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Please help me with cupcakes, I feel like giving up.

post #1 of 5
3/14/10 at 10:45am
Thread Starter 
Next week is my daughters 5th birthday I have been baking test cupcakes for 2 weeks with no luck! 

The first week I tried making a lemon cupcake and a rasberry cupcake with a buttercream icing.  My buttercream was way to rich, my cake was to dry.  I used cake flour which for some reason always makes my recipes dry.

Last week I tried another recipe, again dry cake, I make a cream cheese whipped cream icing that tasted way to much like mouse again not happy.

Today I tried a homemade yellow cake recipe and they turned out flat!  The tops pretty much peeled off the cupcake, however the cake was super moist, fluffy and had great flavor.  My baking soda is not out of date so I don't know what went wrong this time.

I also just made a chocolate one bowl cake recipe into cupcakes, just pulled them out of the oven so we will see.

I feel defeated, ready to throw in the towel and buy them store bought which I really really didn't want to do.

Can someone please just give me a really good yellow cake recipe for cupcakes, and a really good buttercream recipe?  I will give this one final shot!

Tiana
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post #2 of 5
3/14/10 at 10:47am
Thread Starter 
another question, I am confused on which fat is best to use for cakes, butter, oil or shortening?
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post #3 of 5
3/18/10 at 11:26am
I have been experiencing the same problem with muffins flat tops on my muffins this is a mystery my cakes turn out perfect! If you get any information regarding your cup cakes that might give me some insight to my muffin dilemma I would greatly appreciate it.
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post #4 of 5
3/18/10 at 11:28am


Quote:
Originally Posted by txtiana View Post

Next week is my daughters 5th birthday I have been baking test cupcakes for 2 weeks with no luck! 

The first week I tried making a lemon cupcake and a rasberry cupcake with a buttercream icing.  My buttercream was way to rich, my cake was to dry.  I used cake flour which for some reason always makes my recipes dry.

Last week I tried another recipe, again dry cake, I make a cream cheese whipped cream icing that tasted way to much like mouse again not happy.

Today I tried a homemade yellow cake recipe and they turned out flat!  The tops pretty much peeled off the cupcake, however the cake was super moist, fluffy and had great flavor.  My baking soda is not out of date so I don't know what went wrong this time.

I also just made a chocolate one bowl cake recipe into cupcakes, just pulled them out of the oven so we will see.

I feel defeated, ready to throw in the towel and buy them store bought which I really really didn't want to do.

Can someone please just give me a really good yellow cake recipe for cupcakes, and a really good buttercream recipe?  I will give this one final shot!

Tiana
 

I have a couple of buttercream recipes I will post.
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post #5 of 5
3/24/10 at 7:22am
Don't be so hard on yourself! My gosh, she is only a child and will be so proud of whatever you present! You may have heard we are our own worst critics! A dry cake usually comes from over baking.Remove from oven when there are some moist crumbs clinging to the toothpick or wooden skewer. ( if you are testing for doneness with a knife or metal cake tester, stop) Now for a great tasting, moist cupcake...box mix, box of  regular pudding, 4 eggs, 2/3 c neutral flavored oil, 1 c water. Sift the drys into a bowl, this will not only mix them together but will remove any lumps. Beat your wets just until mixed. Add drys all at once and beat on med for about a minute. Scrape the sides and bottom with large rubber/silicone spatula and beat on med for 20-30 seconds. I like to fill my cuppie liners with a large piping bag (about halfway full..these rise quite a bit) and bake at 350 for 17-18 min. Remove from oven when your toothpick still has some moist crumbs clinging to it. Cool a bit and remove to a rack. If using chocolate, bake a bit less as choc is notorious for over baking and turning out dry.
* there is a yellow cake recipe on the other pastry forum that is "homemade" and is quite good. m.
** the use of different fats depends on the type of mixing technique the recipe is built on. m.
*** some cakes are developed to bake up flat. Just makes it easier to level and tort. If you have one of those and really like everything else about it, fill the cuppie liners a bit more and use a piping bag and star tip to swirl the icing. Pretty! m.
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