Cotton Cupcakes is a Japanese cupcake recipe which is a vanilla super soft and fluffy sponge cupcake that is easy to make and feel just like cotton. The texture is moist and bouncy with a mild lemon flavor along with a splash of vanilla flavors. Therefore, these cupcakes are a must try if you looking for a super fluffy airy cupcake recipe with simple flavors
ABOUT THESE COTTON CUPCAKES – JAPANESE CUPCAKE RECIPE
Firstly, this is an easy to make, hassle-free fluffy cotton cake recipe
Light and fluffy easy sponge cupcake recipe. Also, feels just like cotton
Vanilla cupcakes with a mild lemon flavor in every bite
However, you can come up with your own variations like fluffy almond cupcakes (throw in some roasted almonds in the batter), fluffy banana cupcakes (throw in chunks of chopped ripe banana’s), etc by using this cotton soft sponge cake recipe
How To Make Japanese Cake ??
Firstly, cakes and cupcakes to me are meant to be tasty with a great texture. The more fluffy and light they are, the more love I have for the recipe. Secondly, textures play a major role while baking. It’s rare to find fluffy homemade super soft cupcake recipes that are so light and airy.
LET’S TALK INGREDIENTS TO MAKE THESE EXTRA FLUFFY CUPCAKES
EGGS
Extra fluffy cupcakes without eggs ?? Not possible if you looking for textures this light and airy. The beaten stiff egg whites are what gives us this texture. So I’m not going to give you any egg substitute for this recipe. In case you know of a substitute which would make your cupcakes this light and airy please share it with the world
LEMON ZEST
These are vanilla cupcakes but the added lemon zest just enhances the flavor of these cupcakes. You could even add orange zest or maybe just skip the zest. I like both, orange and lemon !!
CREAM OF TARTAR
Cream of tartar helps to increase the volume of the egg whites while beating it. It makes the egg whites stiff which then yields a good fluffy cake batter. In case you do not have cream of tartar substitute it with 1 teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon juice
Cotton Cupcakes Recipe | Japanese Cupcake Recipe
Ingredients
1st Part
- 1 cup (110 grams) Self-raising flour
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) Castor sugar
- ¼ cup (70 grams/ml) Milk
- 6 Egg yolks
- ¼ cup (60 grams) salted butter
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams/ml) vanilla essence
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
2nd Part
- 6 egg whites
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ cup (115 grams) castor sugar
Instructions
1st Part
- In a pan on medium heat, add the butter and melt completely. Once melted add the milk and sugar. Stir and cook until all the sugar has melted. Switch off the gas and let this mixture cool a bit (you want this mixture to be warm, not hot)
- Combine the milk & butter mixture with the flour. Mix well. Add the egg yolks, vanilla essence, and lemon zest. This mixture should turn smooth
2nd Part
- Using a beater, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed. Add the castor sugar to it and beat gradually until you form stiff peaks
- Combine both the mixtures together (egg yolk mixture + egg whites mixture)
- Make sure to fold the egg whites mixture carefully. You do not want to be rough while doing so.
- Once both the mixtures are well combined pour the batter in mini cupcake liners and fill each up to ¾ part of the liner with the cupcake batter. Once all the liners are filled tap the baking tray to remove any excess air bubbles from the batter and smoothen the top of each cupcake batter using the back of a spoon
- Bake the cupcakes immediately in a preheated oven at 160 degrees C for 20-30 mins on top and bottom mode. The cupcakes should feel bouncy but firm on the top when touched (do not insert a toothpick as this would deflate the cupcakes)
- Once out of the oven let the cupcakes sit untouched for 10-15 mins and then consume
(Recipe Card) Cotton Cupcakes | Cotton Cake
Ingredients
1st Part
- 1 cup Self-raising flour 110 grams
- 2 tablespoon castor sugar 30 grams
- ¼ cup milk 70 ml
- 6 Egg yolks
- ¼ cup salted butter 60 grams
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 5 ml
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
2nd Part
- 6 egg whites
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ cup castor sugar 115 grams
Instructions
1st Part
- In a pan on medium heat, add the butter and melt completely. Once melted add the milk and sugar. Stir and cook until all the sugar has melted. Switch off the gas and let this mixture cool a bit (you want this mixture to be warm, not hot)
- Combine the milk & butter mixture with the flour. Mix well. Add the egg yolks, vanilla essence, and lemon zest. This mixture should turn smooth
2nd Part
- Using a beater, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed. Add the castor sugar to it and beat gradually until you form stiff peaks
- Combine both the mixtures together (egg yolk mixture + egg whites mixture)
- Make sure to fold the egg whites mixture carefully. You do not want to be rough while doing so
- Once both the mixtures are well combined pour the batter in mini cupcake liners and fill each up to ¾ part of the liner with the cupcake batter. Once all the liners are filled tap the baking tray to remove any excess air bubbles from the batter and smoothen the top of each cupcake batter using the back of a spoon
- Bake the cupcakes immediately in a preheated oven at 160 degrees C for 20-30 mins on top and bottom mode. The cupcakes should feel bouncy but firm on the top when touched (do not insert a toothpick as this would deflate the cupcakes)
- Once out of the oven let the cupcakes sit untouched for 10-15 mins and then consume
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Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
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Jennifer says
My flour mixture is very gooey – almost like the outside of mochi ice cream. Is this normal? I’m having a hard time combining it into the egg whites – just put them in the over. Fingers crossed.
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi Jennifer .. The mixture shouldn’t feel like mochi ice cream, as its not very gooey. How did the overall cupcake turn out ?
Vince says
Hi Alisha. I tried your recipe and it’s so super soft and nice. Really loved the texture. Tried the chocolate flavor and it’s nice too. I’m very curious why the cupcakes shrinked at the sides. What could be the problem?
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi Vince .. Thankyou for leaving a message out here. Glad you liked the cupcakes. could be two reasons – Either over beating of the egg whites or high baking temperature
Jose Pj says
Can you tell me if I could make these lovely recipe savory instead of sweet? Would I get the same results if I cut down a bit on the sugar? I have been trying a few recipes for savory muffins and I still get soggy and sensed results. I’m wondering if I could adapt this recipe to a salty version adding carrots and cheese and still get these babies spongy, light and airy.
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi Jose.. I’ve personally not tried doing that. Altering a recipe like this one may not yield cotton-like cupcakes, considering cheese and carrots as heavy ingredients. But in case you do give it a shot, I’d like to know how it turned out for you
Fatimah Kyari says
Can I add oreo chunks?
Alisha Rodrigues says
Well !! That would make the cupcakes heavy and they may not rise that well .. However, you may try and let me know if that worked for you
Evette says
Hi, I made this batch twice and they both came out terrible. I bake often, so maybe there’s some info you can add to this recipe to help those who are trying it out so there is not such a waste of ingredients?
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi Evette ,,
I’m sorry to hear this, but there must have been something you did wrong. I make this recipe often and it always turns out well
Tips – Make sure the oven temperature is right and thus invest in an oven thermometer, this shows you the exact temperature inside the oven
Make sure the baking mold your using is not greased but just dry without any fat like oil or butter added to the walls of the dish or liner.
Do not overmix the batter and be gentle, once the egg whites lose their fluffiness, they tend to yield flat cupcakes
And lastly, read the post completely cos I’ve stuffed in alot of tips & tricks in there
Hope this helps
Regards,
Alisha !!
Mollie says
Great recipe, found they needed a few minutes longer in my oven though.
The first batch shrunk away from the sides and became kinda deformed (i used traditional cupcake cases)
I baked the next batch longer and they were practically perfect.
Also the recipe yielded 25 cupcakes for me.
I made Victoria sandwich cakes with them and they went down a treat!
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi Mollie .. So happy this worked for you !! Yes, cotton cupcakes need practice and thus your 2nd batch turned out good as compared to the first. Every oven is different and thus baking time changes for each one .. But I’m glad you’d played around with it and managed to get an amazing batch of these cotton beauties
Chloe says
Hi, thanks for this cake recipe. Tried and cake is soft and nice. Can you advise if i can add cocoa powder for a chocolate sponge cup cake? Any reduced in flour needed if i add 30g of cocoa powder? Thank you.
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi Cloe..
So happy the cake turned out good
Cocoa powder makes the cake heavier so it wouldn’t be as light as this one
However, you can try adding 15grams of cocoa powder (reduce 15 grams of flour from this recipe)
Regards,
Alisha !!
Emma says
Hi, may I know the ingredients if I want to make only 12 cupcakes instead? I’m not good at maths…
Alisha Rodrigues says
You may reduce the recipe to half the quantity and make smaller cupcakes for 12
Ani says
Hi,
I baked the cotton cup cakes exactly as per the recipe.
They looked beautiful when I took them out of the oven however went flat And sunk within a minute. Can you please suggest what I may have done wrong?
Alisha Rodrigues says
You didn’t bake them enough. This happens when the cupcakes are not baked completely or if the temperature of the oven is not right
Noura says
These look amazing! I wasn’t to make a cop he cupcake with flambé pineapples baked in the cupcake. Would flambé pineapples or any fruit I generally work well with this recipe?
Alisha Rodrigues says
Well, this cupcake batter is really light and airy, adding pineapples would make the batter heavy and won’t rise like a cupcake but will be more like pudding. I won’t recommend baking fruit with these cupcakes. However, feel free to add fruit frostings or frostings topped with fruits once these cupcakes are baked
Rozz says
Hi do you use condensed milk or fresh milk?
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi .. I use regular fresh milk for this recipe
Nazleen kaiser says
I tried this recipe exactly as said n baked it in loaf tin for 25mins. But the top surface cracked open n it looked uncooked. Can u say where I went wrong.
Alisha Rodrigues says
You need to adjust your oven temperature. Every oven heats up differently so the best thing to do is invest in an oven thermometer, you will then know the exact temperature inside the oven. According to me, your oven temperature was high !!
Claudette Marshall says
H, These look incredible. How long would they last if not eaten right away? Say you bake them on a Friday, can they remain as moist and light by the next day?
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hey Claudette ..
Yes !! They stay fluffy and light even for the next day, of course, you do not want to store them for longer egg being the main ingredients in this recipe
YASHIRA CALO says
hello! i was exited about making these but they didnt turned out okay. I baked them at 325F (160C) FOR 25-30 minutes and when I took them out of the oven they deflated. They also tasted “eggie” … I substitued the 1/4 cup of milk for coconut milk (full fat). But I dont think that would have been the reason for it to sink in the middle… What do you think happened?
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi Yashira
I’m so sorry to know that this recipe didn’t work for you
In my opinion, the reason this happened is because of the coconut milk. The main ingredient in this cake batter is the egg whites, due to which the whole mixture is super light and airy. Coconut milk is heavy, due to which when added to the batter, it makes the whole batter heavy and the egg whites loose control. This leads to a change in the texture of the batter and therefore it led to deflated cupcakes
Nicole says
Never heard of these Cotton Cupcakes. By looking at them I can see how they got their name!
Alisha Rodrigues says
Thanks, Nicole
Yes !! They just like cotton
Nicoletta says
What an incredible texture have these cupcakes! I am not usually a fan of cupcakes, but I am loving these ones!!
Alisha Rodrigues says
Thanks, Nicoletta
I’m glad you like these !!
Jessica (Swanky Recipes) says
I’ve been on a cupcake baking spree and these cupcakes look amazing! I can’t believe how moist they look inside! I bet this would taste amazing with blueberry jam!
