The Cupcake Thread!

[elsie]

Wow, all the cupcake pics look delicious and tempting!

For anyone without a KitchenAid (like moi), I just wanted to recommend a recipe I made tonight that works well with just a hand mixer.

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

These were soooo yummy and moist!

 

[FrekeChild]

Dixie, if you wouldn''t mind posting the recipe you used, I''d be happy to help. You''re right it''s most certainly a consistency problem. Changing the tips won''t do much if it just oozes out of them anyway.

 

[pennquaker09]

Date: 9/12/2008 4:03:08 PM
Author: dixie94
Hi,

Here are the recent cupcakes I''ve made. The first were lemon with lemon icing. I don''t know if the tip was too small or what the problem was but I couldn''t get the icing to stay higher and each level on top of the other. Maybe the icing is too soft but I already added more powdered sugar.

How much liquid did you use?

 

[akw94]

Date: 9/15/2008 12:27:34 AM
Author: FrekeChild
Dixie, if you wouldn''t mind posting the recipe you used, I''d be happy to help. You''re right it''s most certainly a consistency problem. Changing the tips won''t do much if it just oozes out of them anyway.

No, I don''t mind posting it. It came from a book anyway so it''s not my original creation. I will post when I get home later today.

Thank you!

 

[akw94]

Date: 9/15/2008 3:14:16 AM
Author: pennquaker09

Date: 9/12/2008 4:03:08 PM

Author: dixie94

Hi,


Here are the recent cupcakes I''ve made. The first were lemon with lemon icing. I don''t know if the tip was too small or what the problem was but I couldn''t get the icing to stay higher and each level on top of the other. Maybe the icing is too soft but I already added more powdered sugar.

How much liquid did you use?

Pennquaker,
Thanks for responding! I will post the recipe later today.

 

[akw94]

Date: 9/13/2008 6:07:34 PM
Author: Skippy123

Date: 9/12/2008 4:05:30 PM

Author: dixie94

These are strawberry w/strawberry icing. The icing on these wouldn''t stay up at all and I even bought bigger tips. It was definitely a consistency problem. I did add extra sugar but I didn''t want to add too much b/c they would be too sweet. I did add strawberries to the icing so I imagine the juice was the problem. Any ideas on what to do to make the icing stand higher for either recipe or any other recipe? I''m using a fairly simple recipe for icing: butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and whatever else to flavor the icing to match the cupcake.


Thanks!

Yum, Dixie, those look delicious!

Thanks Skippy! They were fun to decorate.

 

[Mara]

dixie they look yummy!!! as for your consistency question, def too much liquid. whenever i use real berries or jam it always loosens up my frosting too much. you have to add a ton of powdered sugar to get the right consistency for amazing piping...unfort. i don't like super sweet frosting but funny, a LOT of people do...i have never had anyone complain amazingly! buttercream is easier for me to get to stiff consistency than cream cheese but i like taste of cc frosting better!

here's a recent picture of some red velvets i did for an anniversary!

 

[Mara]

and some mini's with pink hearts, i think these were for Greg's 40th bday party...can't recall! it's been a while since i have posted, sorry, just so busy with stuff going on..work, travel, cupcakes!!

i made some dulce de leche coconut cupcakes for a friend's party this wkd....i am not a dulce fan but man these were good with the coconut. quite a lot of work though!!! i made some chai spice cupcakes last nite i will frost today for a dinner i am going to tonite. experimental!

hope everyone is still baking if not posting, like me!

 

[steph72276]

Mara, those look amazing. I have a couple of questions....first, what is your method for piping your cupcakes? Do you start on the inside or outside...they look perfect! Also, did you purchase the hearts or do you cut them out of fondant? Hope you are doing well!

 

[FrekeChild]

She pipes from the outside in.

 

[asscher_girl]

MARA!!!!! And other SOUTH BAY PSERS................... Did you know that Sprinkles (www.sprinklescupcakes.com) is now open at Stanford? I had a meeting in that area yesterday so I drove by in the morning to pick up a few for the office, and the line was at least 50 deep! I''ll try again in a few days

BTW Mara, hubby and I are moving back down to SJ in 2 months! YAY! How are you two doing?

