The Cupcake Thread!

[Allison D.]

Date: 3/24/2008 7:47:00 PM
Author: Mara

I am on the hunt for a snickerdoodle recipe for when a friend comes to visit me in a week...she loves the cookie so I am going to try the cupcake. But so far I have only found one that bloggers are using from a cake mix! But I want from scratch. So I might experiement.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 3/25/2008 2:22:58 PM
Author: belle
i''ve been sick all weekend and didn''t take part in any easter festivities

but someone sent me these leftovers from easter dinner. it looks like all of the cute little garnishes were swiped and some were halved (maybe in anticipation of multi- tasting?) but i thought it was toooo funny that i ended up with all of these cupcakes when all i have been thinking about is cupcakes!

i''ve been too sick to even tell anyone else about my recent cupcake obsession....it was just a crazy coinkydink that these showed up!
a funny coincidence that i thought i would share!

Belle, I hope you feel better soon.

Those cupcakes are so pretty!!!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/25/2008 3:31:12 PM
Author: Allison D.

Date: 3/24/2008 7:47:00 PM
Author: Mara

I am on the hunt for a snickerdoodle recipe for when a friend comes to visit me in a week...she loves the cookie so I am going to try the cupcake. But so far I have only found one that bloggers are using from a cake mix! But I want from scratch. So I might experiement.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Hee! Ok Mara and Alj, I knew I had seen a snickerdoodle cuppie recipe somewhere, here it is, see what you think.

http://www.cupcakefun.com/ideas/sf_snickerdoodlecupcake.cfm

 

[Mandarine]

YUMMMMMMMMM-O!!!!!!!!!

Those all look SO good!!!!!!!!!!!!!. This is defintiely NOT the best thread to be looking at 4:30pm in the afternoon!!!!!!!!

I love cooking but I am not much of a baker!....I''m afraid I would eat it all...specially now that I work from home and can''t just take the goodies to the office!

You guys are so talented

 

[Mara]

Date: 3/25/2008 3:31:12 PM
Author: Allison D.

Date: 3/24/2008 7:47:00 PM
Author: Mara

I am on the hunt for a snickerdoodle recipe for when a friend comes to visit me in a week...she loves the cookie so I am going to try the cupcake. But so far I have only found one that bloggers are using from a cake mix! But I want from scratch. So I might experiement.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

HEY! Get outta here!! Shoo!

 

[Mara]

Lorelei that is one that I found online but to be honest, I am not all that keen on using a Wilton recipe hahhaa. It's kind of like so ... I don't know...basic? It's almost like too Betty Crockerish!! I know I'm a wacko. I was like a Butter cake? Really?

So I was combing the blogs trying to find something more creative. But I might have to get creative on my own!! Like thinking more spice & cinnamon... with the yellow cake mix maybe that Freke posted. Mmmmm. Cream cheese frosting of course, w/cinnamon. Maybe coarse or turbinado sugar. Hmm!

Belle those are hilarious!! And they look really good....gosh they sent you like 8 cupcakes for leftovers?? You go girl!

 

[Delster]

Red velvet cupcakes! Un-iced, as yet, and with only half the red food colouring (I was scared), and all different sizes cos I''m not as talented as all you perfectly-evenly-sized-cupcakes baking divas... but... YUMMY!!!

A note to anyone on this side of the pond - substitute the baking soda with bread soda. According to the Irish Mammy the rule is bread soda with buttermilk, and baking powder with milk. And Irish Mammies must be obeyed

 

[bee*]

They look great Delster! That''s good to know about the baking soda. Yep, Irish mammies must be obeyed.

 

[Delster]

That they must Bee! And mine is on to cupcake number two now and is happily reminiscing about how my Granny used to make buns just mixing the batter in a jug and with no bun cases...

It was so adorable when she walked in the kitchen and she said "oh they're gorgeous!!!" I was so proud!

Thanks MrsSalvo! These are most definitely a hit over here

 

[FrekeChild]

Date: 3/25/2008 6:44:51 PM
Author: Delster
Red velvet cupcakes! Un-iced, as yet, and with only half the red food colouring (I was scared), and all different sizes cos I'm not as talented as all you perfectly-evenly-sized-cupcakes baking divas... but... YUMMY!!!

