That title should read… “How to Make Wedding Cupcakes when You’re Not Really a Professional Cupcake Baker!”
Since I’m always bringing treats to people, those people occasionally ask if they can hire me to make treats. Not really wishing to create a business of making and selling food, I typically decline- however, a very sweet, young teacher at my son’s school was getting married last weekend and asked if I would do the cupcakes for her wedding. (In case you’re not in on the latest, apparently cupcakes are a hip alternative to a fancy wedding cake nowadays). We met and discussed the project, and I found myself agreeing to make 96 cupcakes!
Here are the details:
The bride wanted white and chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting. I tested out some recipes and frosting patterns in the weeks prior to the wedding.
All Recipe Links for Cupcakes and Frosting are at the BOTTOM of this post.
The bride also wanted a combination of white, light blue and light yellow frosting. She chose two different frosting patterns and wanted some with pearls and some without.
Here are some of the pictures…
I used a 1G Tip by Bakery Crafts for this simple swirl. The chocolate cupcake recipe used was excellent. It was really easy to make and it stayed pretty flat on top, making it easier to pipe the frosting.
I used a 2D Wilton tip for this more funky pattern.
I loved the white cupcake… though I’m a little embarrassed to tell you about the recipe. It was a doctored-up cake mix recipe (gasp!!) I know that’s not very gourmet, and it’s completely atypical of how I usually bake, but I’m telling you that these cupcakes were GOOD!! And again, a really easy recipe to make- the tops stayed nice and flat & easy for frosting.
My kitchen and dining room were a sea of cupcakes for the better part of a day!
The bride requested that I make a dozen completely sugar-free cupcakes for a few guests who were not able to eat sugar.
This recipe for sugar free chocolate cupcakes with sugar free chocolate frosting uses a monk fruit alternative sweetener. They turn out pretty delicious!
The bride also asked that I make her a small cake for the top tier of her cupcake display. They wanted to be able to cut into a little wedding cake.
I made a 6-inch two layer cake. I used the same cake recipe as the cupcakes- same frosting recipe too. The tip used for the edging was the Wilton 2D. The bride placed flowers on top of the cake for additional decor.
Though it was a ton of work, it was a fun project to do. And I actually feel pretty good about how they turned out (having never, ever done fancy cupcakes before!) Now that I’m a “paid cupcake-baking professional,” I’m sure that it won’t be quite as difficult to do next time.
If you’re looking for the right supplies to make these cupcakes, here are my suggestions (these are affiliate links to Amazon):
- 12-cup muffin pan
- My suggestion for the cupcake liners is to visit a local baking supply shop where you live. They should carry a good, white liner that won’t have the cupcake turning out greasy.
- Edible sugar pearls
- large plastic disposable pastry bags for piping the frosting
- For icing the cupcakes, I recommend trying either the Wilton Open Star 1M tip or the Wilton Closed Star 2D. Both of these you can usually find at craft or baking supply stores. Or just order a whole decorator tip kit and try out different ones!
- These disposable cupcake boxes are great… because you can bake and decorate your cupcakes, then store them in the boxes and refrigerate them overnight!
Here are all of the recipes:
Chocolatey Cupcakes (not dipped in the ganache)
White Wedding Cupcakes
White Wedding Buttercream
White Wedding Cake
Sugar Free Chocolate Cupcakes
Sugar Free Chocolate Frosting
If you can have a little bit of sugar in the frosting, I prefer this chocolate frosting recipe
why is it so hard to find the recipe to your white wedding cupcakes?
The links to the recipes are all at the bottom of the post– and you can always use the search bar in the top right corner of the site if you are looking for something specific. But here it is! https://www.recipegirl.com/white-wedding-cake-cupcakes/
Wow, what a coincidence! I came acroos this on pintrest. I also have to make cupcakes and a small cake for my daughters wedding. To say that i’m stressing out a bit about this couldn’t be trurer. I also just bake for fun so to read that you managed it, gives me some confidence. Thanks for the piping tips also, i like the ruffled look cupcakes. So, wish me luck and thanks for the great recipes and tips.
Good luck!
I love to bake but am a relative novice. I might be crazy, but I volunteered to make 140 cupcakes for my daughter’s high -school spring musical, Newsies. Thank you for the following recipes : “White wedding cupcakes”, “Chocolate wedding cupcakes”, White buttercream frosting” and “Chocolate buttercream frosting,” all of which I used with much success! Both cupcake types were easy to make and turned out perfectly; as you have written. The white cake was delicious but I felt the chocolate cake was a little bland. I made the white cupcakes first and only got 30 cupcakes out of the batter as opposed to 36. I realized that was my fault for filling the liners too full. I first used the ice cream scoop to fill the tins as as you suggested, but my hand got very tired and there was a lot of dripping. So I tried a 1/4 cup flat bottomed stainless steel measuring cup, filled it up over the bowl, could easily scrape the bottom on the side of the bowl so that the batter landed back in the bowl and then I used a clean finger to sweep the side of the measuring cup before filling each liner. I found this much easier and learned that the 1/4 cup measurement was ideal in getting the 36 cupcake out of the recipe.
The frostings were yummy and while I didn’t eat a single fully prepared cupcake (so the school would have more to sell) , I could tell they were the perfect finish to the cupcakes. I’ve never piped a cupcake before and the suggested tip and frostings were easy to pipe. I did have some issues with the frosting recipes as it relates to finished product. Since re-reading the recipes, I can see you’re clear about how many cupcakes a batch will cover. I made the white buttercream that accompanied the cupcake recipe and I was only able to pipe 12 cupcakes with it. I made a second batch and doubled it to cover all 36 cupcakes. The chocolate buttercream frosting was the opposite. I used the recipe that accompanied the wedding cupcake recipe , I doubled it the first go around and had leftovers.
I am very grateful for the recipes which helped me produce yummy and beautiful cupcakes for the school event. I have photos if I can share them with you. I was very proud!
I’m so happy to hear of your success with all of the recipes. Thank you for your comment!
Can I add a little gelatin to frosting so in summer it keeps its shape and doesn’t go sloppy?
I’ve never tried that!
Adding some Cream of Tarter usually helps with that.
I was just wondering do you use regular land o lake butter or unsalted ?
I like to use salted butter.
So you used Splenda for sugar free icing?? Just cup for cup….like 3 cups of Splenda instead of 3 cups of sugar?
How did it turn out and how did it taste?
*Splenda Granulated is a *no sugar* product that can be used cup for cup to replace sugar in a baking recipe. The product info can be found HERE: http://www.splenda.com/products/granulated.
I don’t care for them because I don’t like the taste of Splenda, but they were well received by the people at the wedding who were unable to eat the regular cupcakes. Here is the link to the sugar free chocolate cupcakes: https://www.recipegirl.com/sugar-free-chocolate-cupcakes/
I’m doing my daughters wedding cupcakes and small wedding cake as well! Going to use your white wedding cake recipe, but also wonder if you have a good lemon and pumpkin recipe for cupcakes too. She wanted these 3 flavors!! Your cakes turned out beautiful!!
I don’t have pumpkin or lemon- sorry!
Have you ever tried the white wedding cake recipe with a chocolate cake mix. My family can eat all36 cupcakes in one day that’s how good it is?
yep! https://www.recipegirl.com/2012/04/10/chocolate-wedding-cupcakes/
Did you have to refrigerate to keep the icing presentable?
I’d say, “yes”… especially in the summer.
Are cupcakes okay to freeze? Can you provide any tips or advice on how to freeze & thaw cupcakes along with frosting on them?
My best advice is to experiment before the big day!