 

[peonygirl]

Hi gals! I just wanted to show you the last cake I made for my Wilton 1 decorating course. I''m pretty happy with how it turned out, except the writing is a little crooked. It was marble cake w/ dark chocolate frosting and raspberry jam filling. Now that I''ve taken a cake decorating class, I''d like to turn my attention to cupcakes since it''s easier to make a smallish batch, plus they don''t seem quite as labor-intensive as a multi-layer cake.

Hope everyone is doing well!

 

[dragonfly411]

OMG MARA THOSE LOOK SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD

 

[jas]

Date: 9/25/2008 1:51:13 AM
Author: peonygirl
Hi gals! I just wanted to show you the last cake I made for my Wilton 1 decorating course. I''m pretty happy with how it turned out, except the writing is a little crooked. It was marble cake w/ dark chocolate frosting and raspberry jam filling. Now that I''ve taken a cake decorating class, I''d like to turn my attention to cupcakes since it''s easier to make a smallish batch, plus they don''t seem quite as labor-intensive as a multi-layer cake.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Wow! Save me a piece, please (unless Jason would mind

). Looks yummy!

 

[akw94]

Date: 9/24/2008 7:40:36 PM
Author: Mara
dixie they look yummy!!! as for your consistency question, def too much liquid. whenever i use real berries or jam it always loosens up my frosting too much. you have to add a ton of powdered sugar to get the right consistency for amazing piping...unfort. i don''t like super sweet frosting but funny, a LOT of people do...i have never had anyone complain amazingly! buttercream is easier for me to get to stiff consistency than cream cheese but i like taste of cc frosting better!


here''s a recent picture of some red velvets i did for an anniversary!

Peonygirl, your cake looks great! I would like to take a class but there are none in my area.
Thanks Mara! Your cupcakes look great! Is the buttercream frosting easy to make? Does anyone have a simple recipe? I''m sure there''s one on the thread but I am too lazy to search for it at the moment.
Here''s the recipe I used:

Lemon:
Mix 3T butter and 3 oz cream cheese (I used low fat) in mixing bowl on low speed for 30 sec.
Add 1 1/2 c confec. sugar, 1 t lemon zest and 1 t lemon juice.
Blend on low until sugar is incorporated, 1 minute.
Increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute longer.
Add up to 1/2 c more sugar if necessary for consistency.

Strawberry:
Mix 4T butter and 8 oz low fat cream cheese in mixing bowl on low speed for 30 sec.
Add 3 c confec. sugar and 1/2 c mashed, drained fresh strawberries.
Blend on low until sugar is incorporated, 1 minute.
Increase speed to medium and beat until fluffy, 30-45 sec. longer.
Add up to 1/2 c more sugar if necessary for consistency.

For both, I tried letting the icing sit in the fridge for a bit, hoping to harden it. I think it helped w/the lemon a little but not w/the strawberry. I did add extra sugar for both but as you can see w/the pics, it didn''t help much.

I''d love advice on what I did wrong or what else I can try! Thanks!

 

[FrekeChild]

Just from a glance, I''d say that using low fat cream cheese could be a problem. Most fats solidify in cool temperatures, and the fat that''s taken out of the cream cheese is probably replaced with more liquid. Which is probably why they didn''t change when it went into the fridge. Another issue is that sugar actually absorbs liquid and can make icings looser instead of stiffer up to a point.

I''ll think about it some more, but I have to go mix some cake batter for cuppies to take to a party tonight for the moment.....

 

[Mara]

i agree that the lf cream cheese might be making things more loose. but i really try to watch the liquid i use in my frostings, just a little too much can make you have to add a ton more sugar (thats how you stiffen it up) and i hate super sweet frostings. sometimes i use extracts or flavorings like espresso instead of the milk or whatever it calls for...just remember any liquid you add has to be soaked up by sugar basically. for a lemon frosting, using a curd might be better than juice because it''s not as liquidy. for strawberry frosting i use jam not strawberries, they are too watery.

on my piping method, the top ones were outside in but the 2nd ones were inside out...honestly it''s hard to describe piping method, you just have to practice practice practice. even moving your wrist a tiny one way or another or moving hand vs wrist will give you a totally diff look.

i made an amazing banana caramel spice cupcake last nite as an experiment....i am going to make them again for a coworker who loves banana''s bday this week!

oh and asscher, yep sprinkles is open but i''m not in a rush, i have not really heard positive things about their cupcakes. they were on eye on the bay and put their sberry cupcake on the tv and i think mine is better hahaha. i did make a special trip to PA to go to the newly opened Kara''s this week though...i love a few of their cupcakes big time...but some are just meh. check out yelp, there are a ton of reviews already for sprinkles and Kara''s!

