lot like mashed potatoes.
- Turn the heat back on to medium-high heat and continue to stir and keep it moving to dry out the dough.
- Once you see a browning layer on the bottom of the pan, the dough is dry enough and you can remove it from the heat.
- Put the dough immediately into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment and begin to mix to cool it down, this should take about 30 seconds.
- Add the eggs one at a time, letting each egg incorporate fully before the next. Mix on low until the dough is fully combined with no spots of dry flour, and stiff enough to hold its shape, but pull to a soft peak when picking up the spoon.
- Prepare a pastry bag with a large round tip, Christophe is using an Ateco 809 tip. Fill the piping bag with the dough.
- On to a prepared baking tray, pipe the pâte à choux rounds slightly smaller than your desired final size, as they will “puff” and expand in the oven. Chef Christophe is using a "silpain" baking mat, but parchment paper will work as well.
- Gently smooth the top of the cream puff with a wet finger.
- Bake at 350°F (176°C) for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Let them cool on a wire rack to room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Making the Gelato
- Add the milk, cream, half of the sugar, glucose powder, and the vanilla bean to a medium saucepan over the stove, stir with a spatula and cook it over medium heat until the mixture reaches 80°C (175°F).
- Mix about half of the remaining sugar into the ice cream stabilizer, and stir it together well to avoid lumps. We're using cremodan 30, but you can leave it out if desired.
- At 80°C (175°F), add the sugar and stabilizer mixture to the pot and whisk constantly.
- Mix together the rest of the sugar (¼ of the total sugar) into the egg yolks.
- Bring the milk mixture to a simmer and turn off the heat.
- Add about 1 cup of the hot milk mixture to the eggs and stir it together until combined. This is called tempering the eggs and will help prevent lumps in your gelato.
- Add the egg and milk mixture back into the pot and cook over medium heat until it reaches 83°C (181°F). Stir around the bottom and sides of the pan in a figure-eight shape to prevent burning.
- Pour the ice cream base into a medium bowl and place it in the refrigerator for 1 hour until completely cooled, or place it in an ice bath to cool it down faster.
- Add ice and ice cream salt around the outside of your ice cream machine bowl. I'm using a Bosch universal plus stand mixer with an ice cream attachment in the center.
- Pour the base in the center and mix on high for about 20 minutes until the ice cream is thick. Churn the cooled-down ice cream base in an ice cream machine.
Making the Chocolate Sauce
- Heat the glucose in the microwave for about 15 seconds until it is very liquid.
- Add the glucose and milk to a small saucepan over the stove, stir with a spatula and bring it to a simmer over medium heat.
- Fill a large measuring cup with the chocolate and pour the milk mixture over the top. Wait for about 1 minute until the chocolate melts.
- Blend the chocolate sauce with an immersion blender until smooth and fully combined. You can use a whisk if that's all you have.
- Refrigerate the sauce until it's completely cold, about 30 minutes.
- Fill a pastry bag with the sauce and snip off the tip.
Assembling the Profiteroles
- Take your gelato (or ice cream) out of the freezer to start warming up so that it's easy to scoop.
- Slice the fully cooled cream puff in half with a serrated knife, this will avoid crushing the hollow shell.
- Place a small scoop of ice cream on the bottom half of the cream puff and add the top lid.
- Keep the profiteroles on a baking sheet and move them in and out of the freezer as you're assembling to keep the ice cream from melting.
- Pipe the chocolate sauce on top when you're ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Cream Puff Recipe
This cream puff recipe is a simple classic French dessert that balances sweet, rich, soft, and crunchy all in one fluffy little bite! They are slightly crisp on the exterior, soft and chewy on the inside, and filled with a sweet light vanilla bean whipped cream or pastry cream. Chef Christophe shows us how to make and elevate this simple elegant dessert at home.
The foundation of the perfect cream puff is a light and airy classic French dough. Pâte à choux is a basic recipe that is the base for many delicious French pastries: eclairs, savory gougères, churros, cruller donuts, beignets, gnocchi, profiteroles, and more. Homemade cream puffs are the best because you get to enjoy them immediately while they’re still crisp, you will never buy one from the store again!
Table of Contents
Cream Puff Ingredients
European butter will result in better pastries and flavor because it has a higher fat content (83%) than American butter. More fat and less water equal more flavor and better baking results.
Whole milk is ideal for this recipe due to its fat content. In some recipes, lower fat milk will work fine, but when working with classic French recipes it's best to use what is recommended for the best results.
Salt, even the smallest of pinches, can set your pastry apart from the rest. It enhances all flavors and highlights the sweetness of a pastry.
Eggs are the backbone of this dough, without them, they won’t “puff”.
