Easy Eggless Vanilla Cupcakes

4.92 from 82 votes

Light, soft eggless vanilla cupcakes made with cake flour for a tender crumb. Orange juice and zest add a fresh citrus flavor, or swap with lemon for a brighter taste. Use milk for a classic vanilla version. A simple, versatile base for cupcakes or cake.

Prep Time25

Cook Time14

Cooling Time5

Total Time44

Method: Baking

Course: Cupcakes

Servings: 15 Cupcakes

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

2 and ½ cups Cake Flour
¾ cup White Sugar
1 and ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
¼ teaspoon Salt
½ tablespoon Orange Zest Zest of about 3 oranges

Wet Ingredients:

1 cup Milk See My Notes
¾ cup Orange Juice Freshly squeezed, See My Notes
½ cup Butter Melted
1 tablespoon Vinegar I used apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract

Substitutions:

Cake Flour = For each cup to be replaced, measure 1 cup all-purpose flour, remove 2 tablespoons of flour, and replace with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Milk = Any dairy or non-dairy milk
Melted Butter = Oil or melted margarine
Apple cider vinegar = White vinegar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Prepare muffin tins either by lightly greasing it with cooking spray or line it with paper liners.
In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients and make a well.
Incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry mix one by one, stirring with a whisk simultaneously. Don't be bothered by some small lumps. Do not be tempted to dissolve the lumps by mixing the batter with an electric beater. (See My Notes)
Fill each muffin cup ¾th full, which is about 3 tablespoons of batter for each cupcake. Bake for about 13-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Mine was done in 14 minutes. But note that my oven usually bakes quicker than the time mentioned in a recipe by at least 3-5 minutes.
Remove the pan/s from the oven and allow it cool for about 5 minutes on a cooling rack. Then take out the cupcakes from the pan and let it cool on the rack completely before frosting, if you decide to.

Notes

I have tried this recipe using cake flour only. I have not tried it using the substitution I have mentioned. All purpose flour plus some cornstarch is the general substitution for cake flour. So I'm not sure about the texture of the cupcakes using this substitution.
So far I have tested this recipe twice. The first time I used evaporated milk (unsweetened condensed milk) and the 2nd time I used 2% milk. I personally liked the cupcakes baked using evaporated milk. It was richer and lighter than the 2% milk cupcakes.
I have mentioned it in many of my recipes and I'm mentioning it here again; use only freshly squeezed orange juice while baking. Store bought juice in cartons lends a bitter after taste in baked goods. That's my personal observation.
Also the first time I just used ½ a cup of sugar and felt that the sweetness was very mild. It was okay for us who usually prefer mildly sweet treats. The 2nd time I increased the quantity to ¾th cup. ½ cup sugar is perfectly okay if you are going to frost/slather it with frosting.
My personal experience has shown me that cake flour and electric beater are not compatible. I tried the Ener-G eggless vanilla cupcakes twice using cake flour and mixing the batter with a beater and ended up with cupcakes which sunk more than the Titanic. The cupcakes looked very pitiful. So please avoid the temptation to use an electric beater while preparing the batter in these recipes, especially with cake flour.
Update: I tried a vegan version of this vanilla cupcake recipe for my son's birthday and it came out very well. I used 1 and ¾ cups of almond milk in place of the milk and orange juice. I also substituted ½ cup melted butter with coconut oil. I did use cake flour and the cakes turned out light, fluffy and tasted awesome. I got about 3 dozen mini cupcakes for this recipe.

Taste & Texture

These eggless vanilla cupcakes had a light and fluffy texture because of the cake flour I used. The orange juice and orange zest gave it an excellent flavor.

Nutrition