 

[Mara]

oh and peony the cake looks great..!!! those roses look amazing, mine were NOWHERE near roses during my class. they looked more like primroses or something hahaa.

 

[FrekeChild]

I don''t even think I want to get into the strawberry recipe. I''d probably buy frozen strawberries, defrost, blend them to liquid, strain, and then put them in a pot to reduce on low until there is a lot less liquid involved. But that takes some practice and know-how to get it to the consistency you''d want. So, onto the lemon recipe.

Question:

Is the 1 *t* lemon zest/juice a teaspoon or tablespoon?

I ask because I''ve always abbreviated tablespoon with *T* or *tbl*, and teaspoon with *t* or *tsp*.

I did some research on low fat cream cheese, and I found out that yes, it''s got less fat and that is replaced with liquid, so that certainly isn''t helping the icing''s texture.

I don''t agree with Mara on using lemon curd instead of lemon juice. One of the main ingredients of lemon curd should be egg yolks, and I''m always cautious about using egg products that I haven''t personally cooked in icings. Plus, I don''t trust lemon curd from a jar because it''s horribly perishable when fresh-made, and I don''t want to know what they do to it to keep in a jar. Also, it''s not going to give you the tartness that pure juice will because it''s been "watered" down with sugar, egg yolks and butter (possibly gelatin and other ingredients, depending on what company makes it).

So if it''s a teaspoon of juice and teaspoon of zest, I''d increase the zest and decrease the juice to be 1/2 tsp of juice or lemon juice concentrate. If it''s tablespoons we''re talking about, then this could potentially be your problem. The zest is what is going to give you the lemon flavor, but it doesn''t give you tartness.

Really, I''d totally scrap that recipe and make up my own. Here is a different one that has to go by weight:

2 parts cream cheese (ex: 8oz)
1 part butter (4oz)
1 part powdered sugar (4oz)
flavorings to taste

Blend cream cheese until smooth, add room temp butter in stages, and blend well. Add sugar until fully incorporated and beat it until it''s light and fluffy. Add flavorings and blend in.

One thing you can do if you want to use low fat cream cheese is to get some cheesecloth at a local culinary supply store (it''s expensive, but reusable if you rinse it out well and let it dry) wrap the LF cheese in it with two layers of the cloth around it--like a bag, and suspend it over a bowl in the fridge overnight. There should be some liquid in the bowl in the morning, and you can squeeze the cheese while it''s in the bag, to get even more excess liquid out of it.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Here are the cuppies I made yesterday: brown sugar cake with caramel Italian buttercream and hard caramel crystals on top.

 

[Jelly]

Yum, this cupcake thread is so inspiring! I made some box cupcakes with caramel icing- also straight from the store-bought carton....they were good but I''d much rather find a good homemade caramel frosting recipe.

Mara, I went to Kara''s cupcakes last year. Oh man, that was the best cupcake I''ve had in my life! How do they get the frosting so light and creamy?

 

[puffy]

just wanted to say that i made a trip to stanford to go to sprinkles, and of course since it is newly opened and a sunday, the line was CRAZY, so i decided not to wait in line and instead go to Kara''s. i LOVE LOVE LOVE Kara''s!! so, i''m kinda glad that the line for sprinkles was too long.

 

[akw94]

Mara and Freke, thanks for your thoughts on the recipes! I will try regular cream cheese from now on. The book said you can substitute so I figured, why not. But now I see why not. Also, I wasn''t very careful w/my measuring of liquids. I will have to do better at that. I didn''t realize it was so important!

Mara, those Banana Spice cupcakes sounds sooo good!

Freke, yes, I use t for teaspoon and T for tablespoon. I will try your improved recipe. Also, I realized that I forgot to sift the confec. sugar. Could this be a problem too?
Your cupcakes look heavenly!!