Making Homemade Cream Puffs
Classic cream puffs come together in a few stages, make the pâte à choux first, pipe it, bake the shells, and make the whipped cream filling while the shells cool. You can also fill the cream puffs with pastry cream, just make it ahead of time so that it has time to cool as well.
Making the Pâte à Choux
- Add the milk, water, salt, sugar, and butter to a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil. It is important to make sure that the butter is melting at the same rate the milk is heating so that the milk doesn't boil before the butter is melted. Slowly moving it around with a wooden spoon helps distribute the heat evenly.
- Once the mixture has come to a boil, turn off the heat and add the sifted flour.
- Begin stirring immediately with a wooden spoon, and continue to stir for 1 minute until the flour is fully incorporated, it will look a lot like mashed potatoes.
- Turn the heat back on to medium-high heat and continue to stir and keep it moving to dry out the dough.
- Once you see a browning layer on the bottom of your saucepan the dough is dry enough and remove it from the heat. This is important, as it will help your cream puffs “puff” and ensure that they have a hollow center for the cream filling.
- Put the dough immediately into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment and begin to mix to cool it down, this should take about 30 seconds. When you can place your hand on the side of the bowl without it feeling too hot, it’s done.
- Add the eggs one at a time, letting each egg incorporate fully before the next. The dough should be fully combined with no spots of dry flour, and stiff enough to hold its shape, but pull to a soft peak when picking up the spoon.
- Prepare a piping bag with a large round tip, Christophe is using an Ateco 809 tip. Fill the piping bag with the dough.
- Pipe the pâte à choux rounds slightly smaller than your desired final size (about 2-inches), as they will “puff” and expand in the oven. Chef Christophe is using a "silpain" baking mat on a cookie sheet, but parchment paper will work as well.
- Gently smooth the top of the cream puff with a damp fingertip.
- Bake the cream puffs at 350°F for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool the cream puffs completely to room temperature on a wire rack, for about 30 minutes.
Making the Whipped Cream
- Split the vanilla pod in half with a sharp knife and scrape the beans. Add the beans to the heavy cream and mix briefly so the beans distribute evenly.
- Place a strainer directly over your mixing bowl and strain the cream and vanilla beans to remove the larger fibers from the cream.
- Add the powdered sugar to the cream in the mixer.
- Whip the cream on medium-high speed with the whisk attachment for about 5 minutes until medium to stiff peaks. Keep the whipped cream cold until you are ready to use it.
Filling the Cream Puffs
- Fill a pastry bag with the prepared whipped cream. Christophe chose a star tip, but any larger tip will do.
- Slice the fully cooled cream puff in half with a serrated knife, this will avoid crushing the hollow shell. You can also insert a piping tip into a small hole on the bottom of the cream puff and fill the cream puffs in the center.
- Pipe a generous amount of whipped cream into the bottom half and gently place the top on, do not squish them down so you can still see the beautiful filling.
- Sift a light dusting of powdered sugar on top.
Storing Homemade Cream Puffs
Cream puffs are meant to be eaten the same day as they are made. The moisture of the filling will cause the cream puff to soften and lose its crunch. So the sooner you can serve the cream puffs, the better.
Storing Baked Cream Puff Shells
Cool them completely, wrap them well in plastic wrap, and store them at room temperature. They can also be frozen if you do not plan to use them in the next day or so. If your cream puffs have softened they can be crisped up in a 350°F oven for 5 minutes.
Storing Cream Puff Dough
If you don’t plan to serve your puffs the same day, pipe and freeze the cream puff dough to be baked and filled as needed. Just place them on a baking sheet and let them thaw slightly and bake as directed. If you have leftover filled cream puffs, store them in an airtight container in the fridge, they will be soft, but still delicious.
Tips For Baking From Scratch
*This post may contain affiliate links which means if you click on them I might get a few pennies.
I suggest purchasing a kitchen scale if you don’t already have one to make the best scratch recipes. One cup of flour can vary from scoop to scoop depending on how packed the flour is, humidity, and the type of flour, which can ruin your recipe. All my cake recipes (except doctored box mixes) use a scale. All of Chef Christophe's recipes are measured in grams, and a scale is necessary.
Practice Mise en Place (everything in its place) which means you measure everything before you start mixing so you don’t accidentally forget something or add any ingredients out of order. I use a set of medium and small pyrex glass bowls I got from goodwill for this and it makes things SO much easier.
Related Recipes
FAQ
Eclairs and cream puffs are both made from the same choux pastry dough, but the difference is the shape and the filling. Eclairs have a long, rectangular shape and are filled with pastry cream and topped with a chocolate glaze. Cream puffs are round and can be filled on the inside or sliced in half and filled.
After filling the cream puffs, they must be refrigerated and can last up to 2-3 days in an airtight container. If you're baking the shells ahead of time, they do not need to be refrigerated until filling.
