Cupcake Baking And Frosting Basics

First, a cupcake is nothing more – and certainly nothing less – than a miniature cake. This means that you can convert any cake recipe into a cupcake recipe, making several miniature cakes of all your favorite recipes. As with a regular size cake, using a box of store-bought cake mix will facilitate the baking process and cut down on the time you need to make the cupcakes. A box of cake mix will give you enough batter to bake 24 to 30 regular size cupcakes. If you enjoy baking, however, you’ll want to make your own cupcake batter. To do so you will need:

Ingredients (Basic Cupcake Recipe)

21/4 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

11/3 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup shortening

Floor coloring (optional)

Of course, if you plan to bake anything other than a basic cupcake, you will need to add other ingredients. Adding 1/4 cup of cocoa to the above basic cupcake ingredients will give you chocolate cupcakes, for example. You can flavor your basic cupcake mixture to taste using ingredients such as spices (nutmeg, ground ginger, cinnamon …), fruit (lime, shredded coconut, pureed bananas, raisins …) and nuts (almonds, pecans etc). In fact, you can add anything to your basic cupcake mixture as long as the result is a blend of flavors that you like. Alternatively, simply use your favorite cake recipes to make your cupcakes.

To make cupcakes, you will need a cupcake pan and cupcake liners, a mixer, a large bowl, and, of course, an oven.

Begin by preheating the oven. Add flour, baking powder, salt and sugar, milk, vanilla and shortening into the large bowl and beat for a minute. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Mix thoroughly for around 3 minutes or until a smooth consistency is achieved.

Line the pan with the cupcake liners then fill 2/3 of them with the mixture. An ice-cream scoop will help you get precise amounts of mixture in the pan. For regular-size pans, use a scoop that measures 1/3 so you only put two. As they rise, they will occupy the remaining space to form a mound. Place the pan in the oven and let it bake for around 23 minutes. If you need to make more but do not have another cupcake pan, store the mixture in the refrigerator as the first batch of cupcakes cooks. When ready, remove, cool the pan for about 15 minutes then add the remaining mixture. On average, a pan makes 12 cupcakes at a time.

Allow the cupcakes time to cool completely before you can frost them. In the meantime, work on the cupcake frosting recipes you are going to use. There are four basic types of frosting: butter cream, chocolate butter cream, dark chocolate ganache and lemon cream cheese frosting. For butter cream frosting, you will need to mix150g soft butter and 12g confectioner’s sugar. Add 1 tsp vanilla and 2 tsp hot water or milk to make a creamy mix. To make chocolate butter frosting, substitute the vanilla with 2 tsp cocoa.

To make chocolate ganache, you need 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 3 tbsp butter and 3 tbsp brandy (optional). Melt the first 3 ingredients and mix them all together. Pour in the brandy if using. Allow mixture to cool before spreading generously over your cupcakes. Lemon cheese frosting will give a distinct taste to your cupcakes. For this, sift 30g softened butter, 80g softened cream cheese, 11/2 cup confectioner’s sugar and 1 tsp grated lemon rind. Mix the ingredients and beat them till they are creamy, then spread them on the cupcakes. Use either a frosting/pastry spatula or pastry bag to evenly spread either type of frosting over the cupcakes.

Anya is not a professional chef, but really loves to bake as well as accentuate cakes Her posts incorporate cupcake recipes which are as simple to generate as they are yummy, as well as precious cupcake frosting tips for every season as well as event.

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