I am thinking of making cupcakes tomorrow for a Bake Sale. Given that it''s for the kids, I was thinking of making a recipe called Tie-Dye Cupcakes. Here''s the recipe. Can you tell me what you think, especially of the icing since I''m really trying to get a consistency that works for piping? I wonder if I should try a buttercream frosting instead, hmmm...

Cupcake:
1 pkg yellow cake mix (yes, these recipes do use the boxed cake mix but I am really happy w/their taste so far)
1 pkg vanilla instant pudding mix
1 c whole milk
1/2 c veg oil
4 lg eggs
1 t vanilla extract
3/4 c mini M&M''s

Blend mixes, milk, oil, eggs and vanilla on low 30 sec, on medium 2 min. Place 16 mini-m&m''s on top of each, mix the colors

Icing:
4 T butter, room temp.
3 c confec sugar
3 to 4 T milk
1/2 c mini m&m''s

Blend butter on low until creamy. Add sugar and 3 T of milk. Blend on low until ingred. come together, use another 1 T of milk if necessary. Increase to med-high and beat in air to make frosting fluffy (um, what does it mean to beat in the air?), 30 sec. Fold in m&m''s and rest for 1 hr in warm place, colors will streak through, top w/mini''s if you want.

Anything you''d change? I really want some frosting that will work for the piping. I''m so ready to try the technique!

 

[neatfreak]

Dixie: Measuring liquids is SUPER important until you know what you are doing. And I def. recommend a buttercream icing for piping consistency, the one you've listed seems to be that it might turn out a little liquidy because it doesn't have enough butter to compensate and make it a bit thicker, but I'm not an expert like Freke, so it might be fine.

And beating in air doesn't mean beating in THE air. It means literally to beat air into the frosting so that it becomes fluffy. Air is what makes it fluffy. You basically just want to use a whisk/beater attachment on your mixer to beat in as much air as possible, thus making it fluffy.

Make sense?

And for basic buttercream (which you can certainly mix in M&M's to!) I like this recipe. Works everytime.



http://www.kitchenlink.com/cookbooks/2005/0743246616_4.html

 

[akw94]

Neatfreak, thanks a lot! I think I''ll try the recipe you posted. I don''t have a whisk/beater attachment for my mixer since I just use a hand mixer. I wonder if that''s part of my problem too. Turns out I don''t have to make the cupcakes until Friday so I have a little more time.
Any other thoughts/suggestions on the recipe?
The other thing I have a problem w/is using the pastry bag. The icing always comes right out of it as I''m trying to fill the bag. I hope that won''t continue to happen if the consistency is thicker but it''s a huge mess!

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the tips and ideas!

 

[FrekeChild]

When you''re using a pastry bag it''s important to twist the open part of it closed to minimize leakage. Unfortunately I learned that the hard way with 300 degree caramel. I still have the scar if you''d like to see.

I''m sorry I haven''t been back until today. I''ve had a lot of stuff going on, and I only visit the Family subforum for the cupcake thread, so I don''t wander over here too much.

Sifting the powdered sugar might help a little bit, but in the end won''t make much of a difference. I usually skip it unless my powdered sugar is super lumpy.

I''d try out the recipe that neatfreak posted. Both that one and the one you posted are very similar, so they will probably both work out fine, but neatfreaks is quite a bit larger and because of having more butter in it, it will firm up better. I might try that one out as well for days when I''m too lazy to whip up some Italian buttercream. I''d hold back as much liquid as possible so you can see the consistency before it''s too late and you have to add sugar to get it stiffer. Add only 1 T at a time so you can see what it''s like.

Good luck! If you have any more questions I''ll come back and check this thread again tonight!

 

[ladypirate]

Date: 10/1/2008 8:41:54 AM
Author: dixie94
The other thing I have a problem w/is using the pastry bag. The icing always comes right out of it as I''m trying to fill the bag. I hope that won''t continue to happen if the consistency is thicker but it''s a huge mess!

That won''t happen if you''re using thicker icing. Another thing I find helpful is putting a dollop of frosting onto a square of saran wrap and making a "sausage out of it". clip one end off and put it directly into the pastry bag. It really cuts down on the mess of filling the bag, and you can just put in another one when you run out.