Yes, you can bake your cream puffs ahead a few different ways. Pipe your dough onto a baking sheet and freeze it, then let them thaw out and bake whenever you're ready to fill and serve them. Or you can bake your cream puff shells and freeze them, then refresh them in the oven by baking at 350°F for 5 minutes until they're crisp again. Whatever you do, don't fill them and keep them in the fridge or freezer for too long because that will make your cream puffs soggy.
Pâte à choux (also known as Choux dough) is a delicate French pastry dough used for cream puffs, eclairs, savory gougères, churros, cruller donuts, beignets, gnocchi, profiteroles, and more. Choux dough is a cross between a dough and a batter and is a staple in pastry.
Using a wooden spoon for choux is recommended because it provides a strong handle to move the stiff dough around the pot. Using a silicone spatula may be too flexible and won’t mix and dry the dough as efficiently. Also, this is what French chefs recommend and I am not going to argue with a French chef.
If they did not bake long enough they can become soft as they cool because not enough moisture was baked out of them. Also, if the dough was not dried properly it will remain soft when baked. If you fill them too far in advance the shell will become soft from the moisture in the filling.
In this recipe, we fill the cream puffs with chantilly cream, which is a sweet whipped cream. You can fill cream puffs with many different things, a simple vanilla pastry cream, bavarian cream, chocolate mousse, ice cream, or even lemon curd. You can drizzle the top with chocolate ganache or dust with cocoa powder as well.
Recipe
Cream Puff Recipe
Equipment
- 1 wooden spoon
- 1 Piping Bag
- 1 Piping tip
- 1 Silpain baking mat or parchment paper
Ingredients
Cream Puff Ingredients
- 160 grams whole milk
- 160 grams water
- 4 grams salt
- 6 grams granulated sugar
- 140 grams unsalted butter European butter (Plugra)
- 180 grams all-purpose flour sifted
- 200 grams large eggs
Whipped Cream Ingredients
- 1 whole vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 480 grams cold heavy whipping cream
- 65 grams powdered sugar
Instructions
Making the Pâte à Choux
- Add the milk, water, salt, sugar, and butter to a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil. It is important to make sure that the butter is melting at the same rate the milk is heating so that the milk doesn't boil before the butter is melted. Slowly moving it around with a wooden spoon helps distribute the heat evenly.
- Once the mixture has come to a boil, turn off the heat and add the sifted flour.
- Begin stirring immediately with a wooden spoon, and continue to stir for 1 minute until the flour is fully incorporated, it will look a lot like mashed potatoes.
- Turn the heat back on to medium-high heat and continue to stir and keep it moving to dry out the dough.
- Once you see a browning layer on the bottom of your saucepan the dough is dry enough and remove it from the heat. This is important, as it will help your cream puffs “puff” and ensure that they have a hollow center for the cream filling.
- Put the dough immediately into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment and begin to mix to cool it down, this should take about 30 seconds. When you can place your hand on the side of the bowl without it feeling too hot, it’s done.
- Add the eggs one at a time, letting each egg incorporate fully before the next. The dough should be fully combined with no spots of dry flour, and stiff enough to hold its shape, but pull to a soft peak when picking up the spoon.
- Prepare a piping bag with a large round tip, Christophe is using an Ateco 809 tip. Fill the piping bag with the dough.
- Pipe the pâte à choux rounds slightly smaller than your desired final size (about 2-inches), as they will “puff” and expand in the oven.
- Gently smooth the top of the cream puff with a damp fingertip.
- Bake the cream puffs at 350°F for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool the cream puffs completely to room temperature on a wire rack, for about 30 minutes.
Making the Whipped Cream
- Split the vanilla pod in half with a sharp knife and scrape the beans. Add the beans to the heavy cream and mix briefly so the beans distribute evenly.
- Place a strainer directly over your mixing bowl and strain the cream and vanilla beans to remove the larger fibers from the cream.
- Add the powdered sugar to the cream in the mixer.
- Whip the cream on medium-high speed with the whisk attachment for about 5 minutes until medium to stiff peaks. Keep the whipped cream cold until you are ready to use it.
Filling the Cream Puffs
- Fill a pastry bag with the prepared whipped cream. Christophe chose a star tip, but any larger tip will do.
- Slice the fully cooled cream puff in half with a serrated knife, this will avoid crushing the hollow shell. You can also insert a piping tip into a small hole on the bottom of the cream puff and fill the cream puffs in the center.
- Pipe a generous amount of whipped cream into the bottom half and gently place the top on, do not squish them down so you can still see the beautiful filling.
- Sift a light dusting of powdered sugar on top.
