[rosemary_2009]

Okay, so I've made Strawberry cupcakes twice and both times they have come out flat, why? What am I doing wrong? I followed the recipe. It called for 2tsp of Baking Powder, was that too much? Did I over bake them? Please, any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Also, does anyone have a good recipe for Strawberry Cupcakes?

[jfield]

Would need to see your recipe and your procedure to say for sure. One thing to check--is your baking powder out of date? Put some in some warm water and stir. It should bubble vigorously. If not, pitch it and buy new.

[rosemary_2009]

Originally Posted by jfield

Would need to see your recipe and your procedure to say for sure. One thing to check--is your baking powder out of date? Put some in some warm water and stir. It should bubble vigorously. If not, pitch it and buy new.

Here's the recipe:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 Tsp of Vanilla
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 pkg (10 ounces) frozen strawberries in syrup thawed

[jfield]

And your procedure? How do you incorporate all the ingredients? Especially the strawberries. Sorry for the questions, but I (or anyone else) will need to know what you have been doing so we can figure out where it all went south for you.

[ChefRAZ]

did it say to sift the dry ingredents together? that and the temp of the oven could be the cause.

[rosemary_2009]

Originally Posted by jfield

And your procedure? How do you incorporate all the ingredients? Especially the strawberries. Sorry for the questions, but I (or anyone else) will need to know what you have been doing so we can figure out where it all went south for you.

Preheat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour and baking powder. Alternately add flour mixture and milk, mixing well after each addition. Fold in strawberries. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on rack; remove and cool completely before decorating.

[jfield]

Sounds like a straight-up creaming method.

A couple of things to remember--if your butter is too soft, it won't hold any air bubbles during the initial creaming stage. If it's too cold, it won't be plastic enough to hold any bubbles. Make sure your milk, eggs, strawberries and butter are all at cool room temperature, about 68 degrees, F. If you add cold milk, eggs or strawberries on top of nicely creamed butter, it will just re-harden and not hold air.

Ingredient temperature is critical. You can probably go 2 3/4 teaspoons for the baking powder, but the temp at which you cream the fat and sugar, add the eggs and then liquid is extremely important.

Also, when you cream, cream the butter alone for a minute or two. Then, add the sugar and cream for about 5 minutes on medium speed.

Make sure the mixture stays cool. If it starts to warm up, put the bowl in the fridge for a few minutes to keep your ingredients at or near 68 degrees, F.

By the way, your initial email said that the recipe called for 2 teaspoons of baking powder, yet the recipe as you posted it calls for 2 1/2 teaspoons. If you only added two, your cupcakes could have been a little dense.

Hope this helps, and good luck with the cupcakes.

[rosemary_2009]

Originally Posted by jfield

Sounds like a straight-up creaming method.

A couple of things to remember--if your butter is too soft, it won't hold any air bubbles during the initial creaming stage. If it's too cold, it won't be plastic enough to hold any bubbles. Make sure your milk, eggs, strawberries and butter are all at cool room temperature, about 68 degrees, F. If you add cold milk, eggs or strawberries on top of nicely creamed butter, it will just re-harden and not hold air.

Ingredient temperature is critical. You can probably go 2 3/4 teaspoons for the baking powder, but the temp at which you cream the fat and sugar, add the eggs and then liquid is extremely important.

Also, when you cream, cream the butter alone for a minute or two. Then, add the sugar and cream for about 5 minutes on medium speed.

Make sure the mixture stays cool. If it starts to warm up, put the bowl in the fridge for a few minutes to keep your ingredients at or near 68 degrees, F.

By the way, your initial email said that the recipe called for 2 teaspoons of baking powder, yet the recipe as you posted it calls for 2 1/2 teaspoons. If you only added two, your cupcakes could have been a little dense.

Hope this helps, and good luck with the cupcakes.

Thanks so much! I realized that I had only added 2 tsp. of baking powder.. so I'll make sure next time I add the correct amount. I will try chocolate cupcakes today. Any recommendations for chocolate cupcakes?

[jfield]

If you can find a recipe made with cocoa powder and water, that will give you the most chocolatey flavor since milk tends to mellow out "chocolateyness."

Most cakes /cup cake recipes you'll find use the creaming method. There's nothing wrong with this, but if you want a more velvety end-product, try using the two-stage mixing method. (You can convert any shortened cake from one mixing method to the other). Read about it here The Two-Stage Mixing Method Pastry Methods and Techniques

Good luck with all your cupcakes, rosemary_2009

[ED BUCHANAN]

Originally Posted by rosemary_2009

Okay, so I've made Strawberry cupcakes twice and both times they have come out flat, why? What am I doing wrong? I followed the recipe. It called for 2tsp of Baking Powder, was that too much? Did I over bake them? Please, any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Also, does anyone have a good recipe for Strawberry Cupcakes?

Make sure baking powder is not real old, as it does lose some of its riseing ability if very old.

[JMP]

Make sure you don't overmix the batter. This will cause the air bubbles to deflate and make your final product dense. Only mix until just pulled together and you can no longer see flour streaks.

[rosemary_2009]

Thanks... I'll make sure next time

[marmalady]

Are you draining the strawberries? If not, there could be way too much liquid in the batter.

[boar_d_laze]

Modern, double-acting baking powder (which is what you should be using) produces carbon dioxide gas when it gets wet, and when it gets heated. Your problem is almost certainly related to your baking powder in one of three ways.

One: As soon as the liquids are added to the dry ingredients, double acting baking powder starts to work producing bubbles in the batter. Those bubbles expand when they're heated and create some of the lift that makes the cake fluffy. If you hold the batter too long and/or overbeat it the bubbles disappear.

Two: You're using single acting baking powder and either overbeating and/or not working quickly enough. Same as Number One, only more so. More so, in that double acting powder reserves some of its leavening potential for the oven, by virtue of a compound (pyro-phosphate usually) which doesn't create gas until it's heated.

Three: The baking powder is no longer working well. This can be related to age and/or any moisture getting in the tube.

Note, I didn't mention that you used too little baking powder. The rule, which is constant for most cakes and quick breads is "about 1 tsp of baking powder per cup of flour, but no more than 1-1/4." Your 2 tsp of BP for 2-1/2 cups flour is a little on the low side, but not enough for the degree of failure you apparently experienced. This points back to the efficacy of the powder itself or the way in which it was handled -- more likely the powder.

In any case, transport yourself to the store and buy a fresh tube of double-acting baking powder (like Calumet or Clabber Girl). For the time being, stay away from single-actors like Rumford.

Happy caking,
BDL

[rosemary_2009]

Thanks so much! I didn't know any of that. I'll keep that in mind next time I bake.
- Rosemary