Wedding CupcakesCupcakes are very popular, and are a great alternative or addition to a traditional wedding cake. They are versatile in both colour and flavour, meaning that you can create a display that will complement your wedding colour scheme and guest’s tastes perfectly. They can also play a tasty part in your plans for your wedding tables – place a pretty little flag in your cupcakes, and you have ready made place cards for tables, or use these beautiful ‘cupcakes in a jar’ as delicious wedding favours.

So, how can you make your own wedding cupcakes? With some advance preparation, it is surprisingly easy!

Cupcake recipes

A good basic cupcake recipe can be found here. Simply put all the ingredients in a bowl, whisk, fill and cook your cupcakes for a really tasty result.

You’ll need:

  • 250g butter, softened
  • 250g caster sugar
  • 250g self-raising flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 4 medium eggs
  • 4 tablespoons milk
  • 2 x 12-hole bun trays, lined with paper cases

Set the oven to Gas Mark 5 or 190 degrees and cook for 15 minutes, swap the trays over and bake for a further 3-7 minutes.

Alternatively, this recipe will create cupcakes with a lighter texture, as it requires you to mix ingredients separately, and then to fold in whisked egg whites for extra lightness. Note that the measurements are in the American ‘cup’ measurement – either use a set of measuring cups or check the conversion ratios into grams/ounces here.

Red Velvet CupcakesRed Velvet cupcakes are very popular, with their rich red colour being perfect for a romantic touch to your cupcakes.

If you are looking for some more tasty adventures in the kitchen, have a look at this fantastic selection of delicious sounding cupcake flavours, ranging from lemon meringue and chocolate vanilla to coffee cream and strawberry.

It is probably a good idea to do a test run, making 12 or 24 cupcakes first to check that they taste as you would like (I am sure you will not be short of willing tasting volunteers!). Don’t over fill the cases – it is easier to ice a cake with a flatter top.

Storing cupcakes

When you have the recipe refined to your liking, then cupcakes can generally be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days, and the plainer ones will also freeze well in an airtight container, if necessary. It is generally best to ice your cupcakes as near to the Big Day as possible, and to store them in the fridge if you are using buttercream icing.

Decorating your cupcakes

There are two main ways of decorating your cupcakes – either with buttercream frosting, or with fondant icing. Have a look at our Pinterest wedding cupcake page to discover the huge range of possible decorations for your cupcakes.

Buttercream frosting

They joy of using buttercream icing is that you can choose the exact colour and flavouring. Here is a simple recipe that you can use to experiment with colour and flavours to find the perfect combination for your wedding cupcakes.

You’ll need:

  • 140g butter, softened
  • 280g icing sugar
  • 1-2 tbsp milk
  • a few drops of food colouring

Piping buttercream

You will need a piping bag (either washable or disposable) and nozzles. There is a rather bewildering selection of nozzles on the market.

This video is a very good tutorial which demonstrates four different ways of icing your cupcakes. It is best to pipe icing straight from the fridge as it will have better definition than icing piped at room temperature. It takes a little time to get the hang of piping, but you can quickly achieve some stunning results with a little bit of practice.

Piped icing can be decorated with sugar sprinkles, decorations, glitter, coloured sugar balls, sugared flowers or even fresh strawberries and blueberries.

Fondant icing

You can buy ready-made fondant icing from most supermarkets to save making your own. To add colour to the icing, simply take a handful of the fondant icing, drip a couple of drops of food colouring on and knead the icing with your hands until the colouring is blended in.

Roll out your fondant icing using a board and rolling pin lightly dusted with icing sugar (to stop the icing from sticking). Using a circular cutter with the same diameter as your cakes, cut out as many icing circles as possible before re-kneading the icing and rolling out again.

Brush the cakes with some warmed apricot jam or a thin layer of butter icing to stick your icing circles on top.

You can then add decorations as you like – I particularly like these bride and groom cupcakes, or you could even get creative and make your own fondant icing roses to put on top.

Other options

Other options for icing your cakes include ganache, royal icing, poured fondant icing, melted chocolate, cream cheese frosting or a simple icing sugar and water mix.

Our Pinterest page has a huge collection of wedding cupcakes to inspire you. Whatever you choose, enjoy experimenting and creating your perfect wedding cupcakes!

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