- Cream puffs are meant to be eaten the same day as they are made. The moisture of the filling will cause the cream puff to soften and lose its crunch. So the sooner you can serve the cream puffs, the better. If you don't eat them all, store them in an air tight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Apple Tart Recipe
This Apple Tart Recipe is made with a tender pâte sucrée crust, filled with soft, nutty almond cream and topped with fresh crisp apples, sweet caramel sauce, and toasted almonds. Make the full recipe for two delicious apple tarts, or cut it in half for one.
This apple tart is made with two of Chef Christophe Rull’s favorite fall recipes, a decadent almond cream, and a melt-in-your-mouth pâte sucrèe. The crisp apples layered on top add a sweet flavor and crunchy texture that make for a classic French apple tart.
What's In This Blog Post?
Apple Tart Ingredients
Gala Apples work best for this recipe because they have a sweeter flavor. You can use any apples you like depending on how sweet or tart you want your apples to be.
Almond flour retains more moisture and also adds a nuttier flavor to the dough, which is what we want for this recipe.
European butter is great for making doughs because the fat percentage is higher and water content is lower which makes the tart flakier and gives it a richer flavor. If you can’t find European butter in your local store you can use any butter that you have available.
Vanilla Beans are great to use because they give the ultimate flavor without adding extra sugar or alcohol content. If you don’t have vanilla beans, vanilla bean paste or extract will work just fine.
Rum enhances the flavors of this recipe but you can use another type of liqueur or leave it out if you wish.
Making the Apple Tart
The first thing you want to do is make the tart dough because it needs at least 2 hours to chill. You can make this and shape the shells ahead of time, but I'd recommend making the almond cream when you're ready to assemble and bake the tarts so that it stays soft enough to pipe.
Making The Pâte Sucrèe
- Add the softened butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. I'm using my Bosch universal plus mixer, but you can use a large bowl and an electric mixer if you prefer. I wouldn't recommend using a food processor for this recipe.
- Add the fresh vanilla bean seeds and continue to mix until incorporated.
- Next, slowly add the eggs and continue to mix on low until combined, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Add the almond flour and mix for a few seconds then add the flour and salt.
- Once all the ingredients have been added, continue mixing on low for 15 seconds until all ingredients are just combined and a dough starts to form. Be careful to not overmix.
- Place the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and shape it into a rectangle. Pro Tip: Forming the dough into a rectangle helps all parts of the dough chill evenly. Refrigerate for about 2 hours or until it becomes firm to the touch.
Making The Tart Shell
- Once the dough is chilled, take it out of the fridge about 30 minutes before rolling it out. Room temperature dough will roll out easier. Remove it from the plastic wrap and cut it in half, setting one half aside.
- Flour your surface and roll out one-half of your dough using a rolling pin until it is about ⅛ inch thick.
- Next, gently place the 6" tart ring on your rolled dough to use it as a guide. This perforated tart shell ring allows the tart to bake more evenly because the heat is well distributed. You can also use any fluted tart shell ring with a removable bottom if you prefer.
- Using a sharp knife, cut about 2 inches out from your tart ring (about 10 inches), this will give you enough dough to cover the bottom and sides of your ring with a little extra.
- Repeat with the other half of your dough.
- Use your fingers to gently press the dough into the tart pan. Work your fingers around the shell slowly making your way towards the bottom taking care to not press too hard or tear the dough.
- Use a knife to trim the access dough from the top of your shell. Pro Tip: Hold the knife facing away from the tart shell and glide it flat along the top edge of the ring while using your other hand to turn the tart ring. This makes it easy to cut and leaves a super smooth top edge!
- Make sure the bottom edge of the tart shell is at a 90-degree angle with the ring, this will shrink as the dough bakes and will leave you with a straighter edge.
- Place your tart rings on a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Refrigerate the tart rings while you make the almond cream.
Making The Almond Cream
- First, add the sugar and butter into the bowl of your stand mixer and mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until smooth.
- Add the vanilla bean and mix for 10 seconds, scrape the bowl, and then continue to mix for another 10 seconds.
- Next, add your eggs one at a time and mix until fully incorporated, scraping the bowl if needed.
- Then add the almond flour and mix for a few seconds, add the rum and continue mixing on low speed until the mixture is smooth.
- Prepare a piping bag with a metal round tip and fill the bag with the almond cream.
Assembling The Apple Tart
- Preheat the oven to 360°F (162° C).
- Pipe the almond cream into your chilled tart shells using a spiral motion filling about ⅓ of the way up, then set it aside. Pro Tip: To form a perfect spiral, start from the center of the tart and slowly move outwards using a spiral formation.
- Peel and core the apples, then cut them in half so that they're face down on the cutting board. Slice them into thin slices with a small pairing knife, removing any leftover seeds or core pieces from the slices. Pro Tip: Keep keep your slices uniform in size so that they bake evenly and soak them in lemon juice so that they don't brown.
