Butter for Cupcakes

Our answer

Nigella, along with many cooks, tends to prefer to use unsalted butter in baking. This is mainly due to taste, as she prefers to control the level of salt in the baked goods and salted butters can contain varying levels of salt. Historically unsalted butter was used in baking as it was fresher than salted butter - the salt acts as a preservative. However with modern refrigeration and the high turnover of butter in supermarkets, this is no longer an issue.

If you prefer to use salted butter instead then this is fine but we suggest that you look for one that is "slightly salted" as it will have less salt and be less likely to affect the taste of the finished cupcakes.