A note to anyone on this side of the pond - substitute the baking soda with bread soda. According to the Irish Mammy the rule is bread soda with buttermilk, and baking powder with milk. And Irish Mammies must be obeyed

She's right! Baking soda needs that acid in the buttermilk to help it out a bit! I'm glad they came out so well! They look fabulous!

Belle-I could swear those came from Cake Fetish!

Glad to be of service with the Gold cake recipe. When ever I have leftover egg yolks I start thinking "...creme brulee..." But it's really a great recipe for leftover egg yolks.

 

[Mara]

those look fab delster!!!! oooh now i want to go all red velvet on you guys too....darnit...no baking til thurs!!!!

 

[icekid]

Well, I''ll share what I was up to today... vanilla cuppies (the martha recipe), with raspberry (

) buttercream frosting (my own adapted recipe). It was fun, except- nothing went quite as planned. First, I could not find our regular size cupcake pan. Anywhere! I can''t figure out if I threw it away or something, since it was starting to get kind of old and yucky. Still can''t find it. Problem is, I only have the paper liner for the regular size. I do have a mini silicone pan, but now that I have it I realize I am really not into the silicone bakeware. Bah. So of course, I don''t have appropriate sized papers for the mini pan and the small city grocery stores nearby do not sell them. So I try a first batch w/ greasing the pan. Absolute no-go, I cannot get the cupcakes out! Arrrrrgh.. wasted! So then I decide I''m going to cut the bigger liners in half, and kind of form them into smaller ones. So that worked relatively better than having the whole damn cupcake stuck in the pan, but still not ideal. And then there''s my crappy apartment oven. I think this thing just has terrible hot/cold spots, and it really inaccurate in general. They were taking way too long to bake, some were more brown than others. And by the time the toothpick came out clean, they seemed too crumbly. Something just wasn''t quite right. They still taste fine, but the moist yumminess is not quite there.

The frosting however, is quite lovely and tasty! MMmm I am so in love with raspberries.

I am hosting movie night w/ some girlfriends on Thursday, and I''d reeeeally like to make some red velvet cuppies from mrss recipe. Though I wonder if I should just give up the baking until I have a decent oven when we move in a couple months. Decisions, decisions...

Here''s a quick pic, they''re not as pretty as I''d like though due to the crumbly-ness and having to remove the papers (b/c they looked quite silly!).

 

[Delster]

Forgive the camera phone picture (I have better ones at home) but for now, here are some iced red velvet buns!

 

[Lorelei]

YUM Del! Everything looks delicious!

Mara I was trying to find more Snickerdoodle cuppy recipes, I see why you were having difficulty, they nearly all say to use a packet mix base!

 

[Delster]

You should taste them! Wanna pop over for a sampling? You are more than welcome providing you bring some of these delectable confections you are planning...

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/26/2008 9:42:58 AM
Author: Delster
You should taste them! Wanna pop over for a sampling? You are more than welcome providing you bring some of these delectable confections you are planning...

On my way!

 

[Delster]

...scuttling off to roll out the céad míle fáilte banners...

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/26/2008 10:21:18 AM
Author: Delster
...scuttling off to roll out the céad míle fáilte banners...

How very kind....

 

[Delster]

Date: 3/26/2008 10:37:31 AM
Author: Lorelei

How very kind....

Then once you''re here I''ll bribe you with buns until you fess up with BF has been doing over in RT!

I want a ''smell'' button for my laptop, all these goodies look so delicious! Has anyone else been baking? Mara, it''s almost Thursday...

 

[Mara]

haaa delster!!! i know i was looking at cuppies last nite and making a 'list' of what i want to try soon...my list is too long !! but yeah i am starting the cake decorating class tonite with some friends, so i am really excited. should be fun.

icekid, those cuppies look fab....esp for an attempt with modified liners, love em!!

lorelei, i did find one snickerdoodle recipe online at one of my fave bloggers site. it's actually one of the same gals who used the cake mix, she was like okay before i'm disowned forever, here's a from scratch recipe. so i jotted it down and saved it. i plan to make it next week when my pal comes to visit. we'll also be visiting Kara's (www.karascupcakes.com) and That Takes the Cake (www.saralynnscupcakes.com) while in SF !

