cake mix

[bakerchik]

Making cupcakes for my Alice in Wonderland book report i used two boxes of cake mix for times sake. The first box of cupcakes turned out decent but the second box came out really flat and didn't rise much. I had to bake them in two sets because i didn't have enough muffin cups to make them all at once. I let the muffin tins cool after the first batch and filled the same sizes cups with the same amount of batter (i used scoops) but the second batch did not rise as much. Is it possible to over beat the batter? I tried an experiment and beat it about twice as long as it said to because the batter seemed awfully tnin. It could just be it was old mix. Any thoughts?

[W.DeBord]

Actually in my experience it's just the opposite. You can't seem to over beat them, they will turn out fine...but you can under beat them. You can visually see the differences in the batters and your finished product will not be inflated and might contain lumps too (which can be hard to get out with-out beating for several minutes).

[Svadhisthana]

Do any of you know the rule of thumb for mixing when baking? I know that with muffins you want to just mix it and the same is true of pancakes and quick breads. What would the difference be in cake? Could it be the quality of the mix itself?

Curiouser and curiouser

Svadhisthana

[Pooh]

thebighat should take the stand here.

Where are you thebighat??

[Eeyore]

Did you mix them at the same time? Or maybe mix the 2nd box and then wait awhile for the tins to cool?

If so that would be the problem. You may have lost all of your leavening power while the batter was sitting there.

Otherwise
eeyore