Recipe Test: Moist Yellow Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Frosting
Behold! Yesterday, I made cupcakes that actually looked as good as they taste!
This is quite a big achievement for me. My previous cupcakes were often dense, dry or worse - without flavour. But... not this time. Thanks to Sally's Baking Addiction - Moist Yellow Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Frosting recipe, I will no longer have to deal with such disappointments again.
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| so many cupcakes! |
This awesome recipe comes complete with an excellent step-by-step recipe guide and amazing photos styled and photographed by Sally. This really gives you the inspiration to see what your homemade batch of cupcakes could look like (someday, Lynnette.... looks at camera). The recipe is easy to follow and there are loads of tips that I had not thought of when making cupcakes that could set a good batch from a bad one.
Here is a summary of how my recipe test went:
Prep time: 25mins (cupcake batter), 10 mins (frosting), 15mins (icing youtube lessons!)
Cooking time: 18-20 mins per muffin tray (makes 12)
Level of baking: Easy as Pie
(though I have never found pies to be particularly easy to make!)
Recipe makes: for me 24 cupcakes using large patty liners in a muffin tray
Taste Verdict: Yum-town
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| 5th cupcake taste test.... |
These cupcakes turned out really well. They were moist and fluffy but does not have the overwhelming taste of butter or eggs that I sometimes find is dominant in a yellow cupcake. I nearly abandoned frosting the cupcakes as I ate my second fresh cupcake without it. But for display purposes, it does look prettier with the frosting.
Here are a few notes on how I tackled the recipe:
Butter: I creamed the butter by hand using a wooden spoon before creaming in the sugar. (I didn't have a paddle attachment to my mixer) - I also googled, "how do I cream butter if I don't have a paddle attachment????"
Frosting: I am not a big fan of frosting/icing. I often find them too sweet or that there is just too much on it. When I eat cupcakes, I would often take the first bite with the frosting on and then wipe the rest off with a napkin. (sorry bakers!) I followed the Milk Chocolate Frosting recipe but added the confectioner's sugar a bit at a time and I did the same with the cocoa as I didn't want that bitter undertone of too much cocoa in my batch. I got to a point where the consistency was good enough, the colour was not nearly as dark and in the spur of the moment I dunked 3 tablespoons of Nutella in it, whizzed it and it was super tasty! I ate the entire cupcake without scraping off the icing. Though, the next time I make the frosting, I will probably thicken it up more as when I was frosting these, it looked fine but in the photos as you can tell, they don't look like they were 'setting' well (it fared much batter on day two with it stored in the fridge)
Muffin tray vs. cupcake liners: The cupcake liners I initially bought were too small for my muffin tray. It also made the cupcakes look shallow and not very impressive. Does Australia even sell cupcake trays? I ended up buying large patty liners for my cupcakes. The irony was further displayed when then placed my cup cakes into my cupcake carrier to take to work, they were too big. I had to coax them into the moulds to hold them securely for the car journey.
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| can you see my cupcakes squished in? |
As much as the clean up is sometimes quite a difficult hurdle to overcome, I do enjoy baking. There is nothing more enjoyable than creaming butter into a fluffy cloud, the feeling you get when you are kneading dough (...remember to not over knead! ooppss... too late) and of course, I also enjoy watching batter rise in an oven (best part!)
LESSONS LEARNT: after three food posts so far, I have learnt a few valuable lessons when it comes to blogging about my cooking adventures.
#1. Don't get too close to the subject - shoot a little further away to allow for cropping
#2. Do the dishes quickly - I have to say, cleaning up is the worst part
#3. Remember that you are klutzy - I dropped 3 cupcakes between taking the photos and moving it into the kitchen (*grumbles)
#4. Pretty pictures need light - I am still trying to get my head around the camera settings and shooting in non-auto or iPhone mode. The theory behind shutter speeds, apertures, composition and the whole editing process can be overwhelming but the one lesson I have learnt quickly is - food photos pop out best with the help of even natural light. Or... take up H's offer to learn to use his flash. Whilst taking a photo with a proper camera is challenging... (I still find myself whipping out my iPhone) It is so very much prettier with a camera though don't you agree? :)
What are your tips for a beginner baker/blogger like myself? I still have so much to learn about baking as well as creating interesting content for my blog - both visual and written. I have been reading a lot about how other bloggers got to where they are and it inspires me everyday to just focus sharing what I would share with my family. Baby steps everyday.
I hope you enjoyed my post :) Next stop. Savouries!
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