You can adapt any cake recipe to a cupcake, no ingredient adjustments required. All you need to do is appropriately adjust the time and temperature.
How to convert a cake recipe to cupcakes
“NAKED CUPCAKE” PREP: If you are not going to use paper liners with anodized aluminum bakeware then you must grease the cupcake pan cavities. We recommend using a spray that has flour in it such as Baker’s Joy. You can also use butter and flour. Silicone molds are naturally non-stick and generally do not need to be greased.
BATTER: Generally, a box of cake mix will make 5 cups of batter, which equates to 24 standard cupcakes, 48 mini cupcakes and 12 jumbo cupcakes.
FILLING THE CAVITIES: Use a scoop for even proportions. Fill the cavities 2/3 full. Sometimes, your batter will not fill every cavity such as when using a larger muffin pan. If this is the case, fill the empty cavities with water to ensure even baking.
Tip: Use a turkey baster to suck out excess water from muffin cavities.
TEMP: The rule of thumb for adjusting the temperature is: the larger the cake, the lower the temperature. Increase your temperature 25° F (4° C) higher than the recipe says for standard cupcakes. This allows for a nice crust on the top and a moist center.
Mini cupcakes are a bit different. They will bake incredibly fast as there is not much batter in the cupcake cavity. Use the same temperature as recommended by the recipe to prevent over-baking.
TIME: Standard cupcakes will take about 15-20 minutes to bake while mini cupcakes will take about 9-14 minutes. It is important to check your cupcakes for doneness at the minimum baking time so that you do not over bake (a toothpick inserted into the center that comes out clean is a good indicator of a baked cake). Also, check to see if the cakes have started to pull away from the side of the pan. If they are not done, put them back in the oven and check again in 2-minute intervals.
REMOVING CUPCAKES: Place the cupcake pan on a cooling rack and let cool for 10 minutes. If you made “naked cupcakes”, gently-slide knife around edges of cake to loosen. Turn over and allow the cakes to pop out of the pan. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.