31 best cupcake recipes

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Easy cupcake recipes

Vanilla cupcakes

With light, buttery frosting and a sweet, fluffy sponge, these classic vanilla cupcakes are hard to beat. Make them for a celebration or simply as a treat to have with your afternoon cuppa.

Fairy cakes

Bake a classic batch of soft and spongy fairy cakes, flavoured with vanilla, to serve to friends and family at afternoon tea.

Red velvet cupcakes

Red velvet fans will go mad for these beautifully colourful, icing-topped cupcakes – they’re easy to make and are ready in less than an hour.

Butterfly cakes

These cakes are ideal for an easy teatime treat. Ready in less than an hour, the wings on the buttercream topping will lift anyone’s mood.

Strawberry cupcakes

Light and fluffy cupcakes are kept moist thanks to the chopped-up strawberries folded into the sponge, perfect for afternoon tea.

Classic chocolate cupcakes

Bake a gaggle of these indulgent cupcakes, and you'll make friends for life. Top with swirls of homemade chocolate buttercream.

Biscoff cupcakes

Make good use of Biscoff biscuit spread in these cupcakes – they're easy to prepare, requiring less than an hour of hands-on time.

Birthday cupcakes

Make one cupcake mixture and flavour it three ways - chocolate, pistachio and lemon. These simple yet stunning bakes are ideal for a birthday party pud.

Gluten-free cupcakes

Make these delicious gluten-free cupcakes for bake sales, afternoon teas or as a weekend treat

Jaffa cupcakes

Check out these fun and easy orange cupcakes with silky smooth chocolate frosting and old school Jaffa cakes. Make these cupcakes for an impressive alternative to a showstopping birthday cake.

Baileys cupcakes

Make our sophisticated cupcakes, infused with a classic creamy tipple. Add another splash of Baileys to the buttercream for extra flavour.

Vegan chocolate cupcakes

Bake a batch of these delectable dairy-free cupcakes and top with a swirl of rich chocolate frosting for an afternoon vegan treat. No one needs to miss out on a dose of indulgence.

Ferrero Rocher cupcakes

Combine chocolate and hazelnut in these grown-up cupcakes – each one contains a whole Ferrero Rocher inside the sponge, and they're topped with silky Nutella buttercream.

Carrot cake cupcakes

We've taken this classic cake and recreated it in cupcake form. These mini versions are made all the more delicious with an orange cream cheese frosting. You don't need any butter for this recipe – it calls for light olive oil instead.

Coffee and walnut cupcakes

Coffee and walnut cake is a teatime favourite. With this recipe, we've given it a modern makeover by giving it the cupcake treatment. Pipe the icing sky-high for maximum cake drama.

Brown butter cakes (cupcakes)

Cupcakes, but not as you know them! Enjoy these light-as-a-feather buttery individual cakes, with golden chewy crust. The perfect partner for a cuppa, or an easy win for Valentine's Day!

Lemon meringue cupcakes

Make these cute lemon meringue cupcakes to show someone you love them - easy to make and perfect for sharing

Matcha cupcakes

Matcha cupcakes are a trending flavour at the moment, matcha is ground green tea and we’ve also seen it being used in doughnuts, snow cones and green tea ice cream. Try our easy recipe with a white chocolate melting middle.

Want to know how to ice cupcakes? Here is our 20 second video from our expert baking team...

Black Forest cupcakes

Cherries, kirsch and dark chocolate make an indulgent, grown-up cupcake. This recipe makes 12 which means (if you can resist eating them all yourself) there'll be plenty to go around.

Frosted lemon fairy cakes

These cute little lemon cupcakes would work equally well for a kids party, baby shower or just a treat to serve with afternoon tea. If you are short of time make the sponges ahead and store in an airtight box then ice on the day.

Coconut cupcakes

These pretty coconut cupcakes use sweet coconutty Malibu to add a boozy hit to afternoon tea.

Raspberry and chocolate brownie cakes

Gooey and indulgent, chocolate brownies don’t need to be so square – you can use the mixture to make these fabulous cakes with added raspberries. These are quite delicate, so use a flexible 8–hole muffin tin (the rubbery ones), or line a rigid tin with paper cases.

Chocolate and vanilla cupcakes

Everyone loves a good cupcake. These classic chocolate and vanilla cupcakes are simple and make the perfect treat for any occasion - time to put the kettle on.

Sour cherry cupcakes

A seasonal favourite. The cream cheese frosting tones down the tartness of the cherries.

Sticky honey cakes

This recipe for sticky honey cakes is really easy to make and they look great. The combination of honey, lemon and ginger works really well together and they're surprisingly low-cal.

Blackberry and chocolate cakes

These indulgent show-off mini cakes are very easy to make and are perfect for a mid-afternoon treat. Peruvian chocolate or a dark blend will work best with the blackberries in these cakes.

Seasonally themed cupcakes

Gingerbread cupcakes

These moreish spiced cupcakes are great fun to make over the festive season for the whole family

Christmas cupcakes

Check out these super cute melted snowmen cupcakes. They are great fun to bake with the whole family and make for quick and easy Christmas party food

Creme egg cupcakes

These super-chocolatey Creme Egg cupcakes, with their yolk-yellow frosting, are too good to save just for Easter.

Easter cupcakes

Bake a batch of chocolate cupcakes and top with vanilla buttercream and Cadbury Mini Eggs for an easy Easter treat.

Black velvet ghost cupcakes

These spooktacular black velvet Halloween cupcakes are so terrifyingly tasty that not even the most high strung of paranormal investigators would argue about keeping them around...