The Cupcake Thread!

[marcy]

Another view.

 

[Dandi]

Camille they look gorgeous!! I love the idea of marscapone on RVs, I''ll have to try that!!

Marcyc, how clever are you?!?! That cake is sooooo beautiful!!

 

[neatfreak]

Re: Red Velvet coloring I often make the red velvet recipe and omit the food coloring all together. For some people certainly the novelty of the cake is in the food coloring-but I really like the delicate taste of them so I just make them without the red! People still love them.

 

[Jas12]

Camille--those look fantastic!!! Would love to try one with the cream in the center

Marcy--well done! That cake is so cute!

Neat--RV without the color? Do you still call them RV? I wuould just do a vanilla cuppie with the cream cheese frosting if that were the case. I think the *only* real thing i like about the RV is the contrast b/w the red cake and the white icing. I''ll have to try a batch one day without the color to see how much the taste of the cake changes.

 

[lili]

whoa marcy--
that cake looks like a pretty present!
you did a great job.

 

[Skippy123]

beautiful cake Marcy, great job!

Camille, adorable cuppies!

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 7/19/2009 12:02:26 PM
Author: Jas12
Neat--RV without the color? Do you still call them RV? I wuould just do a vanilla cuppie with the cream cheese frosting if that were the case. I think the *only* real thing i like about the RV is the contrast b/w the red cake and the white icing. I''ll have to try a batch one day without the color to see how much the taste of the cake changes.

Well considering that the dye *should* be taste free (at least mine is) it doesn''t change the flavor at all...

When I make them for others I use the food coloring. But if I am just making them for myself for something or for a fun project I omit the dye. Don''t like to eat it if I don''t have to!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

marcy, that is SOOOO cute! You are getting good girl!

 

[marcy]

Thank you DandiAndi, Jas, Lili, Skippy and Tacori.

 

[Mara]

there is no taste red coloring from wilton but i don''t use that, i use regular red food coloring because i can get a huge container of it at a local store for like $3.00 and the no taste stuff from wilton is more expensive, like $2.00 for a TINY container that only makes a few batches.

if you use no-taste then you prob will not notice a diff (and yes then basically it''s just a barely-vanilla buttermilk cuppie) but if you use regular food coloring, you will notice a big diff re: bitter i would imagine...the food coloring makes them tatse more bitter so you have to add more sugar to counteract.

 

[pennquaker09]

When you use the Wilton food colors, you have to use both, No Taste Red and Red Red or Christmas Red in order to get a vivid red. Sometimes, it''s better to start with a pink base and then add one of your reds.

Personally, I like Americolor Soft gel paste because they work much better and last a lot longer.

 

[tlh]

marcy - I LOVE THAT CAKE!

 

[Camille]

Thanks for your kind comments Dandi & Skipi

Marci your cake is gorgeous!!!!

Ditto Mara can't imagine buying $maller containers for large production, reg Red wouldn't work for me bc I always cut 1/4-1/2 C of sugar in new recipes. [Martha's always 1/2C]
True Penn, not all reds are equal, have used 1/4 ts granadine as color base for fresh strawberry/cherry as color base. I think we used 1 ts of Wilton's for the RV [still too much]

not making RV's anytime soon

they're yummy but I must say that the traditional ones from aunt Vivi [flour frosting] are great!

Thank you Jas: my kids love cupppie centers cream or fruit:

 

[Dandi]

Hehe SDL!! You''re so adorable

I''m whipping up 150 cuppies next Friday for an engagement party. EEK!

 

[Mara]

SDL just look at your butt in the mirror and remind yourself you like it that way.

That is a good reason NOT to make cuppies!

 

[vip0802]

Date: 7/24/2009 3:25:40 PM
Author: Mara
SDL just look at your butt in the mirror and remind yourself you like it that way.


That is a good reason NOT to make cuppies!

hahahahahaha! good one Mara!

although, mine doesn''t look that bad from the side....

 

[vip0802]

Date: 7/24/2009 7:28:06 AM
Author: DandiAndi

I''m whipping up 150 cuppies next Friday for an engagement party. EEK!

good luck and we want to see pictures when you''re done! what flavors are you going to do?

 

[vip0802]

if anyone has experience with making MM fondant, maybe you can help me out. marcyc? Camille?

my first batch that i made had a great consistency however, i had tiny hard clumps of powdered sugar throughout. i even double sifted the sugar beforehand, so i was thinking that maybe my kneading skills weren''t so great. i ended up having to throw it away since i really couldn''t use it for anything.

for my second batch, i used my Kitchen Aid mixer to knead it for me instead, but i ended up having to use A LOT more powdered sugar than the recipe called for. in the end, there weren''t any sugar clumps but it tasted WAY too sweet, and i felt like it was still a little too moist/sticky for my liking. since i was in a time crunch, i still used it and it turned out great but i''m not sure what i''m doing wrong here. any suggestions?

here''s the covered cake i made, but i''m still a little upset the fondant was too sweet. most people picked it off except for the kids.

