Creaming Correctly

• The fat in a cupcake recipe, usually butter, coats the flour in a thin layer that helps make the batter light while providing moisture. If you prefer light, airy cupcakes, you must cream the cool butter with the sugar until it's light and creamy, which can take 5 minutes or more if you are creaming by hand. Creaming properly traps air that results in a lighter batter that can hold more moisture, instead of a dense, dry cupcake. Cream butter in a mixer by slowly adding in the sugar as you beat the butter with a paddle attachment, until it becomes light and fluffy with a slight grainy texture. You can also beat the sugar in slowly by hand, using a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon.

Exceptional Eggs

• Too many egg whites can result in a dry cupcake, which is more of a problem with white vanilla cakes than yellow vanilla cakes. The eggs prevent the air bubbles in the fat from collapsing and allow the air and moisture to escape during baking. Do not add extra egg whites to white vanilla cakes, and use only the amount of eggs specified for a yellow vanilla cake recipe. Stir the eggs slowly into the creamed butter and sugar so you don't collapse the air bubbles introduced during the creaming process.

Flour Fixes

• Too much flour in your cupcakes makes them dense, heavy and dry, especially with white vanilla cupcakes that don't contain the extra fats from the egg yolk. When measuring flour, spoon it into your dry measuring cup instead of scooping it so too much flour doesn't pack into the cup. Level it off with the flat edge of a knife. Mix the dry ingredients separately, then fold them into the fat mixture until barely combined to further prevent the loss of air. Ensure no lumps of dry flour remain in the batter.

Best Baking

• Overly hot baking temperatures often result in a tough, dry cupcake. Generally, temperatures between 325 and 350 degrees Fahrenheit work best for a moist, light cupcake. Use a light-colored or gray pan and bake the cupcakes in cupcake liners, which prevent the sides from drying out as the vanilla cupcake cools. Cool cupcakes completely before frosting, and store them in an airtight container at room temperature so they don't dry out after baking.