And this week I ordered 48 minis for my boss's bday on Friday from Sibbys (www.sibbyscupcakery.com) --their flavor of the month is banana cream pie which I am so excited about trying. We got the sampler so there will be 6 flavors total...of whatever they feel like putting in.

Cupcake fiendin'!!!

So here's my list of what I want to try soon...jeez...how will I get to it all.
Vanilla w/Vanilla (the classic)
Oreo Cookie
Snickerdoodle
Red Velvet
Choco Peanut Butter Banana

and I'm sure after I eat the Banana Cream Pie one I will want to figure out that one too. hahah.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/26/2008 10:43:53 AM
Author: Delster

Date: 3/26/2008 10:37:31 AM
Author: Lorelei

How very kind....

Then once you''re here I''ll bribe you with buns until you fess up with BF has been doing over in RT!

I want a ''smell'' button for my laptop, all these goodies look so delicious! Has anyone else been baking? Mara, it''s almost Thursday...

Well that sounds like an offer I couldn''t POSSIBLY refuse!

 

[Skippy123]

Lorelei and other carrot cake lovers; I saw on the Today show this is the best carrot cake ever according to them.

From here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23796073/
The cake can be made a day or two in advance: Keep it covered in the refrigerator and then serve it cold or at room temperature. Be sure to add the eggs slowly: If you beat them in all at once, the cake won't turn out as smooth. Using lots of vegetable oil will ensure it's nice and moist. And don't be afraid of the carrots! Yes, a whole pound of them sounds like a lot, but they add tons of flavor.

INGREDIENTS

Cake

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 cups finely grated peeled carrots (about 1 pound)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (about 1/2 ounce)
• 1/2 cup raisins
Frosting

• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Cake

Preheat oven to 325° F. Lightly grease three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pans with waxed paper. Lightly grease waxed paper. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and vegetable oil in bowl until combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into sugar and oil mixture. Stir in carrots, chopped pecans and raisins.

Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing equally. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and cakes begin to pull away from sides of pans, about 45 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto racks and cool completely. (Can be made one day ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic and store at room temperature.)

Frosting

Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth and creamy.

Place one cake layer on platter. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with another cake layer. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Using icing spatula, spread remaining frosting in decorative swirls over sides and top of cake. (Can be prepared two days ahead; cover with cake dome and refrigerate.)

Serve cake cold or at room temperature.

eta: I bet it makes yummy cupcakes

 

[portia]

OMG, this thread is killing me! YUM!!

Carrot cake... my fav!! I''m going to have to try some of these yummy recipes.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/26/2008 1:55:05 PM
Author: Skippy123

Lorelei and other carrot cake lovers; I saw on the Today show this is the best carrot cake ever according to them.

eta: I bet it makes yummy cupcakes

OMG!!! I bet it does too! Thanks Skip!

 

[Lorelei]

Mara, now it is Thursday, what delectable morsels are on the agenda from your list?

 

[fisherofmengirly]

How did cake decorating 101 go, Mara?

 

[Mara]

Lorelei...hee hee...well I am making something tonite...but not sure what yet. I was thinking of just doing vanilla vanilla because it's my boss's favorite and it's her bday tomorrow...but I also am kind of tired of vanilla!!! I really want to make something more exciting like carrot cake or the red velvet. So not sure...we'll have to see hehe.

I started my cake decorating class last nite...!! It was really exciting and fun...it's going to be great...I bought a bunch more supplies, this lady's shop is a lot like the one I went to last weekend, same idea...full on cake decorating shop with everything under the sun. It was so cool, she had 2 cakes so she showed us how to split the cake, fill it, pipe a border, and frost the top and sides...gave us tips as she was doing it aka how not to get crumbs into the frosting, how to use enough frosting. Then she showed us how to do borders and we each had to do one, mine was not too bad! and then we all made a rose on a nail, mine again was not too bad hahaa. Then we had questions, took notes the whole time, and shopped!! They had the cutest cupcake liners, so I bought a bunch because I go through them really quickly...they had some cute gold and white striped ones, some with scalloped edges like a flower. Brown minis which will be super cute with a carrot cake or light vanilla cake. And she had a ton of sparkling sugars and sprinkles, stuff I haven't seen elsewhere!! It was so hard to not go crazy!

