Excited about my cupcake excursion, I went out to HyVee to purchase my baking kit for beginners. I didn't know how expensive this new hobby would be, but I dove right in and filled my cupboards with supplies!
I found a simple vanilla cupcake recipe online and decided to make a batch for my boyfriend. The recipe called for shortening, reminding me of my grandma. After measuring out my dry ingredients, I realized I didn't have enough all-purpose flour and substituted a 1/4 of a cup of self-raising flour. Self Raising flour and all-purpose flour can both be used for cupcakes, but be aware that self-raising flour already contains baking powder and salt. Make sure you omit the salt and baking powder if you replace all-purpose flour for self-raising! Unaware of the differences in the flours, I mixed the remaining ingredients into the bowl and poured the batter into the cupcake liners.
At this point in my experiment, I became a little frustrated. Each time I drizzled the batter into my cute, yellow, polk-a-dotted liners, they would fold inwards creating a disfigured shape. Perhaps I was pouring the batter into the liners too fast, or those particular brands of liners are thinner than the purple and green ones I used. Regardless, I stuck the cupcakes in the oven and waited, turning the cupcake pan around after ten minutes to bake all sides of the cupcakes evenly. The tops where light and fluffy and just started to turn a golden brown. Waiting another ten minutes, the cupcakes had turned into a slightly darker hue. Happy that the liners all filled out into well-formed cupcakes, I let the batch cool until ready to decorate.
Feeling ambitious, I tried my hand at making a buttercream frosting. After attempting to whip the butter and vanilla into a cream and sifting the confectioner's sugar slowly into the mix, I wished I had read the instructions before starting. I was in need of a handheld mixer. The process was time-consuming and a bit of an arm workout! By the end of the fourth cup of confectioner's sugar and the two tablespoons of milk, the frosting appeared complete but it lacked the light and airy feel of frosting. Stirring in a few drops of food coloring, I decorated the cupcakes anyways, which was a bit of a trick since the frosting was too soft.
My first attempt at using plastic tips and Ziploc bags turned into a mess. Each time I used a small amount of pressure to squeeze the frosting out, the plastic tip would pop out! Frustrating...
Besides three of the cupcakes, I decorated the remaining with store-bought buttercream frosting. The technique was simple: spread the frosting evenly across the top of the cupcakes. The colors were beautiful, but the tops of the cupcakes were a bit hard and the liners stuck to the cupcakes. Just a bit over-baked, the key is to get the cupcakes to hold a golden brown color AND a soft and fluffy texture throughout the whole cupcake.
I found a simple vanilla cupcake recipe online and decided to make a batch for my boyfriend. The recipe called for shortening, reminding me of my grandma. After measuring out my dry ingredients, I realized I didn't have enough all-purpose flour and substituted a 1/4 of a cup of self-raising flour. Self Raising flour and all-purpose flour can both be used for cupcakes, but be aware that self-raising flour already contains baking powder and salt. Make sure you omit the salt and baking powder if you replace all-purpose flour for self-raising! Unaware of the differences in the flours, I mixed the remaining ingredients into the bowl and poured the batter into the cupcake liners.
At this point in my experiment, I became a little frustrated. Each time I drizzled the batter into my cute, yellow, polk-a-dotted liners, they would fold inwards creating a disfigured shape. Perhaps I was pouring the batter into the liners too fast, or those particular brands of liners are thinner than the purple and green ones I used. Regardless, I stuck the cupcakes in the oven and waited, turning the cupcake pan around after ten minutes to bake all sides of the cupcakes evenly. The tops where light and fluffy and just started to turn a golden brown. Waiting another ten minutes, the cupcakes had turned into a slightly darker hue. Happy that the liners all filled out into well-formed cupcakes, I let the batch cool until ready to decorate.
Feeling ambitious, I tried my hand at making a buttercream frosting. After attempting to whip the butter and vanilla into a cream and sifting the confectioner's sugar slowly into the mix, I wished I had read the instructions before starting. I was in need of a handheld mixer. The process was time-consuming and a bit of an arm workout! By the end of the fourth cup of confectioner's sugar and the two tablespoons of milk, the frosting appeared complete but it lacked the light and airy feel of frosting. Stirring in a few drops of food coloring, I decorated the cupcakes anyways, which was a bit of a trick since the frosting was too soft.
My first attempt at using plastic tips and Ziploc bags turned into a mess. Each time I used a small amount of pressure to squeeze the frosting out, the plastic tip would pop out! Frustrating...
Besides three of the cupcakes, I decorated the remaining with store-bought buttercream frosting. The technique was simple: spread the frosting evenly across the top of the cupcakes. The colors were beautiful, but the tops of the cupcakes were a bit hard and the liners stuck to the cupcakes. Just a bit over-baked, the key is to get the cupcakes to hold a golden brown color AND a soft and fluffy texture throughout the whole cupcake.
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