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Cupcakes are one of those wonderful things that everyone loves. We all have our favorite cupcake recipe that we bring out every so often. Mine is a recipe for lemon cupcakes with toasted meringue icing. Yum.
They are also really not that hard to make and they make the perfect birthday treat, school bake sale and a fun activity to do with the kids on a Saturday morning. You can fill them, you can ice them, you can pipe them. Not to mention they come in every single flavor ever imagined.
To make the perfectly risen cupcake, you need to have a couple of tools on hand, but more importantly, you need to know what cupcake size you are making as this will determine how much batter you need to make and what size cupcake liners you will need.
If you want to find out what cupcake sizes exist out there keep reading! I have also included a very useful cupcake size chart to make it easier for you to see all cupcake dimensions.
Cupcake Size Chart
Cupcake dimensions vary depending on the type of cupcake you want to make. To give you a better idea of what each cupcake looks like, here is a chart with the cupcake dimensions.
| Mini | Regular | Jumbo | |
| Diameter – Top | 1.25 Inches | 2.25-3 Inches | 3.25 – 3.5 Inches |
| Diameter – Bottom | 1 Inch | 2-2.5 Inches | 3 Inches |
| Height | 3/4th Inches | 1.5-2 Inches | 2.5 – 3.5 Inches |
| Serving Size Child | 1-2 Cupcakes | 0.25 – 1 Cupcake | One cupcake between a few kids |
| Serving Size Adult | 2-3 Cupcakes | 1-2 Cupcakes | 0.5 Cupcake |
Cupcake Sizes
If you’ve ever made cupcakes, then chances are you have made regular size cupcakes. But, what if I told you there are so many other different cupcake sizes out there for you to try?
Mini
Have you ever tried to stuff a cupcake whole in your mouth in an attempt to impress your friends? Crumbs everywhere, you’re slobbering about and you end up either choking or spitting it out. Not a pretty sight for anyone. If only there could be a smaller cupcake you could do this more elegantly with.
Oh wait, there is.
Mini cupcakes are the cutest little sweet treats ever made. Too cute to even eat! I love it when bakeries offer mini cupcake versions of the larger ones. They are cheaper and you can choose to try a bit of everything rather than spending a fortune on just a few regular cupcakes.
These bite-sized cupcakes are typically baked in liners and trays with indents that are ¾” across, and 1 ¼” deep. This is quite exceptionally small. When I say they are bite-size, they really are bite-size. No more mess when trying to devour a whole cupcake!
Regular
The regular cupcake is what made us fall in love with this delectable sweet treat. Regular cupcakes are the most commonly served cupcake size and the ones you’ll see in the bakeries, on our favorite YouTube channels, and at our best friend’s wedding.
A regular-sized cupcake liner is typically 1 ¼” across on the base, and two inches tall.
The cupcake is not far off that size too, though it might be a little taller as the cupcake rises during baking.
The height of a cupcake will also depend on how it’s iced, of course. If the frosting forms a thick, impressive layer above the surface of the cupcake, then it can stand up to around two and a half inches tall. Regular cupcakes can vary a lot in size and you will find ‘smaller’ regular cupcakes that are not small enough to be mini and bigger regular cupcakes that are not big enough to be considered jumbo-sized.
Large
Large cupcakes, also called jumbo cupcakes, are the largest cupcake that you can make. They’re typically around two inches across at the base, while being around three and a half inches tall. It’s basically like a slice of cake at that point and can be served as a standalone dessert. But who has ever only had one cupcake? No one.
A jumbo cupcake may also be enhanced with the addition of very tall, spiraling frosting. Because the cake can be up to three inches in diameter at the top, quite a lot of ‘canvas’ has been created, allowing the baker to be creative.
Shallow and Wide
A shallow and wide cupcake takes that form more from the cupcake pan you’ve used rather than that being an actual cupcake size.
Cupcake pans come in different sizes, dimensions, and widths, but the cupcake liner used remains the same. Having said that, when you pour cupcake batter into a pan that is shallow and wide, the cupcake liner will take that shape and so will your cupcake.
A cupcake made in a shallow and wide cupcake tray will be slightly shorter than a regular cupcake and wider.
Typical Cupcake Serving Size
Who only eats one cupcake? I don’t. But if you are one of those people who checks the serving recommendations on the back of food packaging then you’ll probably want to know how many cupcakes you can have.
I have set it all out in the cupcake size chart above, but when it comes to mini cupcakes, it’s a free for all. Gobble down as many as you can before they all disappear is my recommendation! In all seriousness though, about 2 to 3 cupcakes will equate to one regular cupcake so you can base your serving of mini cupcakes around that.
Regular cupcakes are slightly bigger, so one will do just fine, but no one will judge if you go for seconds…or thirds.
Generally, jumbo cupcakes are meant to be shared. But no one is sharing cupcakes here. They are pretty big and I’m not going to lie, I have struggled to finish a whole jumbo cupcake on my own. I managed to do it, but it was tough. I also felt quite ill afterwards, but it was totally worth it!
So yeah, jumbo cupcakes should really be shared and one between two people is enough. But, again no judgment if you have one all to yourself.
When it comes to children, the cupcake serving size should be far less than the adult portion. These small human beings can have 1 to 2 mini cupcakes, a quarter to one regular cupcake depending on the size of the regular cupcake, and a jumbo cupcake can be shared between a few kids.
If you are a health freak and want to how many calories are in each cupcake size, well, that’s a little bit harder to determine. You can take a look here if you want to calculate how many calories in cupcakes you ate last night. No regrets, right?
Take a look at this awesome banana, burnt butter and caramelized white chocolate cupcake!
Frequently Asked Cupcake Size Questions
What Are the Main Cupcakes Sizes?
The main cupcake sizes are mini, regular, and large. Mini cupcakes are around bite-sized, typically around a quarter-inch tall. Regular cupcakes are a good amount of cake for one, typically a little over two inches tall. Large cupcakes are sometimes split between two people and can be around three-and-a-half inches tall.
How Big Are Cupcakes?
Cupcakes can vary in size quite dramatically. The smallest cupcakes can be around a quarter inch tall, with the largest ones being around three and a half inches tall. Truthfully, though, cupcakes can be pretty much any size that you want them to be. They originally got their name from being baked in teacups, and there’s no standard size for a teacup. As long as a teacup can be easily held in one hand, I would certainly argue that it’s a cupcake, even if it doesn’t fit a strict size guide.
How Tall Are Cupcakes?
Cupcakes can be as tall as you want them to be! No seriously, they can. A cupcake will not rise much above the top of the cupcake liner (if you have a massive dome something has gone wrong!). But, when it comes to frosting them, you can put as much frosting as you want to make them tall.
What Are Some Common Cupcake Pan Sizes?
Generally, cupcake pans will be divided into an even number of indentations. This is commonly a multiple of twelve since the vast majority of cupcake recipes are made for a dozen cupcakes. If a pan has that number of holes, or perhaps even double or triple, then the recipe can be easily adapted.