Oh and one of the things she showed us...is how to make a parchment triangle into a piping bag..! It's great for striping flavors or if you have a small amount of diff colored creams, then you don't need to waste a disposable plastic bag...these work with tips and it's a fab way to just get a basic swirl going on. And then you just toss it! It was a little hard to figure out how to make the bag (folding it which way) but once you got it, it's fab. I can't wait to try it!!

Oh and one more thing...apparently Wilton puts out decorating books which I had no idea, she wanted us to buy what they call the Yearbook for 2008 which is where they talk about trends and put ideas and how-to's...so I bought that but Wilton also has this FAB book that is mostly all about decorating tips (as in the metal tips, not tips on how to)...and what they do!! And I SO needed that. Like it shows Garland 124 and what shapes it makes, how you can turn it to make a diff shape, etc. I was like YES...finally!!

Then she cutup the cake and gave us all a slice to bring home. Greg got the slice because everything she makes has shortening in it and I am really not a huge fan. Interestingly enough she said that most bakeries that make cakes will use shortening because it holds up so well for decorating and sitting around outside of refridgeration. She also used this non dairy shortening based whipped cream to do her frosting, call me a skeptic but I'm a little frightened of things that are supposed to be 'cream' that don't need refridgeration and are non-dairy. I tasted the frosting and it was okay, but I am so much more into natural buttercream lol!!! So now I am really curious on who uses shortening in their cakes vs who doesn't. Also Greg said he loved the frosting on this cake. Really interesting. She said that I would probably need to do a 1/2 buttercream, 1/2 shortening mix to use for the class because buttercream is too hard to decorate with for a 2 hour class, it would get too soft. So while I'd like to go all butter, it sounds like I might have to capitulate and use some shortening for the class..!

Needless to say I spent a lot of $$ at this shop...but it was fun. I still need to get a plastic turntable because it's key for decorating and also would be fab for cupcakes for decorating as well. And she has little mini already-made royal icing hardened flowers made for decorating, so I bought some in pastels for putting on top of cupcakes. But eventually I will know how to make my own! Excited.

That's my update for today!! The vibe in the class was awesome, the teacher is very good and the rest of the class was filled with a lot of people like me and my friends, mostly kind of 20-40's age...and there was one guy who wants to start his own bakery, kinda surprising to see a guy in there! He's youngish and he has basic skills already, I sat next to him so it was fun to talk to him...he was telling my friend about his hope for a biz so she was like well bring us some cakes to taste hehe. So it'll be great fun to pick everyone's brain...!! And I can't wait to practice this wkd...I might make a small cake to play with!! I can totally see how making cakes would be just as fun as cupcakes, more decorating space....but with a cuppie you get to be more individual which is super fun too.

 

[sumbride]

I haven''t posted yet because I''m not really all that into cupcakes (I know! Sacrilege!) but I am into decorating as I used to spend a fair amount of time doing hand-decorated cookies, so Mara''s note about her class brought me to post!

The parchment triangle bags are the best, and can easily be used with tips... just pull the tips out when you''re done before you throw the bag away, but of course can also be done without tips. I always used parchment bags exclusively because I didn''t like the plastic disposable bags and didn''t like washing the non-disposable bags. I often did 8-12 colors at a time, so lots of easy bags was the best way to do it.

I also want to encourage you to try gel food coloring if you haven''t yet. The color is so much more intense and doesn''t water down the frosting at all. Also, lustre dust might be fun to try... you could gild your cupcakes!

Ah, see... I kind of miss it... but I was too into it and needed a break... it gets addicting fast, right Mara???

 

[Lorelei]

I have just taken a Madeira cake out of the oven, I tend to make this one weekly - yum

I have also done a li''l shopping and ordered embellishments for my cuppies - silver balls, angelica, sprinkles, chocolate vermicelli....

 

[sevens one]

Using the basic vanilla recipe I attempted to make some cupcakes today.
I added almond extract instead of vanilla in the cake part. There is nothing like the smell
of almond extract; my kitchen smells heavenly.
I used the basic vanilla buttercream frosting recipe.
I''m having a problem with the cupcakes. They seem to have a somewhat ''crunchy''
top. They are very moist and tasty on the inside but I can''t figure out the top part.
Maybe they were in too long.
oh well- any suggestion ladies?