- Place the apple slices nicely inside of the tart on top of the almond cream, layering them slightly and fanning them into a circle in the tart shell.
- Brush melted butter on top of the tart dough and apples using a pastry brush.
- Sprinkle a thin layer of brown sugar to help give the apples a hint of caramel flavor.
- Bake the tarts at 360°F (162° C) for about 30 minutes or until the tart crust looks golden brown.
- Set the tarts aside on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes.
Decorating The Apple Tart
- Make a simple syrup out of corn syrup and water by mixing them together and bringing them to a boil, then cool it down. Brush the glaze over the top of the tart for a little extra sweetness and shine. You can also melt some apricot preserves and use that to brush over the top.
- Drizzle or pipe some caramel (store-bought or homemade) in a circle around the tart.
- Add some chopped toasted almonds along the caramel design.
- Place a medium bowl that's slightly smaller than your tart on top so that everything but the top edge is covered. Sift some powdered sugar around the edge of the tart. Remove the bowl and you will be left with an even line of powdered sugar dusted along the edge of the tart.
- These apple tarts are best served immediately and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. They can be stored for up to a week in the fridge and are should be eaten within 1-2 days after being baked.
FAQ
Gala apples work best for an apple tart because they are on the sweeter side but are still firm enough to hold their shape while baking. You can use granny smith apples if you like a more acidic and tart flavor, or a combination of apples if you prefer. Pink lady, honey crisp, or golden delicious apples are also good options.
A traditional pâte sucrèe (or sweet dough) is the perfect crust for an apple tart because it has a nice flaky crunch and will melt in your mouth. It's different from the classic pie dough that uses cold butter and flour because it contains eggs and sugar and is similar to a shortbread cookie. There is also no need to egg wash like you would a typical pie dough, it will brown evenly in the oven.
Peel and core the apples and remove any seeds, then cut them in half so that they're face down on the cutting board. Slice them into very thin slices with a small pairing knife and make sure the slices are as even as possible so that they bake well.
Yes, to make these in advance, make the dough and shape the tart rings, then freeze them. Fill and bake the tarts when you're ready to serve. These apple tarts are best served within a day or two after baking.
While pies and tarts both often include some sort of fruit or custard and a buttery crust, they are fundamentally different. Tarts only have a bottom crust and it is usually a thicker sweet pastry crust rather than a pie crust or puff pastry crust. Additionally, a tart looks cleaner and more refined than a traditional rustic pie.
Related Recipes
Recipe
Apple Tart Recipe
Equipment
- 2 8-inch Tart Rings
Ingredients
Pâte Sucrée ( Sweet Doug)
- 300 grams All Purpose Flour
- 150 grams Powdered Sugar
- 150 grams European Unsalted Butter American butter is okay too
- 75 grams Eggs
- 40 grams Almond Flour
- 3 grams Salt
Almond Cream
- 100 grams Unsalted Butter
- 100 grams Granulated Sugar
- 100 grams Almond Flour
- 100 grams Eggs
- 8 grams Rum optional
- 1 fresh Vanilla Bean or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Decoration
- 2 large Gala Apples (or apples of your choice)
- 30 grams Toasted Almonds Optional (for decoration)
- 10 grams Caramel Sauce Optional (for decoration)
- 10 grams Powdered Sugar Optional (for decoration)
- 30 grams corn syrup Optional (for glazing)
- 30 grams water Optional (for glazing)
Instructions
Making The Pâte Sucrée
- Add the softened butter and powdered sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.
- Add the fresh vanilla bean seeds and continue to mix until incorporated.
- Next, slowly add the eggs and continue to mix on low until combined, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Add the almond flour and mix for a few seconds then add the flour and salt.
- Once all the ingredients have been added, continue mixing on low for 15 seconds until all ingredients are just combined and a dough starts to form. Be careful to not overmix.
- Place the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and shape it into a rectangle. Pro Tip: Forming the dough into a rectangle helps all parts of the dough chill evenly. Refrigerate for about 2 hours or until it becomes firm to the touch.
Making The Tart Shells
- Once the dough is chilled, take it out of the fridge for about 30 minutes before rolling it out. Room temperature dough will roll out easier. Remove it from the plastic wrap and cut it in half, setting one half aside.
- Flour your surface and roll out one-half of your dough using a rolling pin until it is about ⅛ inch thick.
- Next, gently place the 8" tart ring on your rolled dough to use it as a guide. This perforated tart shell ring allows the tart to bake more evenly because the heat is well distributed. You can also use any fluted tart shell ring with a removable bottom if you prefer.
- Using a sharp knife, cut about 2 inches out from your tart ring (about 10 inches), this will give you enough dough to cover the bottom and sides of your ring with a little extra.
