Cupcake Batch Calculator

How it works

baked = ⌈needed × (1 + extra%) ÷ yield⌉ × yield · liners = baked × 1.1 · batter = baked × batter per cupcake (mini 1½ tbsp, standard ¼ cup, jumbo ½ cup) · frosting = needed × oz per cupcake × size factor (mini 0.4, jumbo 2) ÷ 8 oz per cup · oven rounds = ⌈baked ÷ tin size ÷ tins at once⌉

Frosting is where cupcake plans usually go wrong. A tall piped swirl uses three times as much as a thin spread, so the style you choose matters more than the cake. Each standard cupcake takes about a quarter cup of batter with the liner filled two-thirds full; minis take a heaping tablespoon and jumbos about half a cup, which is why one recipe can give 12 standard, roughly 32 mini or 6 jumbo cupcakes. The calculator bakes in whole batches, adds 10% extra liners, works out the frosting in cups and in recipe batches, and gives the butter, powdered sugar and milk for an American buttercream of that size. Under More options you can add a buffer for breakage, filled centres, your tin size and oven space (for the number of baking rounds and the oven time), and the cost of a batch for a cost per cupcake.

Worked example

48 standard cupcakes from a 12-per-batch recipe is 4 batches (48 baked). That is 12 cups of batter (2.8 L) and 53 liners with spares. A piped swirl at 1½ oz each needs 48 × 1.5 = 72 oz of frosting, 9 cups, or 3 batches of a 3-cup buttercream (6 sticks of butter, 12 cups of powdered sugar and 9 tbsp of milk). With two 12-cup tins in the oven at a time, that is 2 rounds, about 38 minutes of baking.

Sources: Wilton — How to make cupcakes (batter per cavity, bake times by size)

Frequently asked questions