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Vanillia cupcakes with buttercream frosting decorated with red green yellow and blue balls. In spotted cupcake cases.
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5 from 27 votes

Children in Need Cupcakes - Easy Sponge Cupcakes with Buttercream

Doing our bit to support the kid's Children in Need Day Cake Sale.
These simple vanilla sponge cupcakes are so easy to make, anyone can do them! With a fail proof vanilla buttercream.
Will be enjoyed by all the kids and help raise money to support Children in Need.
Prep Time20 minutes
Active Time15 minutes
Cooling Time20 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Cake
Cuisine: British
Keyword: bake sale ideas for kids, cake sale ideas for fundraising, Charity, children cupcakes, children in need cupcakes, children in need pudsey, Cupcakes, cupcakes for kids, easy cupcakes, pudsey cupcakes, school cake sale, sponge cupcakes, vanilla cupcake recipe
Yield: 24 cakes
Calories: 281kcal
Author: Luke and Kay - Flawless Food

Equipment

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 300 g Self raising flour see notes for substitutions
  • 140 g Butter Must be softened (not melted). We find Stork gives best results.
  • 360 g Caster sugar
  • 4 Egg whites We use Two Chicks brand
  • 250 ml Milk
  • 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract

Buttercream

  • 200 g Butter
  • 400 g Icing sugar powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Milk
  • 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • Sprinkles your choice, we used colours that represent children in need
Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Vanilla Cupcakes- makes 24

  • Preheat oven to fan 170°C/ 190°C/ 350°F /Gas Mark 5
    In a large mixing bowl using an electric whisk on low, beat the 140 g Butter and 360 g Caster sugar for 2 minutes until smooth, creamy and fluffy.
    140 g Butter, 360 g Caster sugar
    Sugar being added to a bowl with softened butter
  • Add 4 Egg whites and whisk for a further 2 minutes.
    4 Egg whites
    two chicks egg whites being added to creamed butter and sugar
  • Add the following ingredients a bit at a time 300 g Self raising flour, 250 ml Milk and 2 tsp Vanilla extract. Mix with a spoon at the start to prevent the whisk showering flour everywhere! Then use the whisk for 3 more minutes.
    300 g Self raising flour, 250 ml Milk, 2 tsp Vanilla extract
    vanilla essence added to homemade cupcake mixture
  • Put cupcake liners in 2 x cupcake tin. We like to pipe them in, to just above halfway. You can spoon them in if preferred.
    piping cupcake mixture into a cupcake liner
  • Bake in the preheated oven set to fan 170°C/ 190°C/ 350°F /Gas Mark 5 for 15-18 mins. They should have a pale golden colour when ready.
    Place on a cooling rack and make sure fully cooled before you pipe icing on top.
    fresh baked vanilla sponge cupcakes with spotty cases inside a cupcake tray

Simple Vanilla Buttercream - Wait for the cakes to cool before making or make ahead and keep chilled.

  • Beat 200 g Butter in a mixing bowl using a whisk for 2 minutes until soft and fluffy.
    200 g Butter
    whisking butter until soft for icing
  • Add 400 g Icing sugar, stir with a spoon to start. Then once settled into butter, whisk for 5 minutes.
    400 g Icing sugar
    mixing icing sugar with butter to make buttercream icing.
  • Add 2 tsp Vanilla extract, whisk for 2 minutes.
    2 tsp Vanilla extract
    adding vanilla essence in to buttercream icing
  • Check the consistency of the buttercream before piping.
    The consistency you want is thick enough to hold its shape, but soft enough to pipe or spread easily.
    Add 1tbsp icing sugar if too runny, or 1 tbsp Milk if too firm.
    1 tbsp Milk
    Buttercream whipped until firm

Decorating- If you don't have piping bags see notes or you can spread the icing on instead.

  • Make sure cakes are cool, or the icing will melt!!
    Start from the outside and swirl in circles into the middle.
    Piping vanilla frosting on to a cupcake.
  • Once you reach the middle pull up to leave a tip.
    piping a vanilla cupcake with buttercream icing for children in need
  • Now sprinkle on the edible decorations
    Sprinkles
    Decorating pudsey cupcakes with bright colour ball sprinkles
  • Enjoy! Will be fine stored at room temperature if made night ahead of cake sale.
    If you make more than 1 day ahead they will need to be stored in the fridge (upto 3 days ahead)
    Vanillia cupcakes with buttercream frosting decorated with red green yellow and blue balls. In spotted cupcake cases.

Video

Notes

Substitution

Flour

If you don't have self-rising flour for this recipe, you can substitute it with plain flour (all-purpose flour) plus baking powder and salt.
For 300g of self-rising flour called for in the recipe, use the same amount of plain flour plus 3 teaspoons of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of salt.

Butter

For the sponge cupcakes, we find using stork is better than butter. If using real butter, make sure it is softened by bringing it to room temperature before starting.
Do not melt the butter it will change the texture of the cupcakes.
On the other hand, for the butter icing, I find unsalted butter gives a better texture and taste result than stork.

No Piping Bags?

If you don't have a piping bag, you can use a Ziploc bag instead. Fill the bag with the buttercream and snip off one of the corners to make a small hole. Then pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes in a circular motion.
Or simply use a knife to spread the buttercream onto the cupcakes for a rustic, homemade look 

Nutrition

Calories: 281kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 128mg | Potassium: 39mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 434IU | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg