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White Chocolate Cupcakes!
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These heavenly white chocolate cupcakes combine a beautifully light, fluffy sponge loaded with pockets of white chocolate chips and crowned with a silky, melted white chocolate buttercream. Requiring just 30 minutes of combined prep and bake time, these elegant treats provide the ultimate crowd-pleasing luxury for Valentine’s Day or any sweet celebration.
Notes from The Patisserie
Whether you want to bake a romantic batch entirely for you and your loved one, surprise your closest friends, or treat your family on a cozy weekend, these cupcakes are guaranteed to satisfy. This recipe handles white chocolate beautifully, balancing its legendary sweetness against a perfectly textured crumb.
In fact, this specific bake is so incredibly delicious that it completely converted a self-proclaimed cake-hater during testing, proving that its rich, velvety profile can win over absolutely anyone.
Because white chocolate consists primarily of cocoa butter, milk solids, and sugar without any actual dry cocoa solids, it behaves entirely differently than milk or dark chocolate.
Ingredient notes and tips
During the development phase of this recipe, extensive testing revealed that folding 150g of white chocolate chips into the batter delivers a far superior cupcake than adding melted chocolate directly to the raw mixture of:
- Butter – unsalted butter or baking spread can be used for the sponge but only butter for the buttercream
- Sugar – caster sugar provides that rich sweet texture that compliments the white chocolate so well
- Eggs – I use medium eggs but you can use large – add 25g of each other ingredient if using large
- Flour – self raising flour gives the height and lift you’re looking for in a cupcake
- White Chocolate Chips – high quality white chocolate makes the difference, being mindful of the oil content
The perfect white chocolate buttercream
The absolute golden rule of this recipe concerns the temperature of your ingredients during the frosting stage. You must melt your 150g of white chocolate gently and leave it on the counter to cool down for at least 10 minutes before introducing it to your buttercream.
Temperature warning! If you pour hot, freshly melted chocolate directly into your creamed butter and icing sugar, the residual heat will instantly melt the fat crystals in the butter. This breaks the delicate emulsion, causing your gorgeous frosting to split into a greasy, runny liquid that no amount of whipping can save. Allowing the chocolate to cool ensures it blends seamlessly, creating a thick, glossy, and cloud-like frosting.
FAQs
Can I use milk chocolate or dark chocolate instead?
Yes, absolutely! You can swap the white chocolate chips in the sponge and the melted white chocolate in the buttercream for high-quality milk or dark chocolate alternatives using an exact 1:1 ratio.
Why is my buttercream way too stiff to pipe cleanly?
White chocolate contains a high percentage of fats that naturally firm up quite rigidly as they cool down. If your kitchen is cool or your icing sugar was particularly dry, the buttercream might tighten up significantly. Simply add boiling water or milk one tablespoon at a time while whipping on high speed until you reach a silky, pipeable consistency.
How do I prevent my white chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of the cases?
Because this recipe uses a traditional creamed method, the raw cake batter is naturally thick, stable, and excellent at holding the chips suspended in mid-air. However, if your eggs were slightly large and made your batter loose, you can toss your chocolate chips in a single teaspoon of self-raising flour before folding them into the mixture to help them grip the sponge.
Why did my cupcakes come out really greasy?
This is likely to do with the type of white chocolate you used and the high-oil content within them. I use these white chocolate chips in my bakes.
White Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Light & Fluffy Cupcakes with White Chocolate Chips, White Chocolate Buttercream, and sprinkles. HEAVENLY White Chocolate Cupcakes!
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Servings: 12 Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 150 g unsalted butter/baking spread
- 150 g caster sugar
- 3 medium eggs
- 150 g self raising flour
- 150 g white chocolate chips
For the Buttercream
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 250 g icing sugar
- 150 g white chocolate
- 1-3 tbsp boiling water
For the Decoration
- sprinkles
- white chocolate bits
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 180ºc/160ºc fan / 350ªf and line a cupcake/muffin tin with 12 Large cupcakes cases/muffin cases.
- Beat the butter with the caster sugar until light and fluffy
- Combine the eggs and self-raising flour with the butter/sugar mix until well combined.
- Fold through the white chocolate chips until even
- Spoon the mix into the cupcake cases evenly and bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer poked into one of the cakes comes out clean and they are springy to touch
- Leave them to cool fully on a wire rack.
- Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, or in the microwave in short bursts – Leave to cool on the side for 10 minutes.
- Beat the butter for a couple of minutes to loosen it – gradually beat in the icing sugar until well combined
- Fold through the cooled and melted white chocolate – if its still really stiff, then add in a little milk/boiling water to loosen it and make it smooth.
- Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes however you want
- Once iced, sprinkle with your decorations and gobble them all up
Notes
- I used these white chocolate chips
- These cupcakes will last in an airtight container for 3 days at room temperature
- These cupcakes will freeze for 3+ months
Storage and freezing
These heavenly white chocolate cupcakes keep beautifully at room temperature for up to 3 days when stored inside an airtight container in a cool, dry place away from direct heat to ensure the sponge stays moist and the frosting remains velvety.
Avoid refrigerating these cupcakes, as cold air will instantly harden the cocoa butter within the buttercream and dry out the delicate crumb of the sponge.
If you are planning ahead, you can safely freeze the un-iced cupcakes for up to 3 months by wrapping the fully cooled sponges securely in plastic cling film and storing them inside a rigid container.
Related recipes
If you love the rich, creamy decadence of white chocolate, there are plenty of other incredible bakes on the blog to explore next. For a magnificent celebration masterpiece, try the striking white chocolate & pistachio cake, which pairs a velvety crumb with a wonderful nutty contrast.
Hi Jane,
I’m wanting to make these cupcakes today along with your chocolate fudge ones 😍 I want to do a milk chocolate centre but unsure on what to use for it? Any ideas?
Thankyou
Xx
Do you mean add something to the middle of the cupcake? The eeeeasiest way for sure is to use a chocolate spread and core out the cupcake and add it in!xx
Hi
I’m going to be using your white chocolate buttercream recipe to cover and fill a 3 layer sponge cake, I was just wondering how much buttercream I would need for this?
Thank you!
I would use 3x the amount! xx
Hi Jane, I loooove these cupcakes! The only issue I have is that my chocolate chips always sink no matter what trick I use! How do you suggest I melt the white chocolate into the cake mix to flavour the sponge white choc? Would I mix with milk when melting? Thank you so much!
You just want to melt the chocolate on it’s own in a bain marie or microwave until smooth – you don’t need to add any milk or anything xx
Hi Jane,
Does the buttercream icing mixture last in a fridge over night if I was to make the icing the night before then cake the cupcakes and ice them the following day?
It does, but you would need to bring the buttercream back to room temperature, and then beat it again for a few minutes to freshen it up!
Hi would this recipe be suitable for a bigger cake do you think? If I adjust the recipe to suit? Also how do you stop the chocolate chips from sinking? I find my choc chips sink when I bake cupcakes with them in! Thanks love all your recipes can’t wait to try these xx
You could have a look at my white chocolate pistachio cake (leave out the pistachios) for a three layer cake! and you can try freezing them/coating in flour! x
Hi Jane, just a quick question. For a basic vanilla cupcake sponge what amounts would you use to Make 6 cupcakes. So how much flour, sugar, eggs, butter. Thanks, btw love your recipes!! x
Personally I wouldn’t make 6 – 4 or 8 is easier as it’s based around the egg. Generally 1 egg/50g of butter/sugar/flour makes 4, and double for 8! x
Hi Jane, thanks for helping I will definitely be doing this! Just wondering if you would be able to help me with the measurements for butter cream for both 4 and 8 cupcakes! Thanks again xx
Use 1/3 or 2/3 as well! X
Hi, these look amazing, I want to try these at the weekend and was wondering if you could specifically use milkybar white chocolate buttons and bar as the chocolate in this or whether it is better to use a specific type? Thanks 🙂
Yeah you can use milkybar! x
Hi Jane
A lot of cupcake recipes ask for baking powder/soda but yours don’t need it? Why is that? What difference does it make?
Some require or suggest a raising agent, but for these I just don’t think it’s necessary!
Hi Jane I have a Jar of scyavuru Sicilian pistachio cream and was wondering how I could use that in the frosting for these cupcakes to make a pistachio frosting?
Would it work if I replaced the melted white chocolate for the equivalent amount of the pistachio cream?
Absolutely love your recipes.
I am the worst baker! But every single one of your recipes I’ve made has turned out perfectly.
Thank you ❤️
Hey! I’ve never used that myself – but I believe it should work well! xx
Made these for my boyfriends 21st birthday last month, he loved them!!! I put some crushed up Oreos and Hershey’s cookies and cream to put on the top! My family loved them too – currently making more to drop them off to him for this lockdown lol. Thank you!!
Hi Jane,
Firstly I want to say thanks for what you’re doing on this blog. I was a disaster in the kitchen prior to stumbling across your recipes and now I’m the only baker my family use!! Quick question regarding these cupcakes and any cupcake in general really – can I use GF flour and add xantham gum? My mum is celiac so I try and make as many recipes GF as I can!
Thanks
Hiya! Yes, I would recommend adding in a bit of xantham gum, it creates a much nicer gluten-free texture in my opinion!
I baked these White Chocolate Cupcakes today and they were absolutely amazing! They went so quick as soon as my family saw them!
I can’t believe how quick it took to make these too. Such an easy recipe and an easy method to follow.
I added some rainbow sprinkles on top for colour.
I will definitely make these again soon!
That’s amazing! Thank you!