- Repeat with the other half of your dough, or chill it to use another time.
- Use your fingers to gently press the dough into the tart pan. Work your fingers around the shell slowly making your way towards the bottom taking care to not press too hard or tear the dough.
- Use a knife to trim the access dough from the top of your shell. Pro Tip: Hold the knife facing away from the tart shell and glide it flat along the top edge of the ring while using your other hand to turn the tart ring. This makes it easy to cut and leaves a super smooth top edge!
- Make sure the bottom edge of the tart shell is at a 90-degree angle with the ring, this will shrink as the dough bakes and will leave you with a straighter edge.
- Place your tart rings on a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Refrigerate the tart rings while you make the almond cream.
Making The Almond Cream
- First, add the sugar and butter into the bowl of your stand mixer and mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until smooth.
- Add the vanilla bean and mix for 10 seconds, scrape the bowl, and then continue to mix for another 10 seconds.
- Next, add your eggs one at a time and mix until fully incorporated, scraping the bowl if needed.
- Then add the almond flour and mix for a few seconds, add the rum and continue mixing on low speed until the mixture is smooth.
- Prepare a piping bag with a metal round tip and fill the bag with the almond cream.
Assembling The Apple Tart
- Preheat the oven to 360°F (162° C).
- Pipe the almond cream into your chilled tart shells using a spiral motion filling about ⅓ of the way up, then set it aside. Pro Tip: To form a perfect spiral, start from the center of the tart and slowly move outwards using a spiral formation.
- Peel and core the apples, then cut them in half so that they're face down on the cutting board. Slice them into thin slices with a small pairing knife, removing any leftover seeds or core pieces from the slices. Pro Tip: Keep keep your slices uniform in size so that they bake evenly and soak them in lemon juice so that they don't brown.
- Place the apple slices nicely inside of the tart on top of the almond cream, layering them slightly and fanning them into a circle in the tart shell.
- Brush melted butter on top of the tart dough and apples using a pastry brush.
- Sprinkle a thin layer of brown sugar to help give the apples a hint of caramel flavor.
- Bake the tarts at 360°F (162° C) for about 30 minutes or until the tart crust looks golden brown.
- Set the tarts aside on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes.
Decorating The Apple Tart
- (optional) Make a simple syrup out of corn syrup and water by mixing them together and bringing them to a boil, then cool it down. Brush the glaze over the top of the tart for a little extra sweetness and shine. You can also melt some apricot preserves and use that to brush over the top.
- Drizzle or pipe some caramel (store-bought or homemade) in a circle around the tart.
- Add some chopped toasted almonds along the caramel design.
- Place a medium bowl that's slightly smaller than your tart on top so that everything but the top edge is covered. Sift some powdered sugar around the edge of the tart. Remove the bowl and you will be left with an even line of powdered sugar dusted along the edge of the tart.
- These apple tarts are best served immediately and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. They can be stored for up to a week in the fridge and are should be eaten within 1-2 days after being baked.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Virgo Portrait Showpiece Tutorial
Skill level: Intermediate
Liz Marek creates a fantasy-inspired portrait of the Virgo sign. Learn how to sculpt and detail the Virgo's face using edible materials like modeling chocolate and fondant, without having to use a chocolate skull mold. Liz breaks down how to create the facial features (please note: you will need to pour isomalt eyes using a mold if you want the eyes to be edible) including the nose, cheeks, eye lids, ears and lips.
Liz showcases how to make edible flowers from wafer paper and how to arrange them into a beautiful flower laurel for the portrait.
There's a lot to cover in this tutorial, so let's get our tools together and let's get started!
1:30:34 Minutes of Instruction
What You Will Learn
- How to create a fantasy-inspired portrait from edible materials, no skull molds required
- Learn how to sculpt the facial features including the nose, cheeks, lips, and ears
- How to create realistic hair
- Learn how to create the edible flower arrangements and wooden bark
- How to paint makeup onto the Virgo's face with petal dust
Tutorial Chapters
- Building The Structure
- Adding Bulk To The Head
- Adding Bulk To The Chin
- Measuring The Face
- Sculpting The Eye Socket And Face
- Sculpting The Chin
- Adding The Eyes
- Sculpting The Mouth
- Sculpting The Nose And Detailing
- Defining The Jaw & Skull
- Adding & Shaping The Ears
- Building Up The Body & Neck
- Coloring & Rolling The Fondant
- Adding The Fondant
- Detailing The Fondant
- Covering The Neck In Fondant
- Adding The Tree Texture
- Detailing The Eyes And Face
- Contouring The Face
- Adding The Eyelashes And Details
- Adding The Hair
- Making The Leaves And Flowers
- Making The Flower Crown
- Adding The Flower Crown
Virgo Portrait Showpiece
You don't have access to view this content
Moist And Fluffy Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
This moist and fluffy vanilla cupcake recipe is everything you want a cupcake to be. Light and fluffy with lots of flavor in a little bite! The buttermilk adds a wonderful tang, and a little bit of oil makes these cupcakes very moist. I may have eaten a couple without any frosting! If you like my white velvet buttermilk cake or my vanilla cake, you will love these cupcakes!
