This is the cake mix vanilla cupcake recipe we turn to for bake sales and school functions. It’s quick and easy and fairly foolproof.

Get creative with the sprinkles or add a few drops of food colouring to brighten them up. Use our cake calculator to customise the recipe! The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. If you’re new to baking or need a really easy cake recipe, we have the ideas for you, including a yoghurt cake that you don’t need scales to make. An easy ginger traybake cake that’s sticky, sweet and subtly spiced. A perfect tea-time treat for the colder months.

Cakes are best stored in airtight tins rather than plastic boxes. Once a cake has been cut, the cut surfaces will start to dry. Covering them with a piece of aluminium foil minimises the effect. Undecorated cakes can be frozen for up to three months if tightly wrapped. It’s essential to accurately weigh and measure cake ingredients and to follow the instructions carefully.

The ingredients need to be at the correct temperature before you start. For example, many cake recipes specify soft, chilled or frozen butter, and eggs at room temperature, in order to achieve a specific effect. Where caster sugar is specified, coarser granulated sugar or fine icing sugar are not acceptable substitutes as they’ll create detrimental effects, such as a speckled finish or failure to hold air bubbles in the batter. Darker sugars such as unrefined molasses sugar or muscovado are great for baking but will give a darker colour, deeper flavour and moister texture than caster sugar, so need to be used in their appropriate recipes. Similarly, with flour, don’t try to use strong bread flour in place of plain or self-raising flour because its gluten level is much higher. This will result in an uneven rise and a tough cake.

You can, however, substitute plain flour for self-raising by adding sufficient raising agents. Read our guide to the best stand mixers to help you make flawless bakes. Indulge in a slice of lemon cake for afternoon tea. Top this classic carrot cake with moreish icing and chopped walnuts or pecans.