MetaChat - I fail at cupcakes.

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09 June 2008

I fail at cupcakes. I had my first practice round of cupcakes tonight and they did not turn out the way I wanted them to.→[More:]

In a few weeks I want to make strawberry, chocolate and white cupcakes. Though I have made cakes before, I've never done cupcakes, but from what I know they shouldn't be too different. So I thought I might try my white cupcakes tonight. I used a Lady Baltimore recipe for the cake as I used to get Lady Baltimore cupcakes (with buttercream frosting) from a bakery near my house and I love, love, loved them. I used this recipe (from allrecipes):

1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
6 egg whites
1/2 cup white sugar

They came out drier and a bit more dense than I would have liked and the cake was yellow-ish - I expected it to be white.

So I've searched around the internet and found out that you are can use the following to make your cake more moist:

Add 1/4 cup mayo
Sub applesauce for 1/2 of butter
Add sour cream

Can any of you bakers offer me any advice? Would I do all of the above three at once or should I just stick to one? What would you recommend to make my cake moist and fluffy? Do you know of a recipe that will really make white cake? Is there any hope for me to learn how to do cupcakes within 2 weeks? Help!!

post by: triggerfinger at: 16:12 | 6 comments

Duncan Hines makes a very airy cupcake, almost too fluffy for a cupcake. I'm betting you don't want a mix, though. :-)

I would pick one of the above ingredients and find a recipe that is tried and true that uses one of these ingredients.

You might take a look at this thread. Specifically this recipe, although it is yellow cake, not white.

posted by LoriFLA 09 June | 16:34

Really white cake is generally a chiffon cake. I don't have a chiffon cake recipe handy, but the difference between it and other batters is the ration of whole egg or egg yolk to egg white. Here is Martha Stewart's white sheet cake recipe, which looks like a basic chiffon cake.

Chiffon cakes take flavorings (citrus zest, extracts, liqueurs) really well. A nice way to vary your cupcakes.

Alas, that she has no time for it anymore, but the Cupcake Bakeshop has long been a favorite cupcake stop for me.

posted by crush-onastick 09 June | 16:34

Here is a white cake with decent reviews. One person made cupcakes and according to the review, they came out great.

posted by LoriFLA 09 June | 16:40

Lori, I don't mind cake mix at all and I think I'm going to use one for my strawberry cupcakes to make things a bit easier for myself. I used to bake all the time and now I haven't done so for ages so I'm looking at this as a good opportunity to re-educate myself. I'm using a different oven as well and I think that has a LOT to do with it. You kind of get to know your oven after awhile.

crush-onastick, that is a great blog. She has lots of helpful tips on there and some fantastic recipes. I might end up using one of them for my chocolate cupcakes.

posted by triggerfinger 09 June | 16:58

Cake flour will make them lighter and fluffier. It also depends on how well you mix it and what you're baking them in. i use this hearted shaped silicon muffin thing somoene gave me and while it doesn't need to be greased, it bakes differently than metal would.
Cake mix is easy and reliable, plus they have pudding added.
i didn't have a mixer until recently, so i beat by hand. Adding lots of air makes it fluffier and figuring out the heat and timing of your oven.

posted by ethylene 09 June | 17:23

Cake flour - Swan's Down is what I use - and sift it if you aren't already. That will help a lot. As far as moistness - I dont know how much time you have to experiment, but I love buttermilk. It can give things a, hm, we call it a "wang" - kind of a weird taste - if it's not the right recipe though. Other things that have made a difference - use real butter - that might not apply but margarine never quite does it for me, it's always better with real butter. Or, straight up shortening, you can use that. I kind of hate shortening but it does make a tasty cake. Milk - if you are using skim or 2% maybe try whole?

posted by Medieval Maven 09 June | 20:07

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