I just have to learn to put the proper quantity so it doesn't become a mountain/volcan style!
Yes I am!
No I generally find that if you want them nice and light and fluffy you have to accept some rising in the middle. But you can just cut the top bit across to make a level surface for icing if it concerns you .. and the cut away pieces are great to nibble on while you are icing But if you decorate with pale icing and a cherry on the top, a nice summit always looks good!
The recipe I use is very similar to Ka Pai but I am afraid I do not take such care - all the ingredients go in the bowl and then I switch on the mixer. I must say I haven't done a direct comparison of the two methods but if speed is required ... (along lines of pregnant woman will collapse if doesn't get cupcake fill within next 15 mins ...)
Hey! Just looked at the photo ... they look brilliant. No levelling off required!
Alternatively you reduce the baking powder to one teaspoon or 1 1/2 at the most. The rough guide is one teaspoon for each cup of flour.
Great looking cupcakes, Nil! I do like that mountain look.
Nil, I have a few books about baking actually so if you want to stop by anytime we can have a cook off
That could be nice!
I have so much Icing left that I am affraid I am going to waste it. Someone wants some?
I am very proud of myself today! Ok, it is not a big achievement but believe me, to do them from scratch when I am used to the already mix in a box, it is great to have home made style!
The mix preparations here are not as nice as back home anyway. I find the results not be as soft and moist.
But hey, who cares? I made my own! Next one I one to try is super healthy blueberry Cup Cakes... Miam Miam!
This may have to do with the type of flour you used and although Basel isn't so high an elevation as some of the other places around here, I think the elevation as well as the "umluft" oven makes a difference - more on some recipes than others.
If you prefer fluffier cakes and cupcakes, one of the things to do (even if recipe doesn't specify) is to sift the dry ingredients "together" and then only mix them with the wet enough to make sure everything is moistened. The sifting will help make sure there aren't any odd lumps so you don't have to mix as long... over mixing once the flour has been added leads to tougher / chewier cake.
Well, that was nice..! ..... I was also wanting a decent cup-cake recipe, now I got them. Thanks ladies.
I want to make them for the grandkids school birthday thingy .... much easier than a whole cake .. no cutting, no serviettes to lug along, no paper plates necessary. And no fighting over the last couple slices!
Thanks again.
I have never made cupcakes, just muffins, and only one type, Banana Chocolate Chip. This recipe has moved around the world with me. But can someone please tell me what is the difference between cupcakes and muffins? Is it just the icing?
I think cupcakes are more like mini-cakes, while muffins are more bread-like (and can be sweet or savoury).
EDIT - here's something that I found online: "If you throw a cupcake against a wall it will make a "POOF" sound. However, if you did the same with a muffin it would make more of a "THUD" sound."
In my mind, a muffin is something "suitable" for breakfast, usually less sugary-sweet and more fruity. So muffins would generally be banana, blueberry, lemon poppy seed, pineapple bran, apple bran, raisin bran, etc etc... while cupcakes are (generally) more a dessert and yes, typically would have icing or frosting on them as well as other fiddly things (sprinkles and candies to make them look special).
Watching the UK channels here, I get the idea that in the UK cupcakes are called "fairy cakes"... would that be right?
I just checked the Oxford dictionary and their definition is schizo. My definition is: muffins tend to contain vegetable oil and contain rougher ingredients and cupcakes contain butter and are finer, lighter and cuter.
To me a fairy cake is a cup cake pretty much as Nil is meaning here, in that it is a flat small sponge cake with some decorative (butter)icing. It is however quite a bit smaller than the muffin/cup cake cases you can buy here. The idea being it is a small delicate couple of mouthfuls at the most. I can claim some pedigree in this regard .. I used to assist with cookery judging at various Westmorland Women's Institute village shows (and by the way, cutting off the domed tops and then icing would not have produced a winning fairy cake .. the fairy cake had to be flat out of the oven)
A butterfly cake is a fairy cake but with the inside (this time domed tops very much required) cut out and halved, the hole filled with butter icing and the wings decoratively stuck back ontop to ressemble butterfly. mmhhhh. I recall winning the class a few times in the Arnside Horticultural Show with my butterfly cakes but I think I can now confess that my Grandmother helped me with them .. I only confess now as I believe all other participants will now be long dead.
So I have to start an other thread called: Muffins for Dummies?
Recipe I use, as I'm sometimes a bit put off by the "sugar only" for the icing. It's from the Betty Bossy magazine.
This is for 6 big cupcakes:
100g Butter
100g White Chocolate
100g Cheese like Philadelphia
2 drops of food coloring as required.
Mix it for 2 minutes and put into the fridge for 10 before applying to the cakes.
Since my magic VDay present worked well - baking trays, my wife started making the most delicious cup cakes and scones. Yesterday we had, ice-cream with fruit gelatin and scones, the other day we had ice-cream with cupcakes and nutella. We try to experiment and never become disappointed. I don't know what she puts in there but they are so delicious - some kind of secret recipe. Now we are looking into puddings.
Since you gave her that gift, did you find you waist line had expand?
Looked down at my belly and it didn't yet but it will be valid question to be asked after few weeks. I'm worrying a bit though because we also had unusual home made pasta with large meatballs and combination of white sauce with Philadelphia cream and red tomatoe sauce. It is winter afterall and time to preserve not lose