Alisha Rodrigues says
Thanks, Jessica
Totally !! Blueberry jam goes well with these …
Kitty says
These cotton cupcakes are so light and fluffy they almost look like soft bread! I think these would be great with fresh strawberries!
Alisha Rodrigues says
Thanks, Kitty
Yes !! Strawberries would go well. In fact, any fruit would go well with these
Patti @ Patty Cake's Pantry says
I love the idea of using orange zest in these cupcakes, too, but I love the combination of lemon and vanilla. I didnt realize that you could substitute vinegar or lemon juice for cream of tartar when whipping egg whites.
Alisha Rodrigues says
Thanks, Patti
I’m glad you know it now !! I like to share these little tips which would help bakers bake better
Anna says
I love the way these cupcakes look! Soooo light and airy! Beautiful texture, I must try this soon!
Alisha Rodrigues says
Thanks Anna !!
Dominique | Perchance to Cook says
The texture of these cupcakes look just spectacular!!! How fluffy and cottony can they get?! I’d love to take a big bite out of one right now!!
Alisha Rodrigues says
Thanks Dominique
carissa says
These cupcakes sound incredible! I’m usually not a fan of cupcakes because most are so super sweet and I just can’t handle all of that. I love how simple and tasty these sound. Definitely my kind of cupcake!
Alisha Rodrigues says
Thanks, Carissa
If you like cupcakes simple, your going to love these
Bimbo says
This looks yummy! Pls can I multiply the recipes and bake in a regular cake pan? Secondly, which type of frost will compliment this?
Alisha Rodrigues says
Heya …
Yes !! You can bake this one in a regular cake pan as well.
This recipe makes a great sponge so any frosting goes well with it. I personally like whipping cream as a frosting with this one. Or maybe some whipped chocolate ganache.
Do not go for very heavy frosting recipes as this sponge is really light and fluffy.
Hope this helps !!
Shelley @ Two Healthy Kitchens says
I absolutely adore the name of these cupcakes – who wouldn’t want to just face plant into COTTON cupcakes!?!? Such a terrific post – lovely photos and terrific tips (like using cream of tartar for fluffiness, and even what to substitute for it)!
Alisha Rodrigues says
Thanks, Shelley
I’m so glad to know that you find this post interesting !!
Kiki Johnson says
These look AMAZING! I have never seen a cotton cupcake before but it reminds me a bit of Japanese Cotton Cheesecakes! I need to try this one! They looks so light and fluffy!
Alisha Rodrigues says
Thanks, Kiki
Do give it a try !!
Sanna says
My goodness, these cupcakes look so light as cotton. I am in love with light and airy cakes and I want to try this recipe.
Alisha Rodrigues says
Thanks Sanna
I’m sure you’ll love it once baked !!
Cathleen @ A Taste of Madness says
These cupcakes look so soft and fluffy!! It almost looks like a Japanese cheesecake
Alisha Rodrigues says
Thanks, Cathleen
Yes !! It feels just like the wobbly Japanese cheesecake but made without the cheese
Qiu Ping says
Hi, can I bake the whole mixture in a cake pan instead of having cupcakes?
Also, does it affect the texture if I remove the sugar in part 1? Thanks!
Alisha Rodrigues says
Hi .. Yes !! you can bake the batter in a cake pan as well. Just put a baking paper for the base of the pan (not sides) and do not grease the pan with any fat like butter or oil.
Secondly, removing the sugar in part 1 would not affect the texture but definitely affect the cake taste due to less sugar
The Novice says
Oh my word, these look incredible. I’ve never heard of cotton cupcakes before but that texture looks amaaazing. Will have to give this recipe a go some time! 🙂
Alisha Rodrigues says
Thankyou
I’m glad you like it !!
jas says
this reciepe can make how many inch cake? If I dun wanna make as cupcake
Alisha Rodrigues says
7-inch cake