This White Cupcake Recipe gives you light and airy cupcakes, living up to bakery-quality standards! And while some may find vanilla cupcakes to be plain or unexciting, let me assure you that these White Cupcakes are nothing less than mouth watering, providing a great base for almost any occasion, party theme, or celebration.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
Sift the cake flour into a large bowl and THEN measure out exactly 3 ½ cups from the sifted flour. Measure by spooning the sifted flour into a measuring cup and then use the flat side of a knife to level off the top of the measuring cup.
Place measured flour in a medium mixing bowl. Add in salt and baking powder and whisk together,
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together egg whites, milk, vegetable oil, sour cream, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Whisk until no lumps remain.
Beat the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer or with a handheld mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add in the sugar while continuing to mix.
Add the wet and dry ingredients to the butter mixture: beginning and ending with the wet ingredients, mix in ⅓ of the milk mixture, then ½ of the flour mixture, another ⅓ of the milk mixture, the remaining flour mixture, and finally the remaining mix mixture.
Spoon the cupcake batter into each muffin cavity, filling ⅔ of the way full.
Bake for 18-20 minutes. The cupcakes will brown slightly on the top and should spring back when pressed gently with your finger.
Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.
Notes
The use of both butter and oil in this recipe keep the cake light and moist while also adding the delicious flavor of butter.
Traditional white cakes use egg whites, not whole eggs. This makes the cake very light and airy, even springy.
Measuring the flour correctly is really important. If you have lumps or packed flour, you may end up adding too much flour, resulting in a dense tough cake. Sift the flour first, then measure using the spoon and level method.
Cake flour is soft and very airy. It works so well to keep this white cake tasting just like a professional cake straight from the bakery. You can use all-purpose flour in this recipe, but the texture will be a bit chewier and dense.
The browned top of the cupcakes is just a tiny bit crispy and chewy - a bit of caramelized sugar heaven. It really adds a delicious dimension to the cake.
You can cook this into a cake also - the batter will make a 3-layer 9” round cake.
Sour cream is a bit of a unique addition to a traditional white cake recipe, but it adds so much moisture and really makes a delicious crumb.
These are soft and airy. They are easy to frost right in the muffin tin. If you want to hold the cupcakes in your hand while frosting or decorating, you may want to pop them in the freezer for 20 minutes or so to harden, making them less “fragile” for handling.