Indulge in the rich and creamy flavour of our delicious white chocolate cupcakes. Baked to perfection and topped with white chocolate buttercream, each bite will melt in your mouth and leave you wanting more.
*This post may contain affiliate links to products I find useful when making this recipe. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*
These cute, moist white chocolate cupcakes look great, they are delicious, and the recipe is super simple. So sweet and creamy, they are perfect for after-school treats, birthday parties and baking with kids.
This white chocolate cupcake recipe is really simple, but it did take some work.
White chocolate is much harder to work with than milk chocolate. I would never melt it straight in a pan like I do dark chocolate, for example, because it’s much more likely to seize. I always melt it in Bain Marie.
I used to melt the white chocolate and add it to the cake mixture like I do when I make a milk chocolate cake.
But it was never quite right. So, I started using chocolate chips for both cupcakes and loaf cakes, stirring them through the batter without melting. This worked much better.
Then, one day, when I wanted to make white chocolate cupcakes, I realised I didn’t have any white chocolate chips. So, instead, I chopped up a block of white chocolate.
It worked so well, the finer pieces spread through the mixture perfectly, and the large bits give you nice bite-size chunks of white chocolate.
Now, I always make these cakes with chopped-up blocks of chocolate.
Why I Love White Chocolate Cupcakes
I really do love this easy white chocolate cupcake recipe, and I think you will, too, because:
- It’s easy
- You can decorate in lots of different ways
- They are perfect for kids
- White chocolate buttercream is, frankly, one of the best things ever!
Ingredients for White Chocolate Cupcakes
So first, I use cheap basic ingredients. Most of them are Aldi’s own, even the chocolate, and I try to save money wherever possible. I use:
Margarine – You can use unsalted butter instead if you prefer. Just make sure it’s room temperature
Caster Sugar
Eggs
Vanilla Extract
Self-Raising Flour – If you don’t have any, use plain with a teaspoon of baking powder
White Chocolate
What Brand of Chocolate Should I Use?
Honestly, any! It doesn’t need to be fancy, and it doesn’t even need to be cooking chocolate.
Why Don’t Melt the White Chocolate to Make Cakes?
I just find that white chocolate is more likely to seize as it warms up. When you melt it, you are warming it to melt, and then again as the cakes bake.
Stirring through chopped-up white chocolate just holds everything together better.
Can You Use White Chocolate Chips for Cupcakes?
Yes, you can make cupcakes with white chocolate chips. But chocolate chips are heavier, and they might sink into your cakes, which is why I find slicing white chocolate squares works more effectively.
Ingredients for White Chocolate Buttercream
White chocolate buttercream frosting is one of my favourite flavours in the world. It’s so sweet and creamy, and I’m completely obsessed with it! For this recipe, I use:
Unsalted Butter – I don’t recommend margarine here. It’s liquid-based and gives you much sloppier icing.
Icing Sugar/Powdered Sugar
White Chocolate – You are melting it this time, so chips or squares are fine.
How to Make White Chocolate Cupcakes
You can get the full recipe for these easy white chocolate cupcakes in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. But my top tips are:
- Preheat the oven. I don’t when I cook, but when you bake, an even temperature is important.
- Don’t over-mix. Sometimes, if you over-mix, when your cakes bake, you get what looks a bit scrambled eggy. I use an electric whisk and mix for seconds, just until it’s all smooth.
- Don’t open the oven until you are fairly sure your cakes are cooked.
- Use a skewer to make sure the middle of the biggest cake is cooked through.
- Leave your cakes to cool in the tin.
Slicing the Chocolate
When it comes to slicing the chocolate, it doesn’t need to be really even, and you don’t need to worry about a few bigger bits. Just slice. This is what mine tends to look like.
Should You Sprinkle More Chocolate on Top?
Yes, if you are worried about all of the chocolate sinking, sprinkle some of the bigger bits on top before baking instead of folding them through. I don’t do this, but I don’t think it will hurt.
Making White Chocolate Buttercream Icing
The key to making this white chocolate icing recipe is to leave the melted chocolate to cool before adding it to the icing.
If it’s still too warm, it will cool in the icing, and you’ll get little hard lumps.
How to Decorate White Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream
One of the best things about everything being white (ish) is that you can decorate these cupcakes in lots of different ways.
You can see in my pictures I’ve kept things simple with Smarties for colour (Jelly Tots are great, too, especially for kids who love Jelly Tots Cupcakes!) or just squares of white chocolate.
Another great option is sprinkles or hundreds and thousands.
You could even colour your white chocolate buttercream with a tiny bit of food colouring gel, stirring in a bit at a time until the colour is as deep as you want it.
I use these (affiliate link). You only need a little bit, so it doesn’t affect the texture of the buttercream.
Storing Cupcakes with White Chocolate
I store my cupcakes in a glass cake stand on our kitchen worktop. They’re gone in about two days, so I don’t need to worry.
You can keep them in the fridge, but you don’t need to.
You can also freeze white chocolate cupcakes in a sealed, airtight tub, but I recommended doing it without the buttercream and adding this once thawed.
White Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the White Chocolate Cupcakes:
- 120 g Margarine
- 120 g Caster Sugar
- 2 Medium Eggs
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 120 g Self Raising Flour
- 100 g White Chocolate (Chopped up finely – a few bigger lumps are fine, but no bigger than chocolate chips)
For the White Chocolate Buttercream:
- 140 g Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)
- 140 g Icing Sugar
- 100 g White Chocolate
- Smarties (or extra squares of white chocolate to decorate – optional)
Instructions
- Line a cake tin with cases and preheat the oven to 160 degrees C (fan-assisted).
- In a large mixing bowl whisk the sugar and butter for a minute or so (longer if by hand) until smooth.
- Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, adding the vanilla with the last egg.
- Add the flour and whisk until the mixture is even.
- Carefully fold in the chopped white chocolate.
- Add a heaped tablespoon of mixture to each case, making sure not to fill over halfway.
- Bake for 12-15minutes, testing with a skewer to make sure the cakes are cooked.
- Cool in the tin before removing.
- For the icing, first, carefully melt the white chocolate over a Bain Marie and leave to one side to cool.
- Whisk or beat the butter until soft.
- Add the icing sugar and whisk.
- Add the cooled white chocolate and whisk until even.
- Carefully pipe onto the fully cooled cakes.
- Decorate with Smarties, squares of white chocolate or sprinkles if desired.
Notes
- I use a star piping tip and a piping bag
- This recipe makes between 12-16 cupcakes, so you may need to use two tins, or bake a second batch
Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.