I love these vanilla cupcakes because there are so many frosting options that go with this recipe. You can combine it with strawberry buttercream to make strawberry shortcake cupcakes. Or frost them with some yummy chocolate ganache or chocolate buttercream. For lemon lovers, try filling your cupcakes with some lemon curd and topping them with fresh stabilized whipped cream. You can even add spices to the batter and make them into spice cake or add in sprinkles to make them funfetti cupcakes! This is seriously the best vanilla cupcake recipe.
Table of contents
Vanilla Cupcake Ingredients
Buttermilk is essential to this recipe because it adds flavor and moisture. Buttermilk is acidic and actually breaks down the gluten in the flour, making a more tender cupcake as well. If you have whole milk and white vinegar or lemons, you can make your own buttermilk substitute.
Oil is important for keeping the cupcakes moist, but too much oil in a recipe will cause the wrappers to peel away from the cupcake.
Cake flour is what makes these cupcakes extra soft and fluffy. This recipe uses the reverse creaming method, which coats the flour in a layer of butter and then whips in the air. Cake flour has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour, so it's important to use it to get the right texture. If you don't have cake flour, you can try using my cake flour substitute recipe, or try searching for "Shipton Mills soft cake and pastry flour."
Making Moist and Fluffy Vanilla Cupcakes
I recommend first making the vanilla cupcakes, and then making the frosting while the cupcakes are in the oven. They will need time to cool after baking, so don't pipe frosting onto a warm cupcake.
If you're making these for an event, it's best to frost and fill them on the same day that you're going to deliver and serve them.
Making Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line two cupcake pans (or a muffin pan will do) with paper liners. You can also bake one pan at a time if you only have one cupcake pan. This recipe will make about 24 cupcakes.
- Combine the vanilla and buttermilk in a separate measuring cup and set it aside. Protip – Use clear vanilla extract for that “classic grocery store cake” flavor. Use good quality vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste, or even a vanilla bean for true vanilla flavor. One vanilla bean = 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
- Next, add the eggs and oil to a separate bowl then whisk and set them aside.
- Add the cake flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. You can use a large bowl and an electric mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer, just mix for longer. Use these photos as a guide instead of mixing by time.
- Then add the softened butter to the rest of the dry ingredients and mix on low until the mixture resembles a sandy texture. Depending on how soft your butter is, this might take a minute or two.
- Pour the milk mixture into your dry ingredients and increase the speed to medium (speed 4 on a KitchenAid, speed 2 on a Bosch). Mix for 1 ½ minutes to develop the fluffy structure of the cupcake. The batter will go from being yellow to a fluffy white.
- Slowly add your egg mixture in three parts and mix on low until it's fully combined.
- Fill your liners ⅔ of the way full with the cupcake batter. I use my kitchen scale to measure out 1.5 ounces of batter per cupcake.
- Bake the cupcakes for 15-20 minutes or until they are just starting to turn golden brown and the center of the cupcake springs back when you lightly touch it. I rotate my cupcakes halfway through baking for even browning. If you’re making mini cupcakes, bake for less time.
- Let your cupcakes cool in the pans for five minutes, then move them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Place your favorite frosting into a piping bag with a tip, I like a 1M or a 2F, and pipe a swirl on top. I love using my easy vanilla buttercream and topping them with a few sprinkles. Swiss meringue buttercream or strawberry buttercream would also be delicious.
Making Easy Buttercream
- Place the pasteurized egg whites and powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Combine the ingredients on low and then whip them on high for 4-5 minutes (until shiny) to dissolve the powdered sugar.
- Now add in the salt and vanilla extract. If you want to add in any food coloring, now is the time.
- Add in your softened butter piece-by-piece, then whip it on high. It will look curdled at first. This is definitely normal. It will also look pretty yellow, just keep whipping.
- After your buttercream looks like this, remove about 1 cup of buttercream and melt it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
- Pour it back into the whipping buttercream to bring it all together.
- Whip it on high for 8-10 minutes until the buttercream is white, light, and shiny. If it tastes like sweet ice cream, then it’s ready!
- Finally, switch to a paddle attachment and mix the buttercream on low speed for up to 15-20 minutes to make the buttercream ultra smooth and remove any air bubbles. This step is optional, but if you want really creamy frosting, you don’t want to skip this final step.