 

[akw94]

Freke, thanks! Funny, I never thought of twisting the open part of the pastry bag closed first. You''d think that would''ve been a fairly obvious solution but oh well... That scar does not sound good!
Glad to hear I don''t really need to sift the powd. sugar since I don''t have a sifter. I am planning to try Neatfreak''s recipe when I finally make this next batch of cupcakes. I can''t make Friday''s bake sale but I''m hoping to bake for one next week. I will also try adding the liquid slowly, never thought of that either.

Ladypirate, thanks! This may be a silly question but when you add the saran wrap sausage in the pastry bag, does the saran wrap ever come out when piping? I do like that idea though. I''m hoping that due to the consistency, it won''t squeeze out (as you said), or if I twist the bag (as Freke suggested), I won''t make a huge mess. I think my next baking experience will be a lot of trial and error, now that I have a little more knowledge to go with the recipe... hopefully less error but we''ll see!
Thanks again and can''t wait to post my success!

 

[Mara]

lol Jelly...I really don't like Kara's frosting (buttercreams)...it's WAY too buttery for me...it tastes like fluffy butter...yak! I tend to scrape it off. I do love their super dark choco ganache frostings, yum!

re: using curd in the frostings...I use jarred and haha Freke I never even thought about how it'd be preserved, maybe all the sugar?! And I have had VERY tart curd before... in the frosting it can add just the right amount of tart without too much 'liquid' going on. You should experiment a bit dixie, that's the fun part...I love playing around!

And yah I was going to say...I don't sift conf sugar for frostings. I am so lazy now I don't even cream butter first then add sugar etc... (for frostings).. I just dump butter, sugar, liquid, extract into the bowl and whip it all together...its kinda funny. But it saves time, and it works!!

One way to tell if frosting is ready to pipe is put it in the bag with the tip hahaha...if it runs through yah its not ready to pipe! Freke random Q but once someone has added liquid to a frosting and made it too thin, is there any other way to thicken it than with conf sugar? I don't think so but a pal asked me this week and I figured I'd ask since I'm here ...hehee.

Tonite I made coconut cupcakes with white chocolate raspberry buttercream tinted pink for a breast cancer benefit tomorrow night... yum!! Oh and I made some ridiculously good Chai cupcakes last week...with spice frosting... they were one of my favorites!

 

[FrekeChild]

Date: 10/3/2008 1:10:51 AM
Author: Mara
Freke random Q but once someone has added liquid to a frosting and made it too thin, is there any other way to thicken it than with conf sugar? I don't think so but a pal asked me this week and I figured I'd ask since I'm here ...hehee.

Tonite I made coconut cupcakes with white chocolate raspberry buttercream tinted pink for a breast cancer benefit tomorrow night... yum!! Oh and I made some ridiculously good Chai cupcakes last week...with spice frosting... they were one of my favorites!

Those cuppies sound delicious Mara! (Now where are our pics?!)

If I had added liquid to an icing and it got too runny (this never happens in NM, I'm always adding liquids to recipes!) I'd probably make up a smaller batch of the recipe (minus the liquid) and add it in. It really depends on what kind of recipe it is though. With the buttercreams dixie posted, that's probably what I'd do. And I'd say it depends on just how runny it is. Some people would add flour to try to thicken it, but I find that raw flour taste to be disgusting, so I'd never do that. Hmmm...I'll have to think about it some more. Do you know what kind of recipe she's wondering about?

Something to do as a preventative would be to make a sort of bechamel sauce and use that instead of plain liquid. Melt 1 part butter and cook 2 parts flour in it until it's blond, and then add some milk to it, but that's a bit complicated. Another might be to make a kind of slurry, with heated milk and cornstarch and cold milk, but that's also pretty complex and would probably be more suitable for a large batch of something. But both of those ways would add moisture without running the risk of turning the frosting into the texture of really loose whipped cream.

Blah. Anyway, let me know what kind of recipe, and I'll think about it some more.

Oh, and I made rum cake last night (the baking part) and today (the soaking part). Yummy-tastic-ness!

ETA: that little notebook in the top part of the top pic is where I keep all of my secret recipes...

 

[hibiscus]

you guys are making me hungry. I''m about to serve dinner and reading the thread.. Look at all those cupcakes, oh my goodness. Salivating! (in progress!) That''s it, I''m making cupcakes tomorrow instead of blueberry muffins.

~I wish I was a cupcake, I''ll be adorn with cream and chocolates and everything that everyone loves!~