 

[shimmer]

I have a question I hope you all can help me out with. I am attempting to start my own cupcake business (there are none in my city!) and am testing out recipes. I have the Martha Stewart Cupcakes book and last night made the Marble Cupcakes with Swiss Chocolate Meringue Buttercream. They look beautiful, however the cupcakes are so dry! I thought letting them sit overnight covered would help but it hasn't. Also, I was not impressed with the frosting, neither was hubby. This was very surprising because we both dislike the 'icing sugar' taste (and sweetness!) in a regular buttercream, but were not impressed with this enough to switch over. Maybe it has to do with the MS recipes, has anyone else tried them out?

I was wondering if I could take my regular vanilla recipe and add cocoa or melted chocolate to part of the recipe to make the marble? I feel silly asking such a simple question, but I was just wondering if anyone has done this and if it has turned out? I'm going to attempt it today anyway, so I'll let you know how it goes! Thanks!

ETA: vip, your cake is amazing! I love Wall-E!

 

[shimmer]

And the dry marbles...

 

[shimmer]

I found some other pics...first up a variety of cuppies for my niece''s 5th bday

 

[shimmer]

next, a reese pb cake

 

[shimmer]

That was still during decorating! I finished with swirls of chocolate sauce but it didn''t look so pretty so I won''t post

This is a carrot cake I made last weekend...

 

[shimmer]

Date: 7/26/2009 2:50:24 PM
Author: shimmer
That was still during decorating! I finished with swirls of chocolate sauce but it didn''t look so pretty so I won''t post

This is a carrot cake I made last weekend...

...

 

[shimmer]

ok this is so not working...ETA:yay it did!

 

[icekid]

Date: 7/24/2009 3:25:40 PM
Author: Mara
SDL just look at your butt in the mirror and remind yourself you like it that way.


That is a good reason NOT to make cuppies!

Soooo true, Mara!

shimmer- It looks like you have been busy! Gorgeous cakes

 

[Camille]

Date: 7/26/2009 3:06:08 AM
Author: vip0802
if anyone has experience with making MM fondant, maybe you can help me out. marcyc? Camille?

my first batch that i made had a great consistency however, i had tiny hard clumps of powdered sugar throughout. i even double sifted the sugar beforehand, so i was thinking that maybe my kneading skills weren''t so great. i ended up having to throw it away since i really couldn''t use it for anything.

for my second batch, i used my Kitchen Aid mixer to knead it for me instead, but i ended up having to use A LOT more powdered sugar than the recipe called for. in the end, there weren''t any sugar clumps but it tasted WAY too sweet, and i felt like it was still a little too moist/sticky for my liking. since i was in a time crunch, i still used it and it turned out great but i''m not sure what i''m doing wrong here. any suggestions?

here''s the covered cake i made, but i''m still a little upset the fondant was too sweet. most people picked it off except for the kids.

O*m*g Vip, just gorgous

I hear ya'' fondant by nature is not liked by many. MM has a better chance to be eaten but it can be tricky. Def no expert but weather can help the Psugar clump like that, not surprised

sorry you had to get rid of it.
I like to use only half of Psugar and use the rest only as needed. Working by hand will help you ''stop'' the need to add more, once you get the ''feel'' of it, it will be predictable/breeze in your KA. Many suggest kneading it in Psugar I use cornstarch.
Here''s an inexpensive version to play with, I''ve used for years.

2 Ts butter [Crisco OK I don''t]
8 oz white MM
1 Tb water [a tiny more in winter]
1 Ts pure extract [your choice]
1 Lb Powdered Sugar, sifted [aprox 4 C] *most of the time I only need 3Cups*
Cornstarch for kneading

* Grease a medium size micro safe bowl with the butter, add MM, water and extract, microwave a few seconds [@50% power] stir, once melted, add HALF of the sugar, mix with your ''greased'' spoon. Add a little more Psugar until mixture comes together [It doesn''t take long] remember that you don''t have to use all of the sugar.
Place the mixture onto a greased and cornstarch dusted board and knead with greased hands, only dust the board as needed to keep it from sticking and continue kneading until it''s smooth. [4 minutes max] wrap/rest overnight.

- I like to use surgical gloves throughout the kneading, also add coloring right before adding the Psugar, to avoid another ''kneading'' step.
Many friends micro cold fondant to start rolling, it can take from 5 sec to full minute, depending on your micro, I like to leave mine out. In case you have ''gone'' longer than a minute and it looks goooey, don''t trash it, place it in a bowl sitr and micro some a few more seconds to dip your cupcake tops for a gorgeous satin look!
Don''t be upset, is all sweet!!!!!

 

[Dandi]

vip, wow!! You are AMAZING!!!
I''m making Red Velvet, Chocolate and Vanilla Strawberry, all tried and approved by the bride-to-be, thank goodness!!

shimmer, they all look incredible!! DO keep us posted on your progress re. starting a business, you have some SERIOUS talent that the world needs to see! (and taste!!

)

 

[Camille]

Ditto, great Job Shimmer

first thing that comes to mind overmixing/ovebaking but w/o a recipe it''s hard to tell, I''m sure you''ll get some great hints from wonderful bakers in this thread.....good Luck!

 

[Loves Vintage]

Shimmer,

Your carrot cake looks A-MAZING!! I could really go for a piece right now with a tall glass of milk!!