- For extra white buttercream, add a drop of purple food coloring. The purple counteracts the yellow in the butter, toning the buttercream to make it white.
Storing Vanilla Cupcakes
These cupcakes are best eaten within 24 hours of baking, and can sometimes dry out in the fridge. If you're using a buttercream that is shelf stable, store them in an airtight container on the shelf for up to 2 days.
Baked cupcakes without frosting can be frozen in ziplock bags for up to 6 months.
If you're using a fruit filling or frosting that isn't shelf stable, it's best to refrigerate them after about 4 hours. I love filling these cupcakes with fresh homemade raspberry filling.
Tips For Baking From Scratch
*This post may contain affiliate links which means if you click on them I might get a few pennies.
I suggest purchasing a kitchen scale if you don't already have one to make the best scratch recipes. One cup of flour can vary from scoop to scoop depending on how packed the flour is and the humidity in your area. Too little or too much flour can ruin your recipe, so all of my cake recipes (except doctored box mixes) use a scale.
Practice Mise en Place (everything in its place) which means you measure everything before you start mixing so you don't accidentally forget something or add any ingredients out of order. I use a set of medium and small pyrex glass bowls I got from goodwill for this and it makes things SO much easier.
Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature or even a tiny bit on the warm side. I warm my milk in the microwave for 30 seconds. The butter should be soft enough to live an indent in it when you press it but firm enough that it’s still holding its shape. Place your eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes to warm them up.
FAQ
You might be baking at too low of a temperature. Baking at 350ºF makes the cupcake nice and fluffy and set’s the dome. Baking at too low of a temperature will make your cupcakes flat. Not sure what your oven temperature is? You can get an oven thermometer to calibrate the temperature of your oven.
The secret to fluffy cupcakes is enough baking powder to really get that high rise and higher oven temperature to create a lot of lift and to set the dome of the cupcake. Too much liquid in your cupcakes or over-filling your liners can cause them to collapse.
It could be that your recipe has too much liquid, oil, or that your liners are not grease-proof. Your liners can also pull away if you are storing your cupcakes in a closed container and the moisture causes them to pull away.
You can easily change the flavor of these cupcakes from vanilla to lemon or spice by replacing the extract and adding in things like spices or zest. You can also add up to ¼ cup of any dry ingredient like sprinkles, crushed Oreos, or fruit without changing the recipe.
If you cover your cupcakes with plastic wrap or put them in a container before they are completely cooled, condensation will collect on top of the cupcake and make it soggy.
Cupcakes can shrink from over-mixing your batter, over-baking, or too much fat/liquid in the recipe
Cupcakes can be frozen in ziplock bags for up to 6 months.
Sour cream or milk mixed with a tablespoon of vinegar make great buttermilk substitutes. Be sure to check out my buttermilk blog post for more substitutes.
Related Recipes
Recipe
Moist and Fluffy Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Paddle Attachment
- Whisk Attachment
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
- 10 ounces cake flour
- 9 ounces granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 4 ounces vegetable oil
- 5 ounces buttermilk room temperature or slightly warm
- 4 ounces unsalted butter softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Easy Buttercream Frosting Recipe
- 6 ounces pasteurized egg whites
- 24 ounces powdered sugar
- 24 ounces unsalted butter softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tiny drop purple food coloring optional for whiter frosting
Instructions
Making Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line two cupcake pans (or a muffin pan will do) with paper liners. You can also bake one pan at a time if you only have one cupcake pan. This recipe will make about 24 cupcakes.
- Combine the vanilla and buttermilk in a separate measuring cup and set it aside.
- Next, add the eggs and oil to a separate bowl then whisk and set them aside.
- Add the cake flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. You can use a large bowl and an electric mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer, just mix for longer. Use these photos as a guide instead of mixing by time.
- Then add the softened butter to the rest of the dry ingredients and mix on low until the mixture resembles a sandy texture. Depending on how soft your butter is, this might take a minute or two.
- Pour the milk mixture into your dry ingredients and increase the speed to medium (speed 4 on a KitchenAid, speed 2 on a Bosch). Mix for 1 ½ minutes to develop the fluffy structure of the cupcake. The batter will go from being yellow to a fluffy white.
- Slowly add your egg mixture in three parts and mix on low until it's fully combined.
- Fill your liners ⅔ of the way full with the cupcake batter. I use my kitchen scale to measure out 1.5 ounces of batter per cupcake.
- Bake the cupcakes for 15-20 minutes or until they are just starting to turn golden brown and the center of the cupcake springs back when you lightly touch it. I rotate my cupcakes halfway through baking for even browning. If you’re making mini cupcakes, bake for less time.
- Let your cupcakes cool in the pans for five minutes, then move them to a cooling rack to cool completely.