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How Long To Bake Mini Cupcakes

Cupcakes are a perfect baking staple, because they provide you with bite-sized portions of deliciousness and you can make lots of them at any one time.

However, sometimes the bite-sized could be more…bite-sized. 

If you want to get even more cakes out of one session of baking, perhaps because you have a large event to cater to, then mini cupcakes are going to be the ideal choice.

With that being said, baking mini cupcakes (see also ‘10 Tasty Mini Cupcakes To Make This Weekend‘) can be a delicate experience, because you need to know exactly how long to bake them for.

How Long To Bake Mini Cupcakes

If you underbake them, they’ll be mush-like, whereas overbaking them will leave them dry. 

So, what’s the sweet spot in the middle? Well, the short answer is that mini cupcakes should be baked for between nine and fifteen minutes.

You’ll notice that’s less time than a regular cupcake, because these are smaller and therefore bake quicker.

There’s lots more to learn about the art of baking mini cupcakes, and you’ll find out all the answers and more in our handy guide below. Read on!

How Long To Bake Mini Cupcakes?

Cupcakes are already a great baking staple, because you come away at the end with a large selection of delicious treats.

However, mini cupcakes take this one step further, taking less time to cook and giving you even more individual tasty servings.

As we suggested in the intro, it should take about 9 to 15 minutes for a batch of mini cupcakes to bake.

This is when you’re cooking them at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, which is equivalent to almost 177 degrees Celsius.

If you bake them too long, they’ll end up all dry. On the other hand, cooking them for shorter than 9 minutes will leave them crumbly and mushy. 

It’s a good idea to check the state of the mini cupcakes before you take them out of the oven.

You can do this by inserting a very small, thin knife blade into a cupcake, or by pushing a toothpick gently into the dough.

Whichever you use, you’ll know the cupcakes are ready whenever you remove the tool and very few crumbs come out with it. 

More Cakes, Less Time

If you’ve ever baked a batch of regular cupcakes, then you’ll see that the baking time for mini cupcakes is shorter. In fact, it’s about 2/3s the time it takes to bake your regular-sized cupcakes to perfection. 

However, not only does it take less time, but you get a greater number of cakes. If you’re following a recipe, then the amount of ingredients that would give you 6 cupcakes gives you 18 mini cupcakes.

In general, you can multiply the number of regular cupcakes you’d expect by 3, and you’d get the amount of mini cupcakes that you can get instead.

This makes mini cupcakes the perfect treat for parties, because it allows you to feed more guests. The only danger, really, is that they can be incredibly easy to eat!

Since they’re so small, they can go very quickly, and some will eat more than they expected. However, at least it doesn’t take long to make another batch!

How To Bake Mini Cupcakes

How To Bake Mini Cupcakes

Now that you know how long it takes to properly bake mini cupcakes, it’s worth looking at how you can actually make these delicious desserts yourself.

You Will Need:

  • 5oz (150 grams) softened, unsalted butter 
  • 5oz (150 grams) golden caster sugar
  • 5oz (150 grams) self-raising flour
  • 3 medium-size eggs
  • The juice and (finely grated) zest of 1 lemon

On top of that, you’ll also need the ingredients for making your own buttercream. Of course, you could buy ready-made buttercream from a store to save you time. Otherwise, assemble these ingredients:

  • 8oz (250 grams) softened, unsalted butter
  • 250 grams of mascarpone cheese
  • 1lb (500 grams) sieved icing sugar
  • Food coloring

Finally, you’ll also want 3 mini muffin trays, each with 12 holes, if you’re going to use all of these ingredient servings.

On top of that, you’ll need cupcake cases, and a piping bag to help you apply the buttercream. 

Step One: Pre-Heating The Oven

First things first, set your oven onto 190 degrees celsius, and let it pre-heat while you prepare the cupcakes. 

Step Two: Making The Mixture

Get a mixing bowl and put both the caster sugar and butter in it, then start mixing them.

An electric mixer will help do this much quicker than with a regular whisk. When the mixture is fluffy and light, beat in the 3 eggs gradually. 

As you’re doing that, get the self-raising flour and fold it into the mixture, along with the juice and zest of your lemon. Continue mixing until everything is smooth. 

Step Three: Cupcake Cases

Now pour the mixture evenly into your cupcake cases, then bake them until they’re firm and have risen. This should take between 9 and 15 minutes, as we stated at the start of the article.

Test them with a knife or toothpick, see that only a few crumbs come out, and then remove them from the oven. Let them cool on top of a wire rack.

Step Four: Buttercream

Get a food processor and process the butter in it until it goes smooth. As it smoothens, add icing sugar and mascarpone cheese.

Keep processing until it’s all smooth. After that, pour the mixture into a bowl and add your food coloring. Continue to mix it all until it becomes all the same color. 

Step Five: Decorating Your Mini Cupcakes

With the cupcakes and the buttercream both done separately, it’s time to combine them!

Once the cupcakes have cooled, use your piping bag to help apply the buttercream to the top of each of them.

Feel free to make stylish patterns and swirls as you do it! Those will go down especially well at a party.

Final Thoughts

Mini cupcakes are quick and easy to make – and you get loads of them! Follow our baking guide carefully to make some of your own.

Anna Ingham
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