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Over the last couple weeks I’ve been dabbling in a bit of baking. This is something completely new to me so I’m definitely in the learning phase. But I’ve found two great cupcake recipes for chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. The other ones I’ve tried just don’t compare. The vanilla recipe comes from a famous bakery in New York, Magnolia’s. This recipe was very easy to follow and the cupcakes were moist and delicious! You can find it here. The chocolate buttermilk recipe I found in the book, The Artful Cupcake, but you can also find it here…you can add the ganache if you’re feeling sassy but it’s not necessary.
Here are some good tips for first time cupcake bakers:
1. Follow the recipe! With baking it’s best to stick to the recipe and don’t try to get all creative unless you’re experienced. If the recipe calls for a teaspoon of baking soda, just obey! And, if the recipe calls for random ingredients that you don’t have or you don’t know how to prepare, find another recipe! Also, avoid doing substitutions. I’ve been reading a lot of reviews of recipies and often times a recipe will have a ton of great reviews and the few bad reviews will say something like ”I substituted this for that and that for this” which just seems so silly to me. It’s not the recipe’s fault that your cupcakes turned out less than perfect!
2. Don’t overfill your pans. If the recipe says to fill halfway, fill halfway. They can overflow very easily.
3. Do not disturb. Once you put your cupcakes in the oven, don’t open it until the minimum amount of time the recipe calls for has been reached. If you do, you can fall victim to the dreaded cupcake dimple…just like you don’t want them on your thighs, you don’t want them on your cupcake.
4. Use good ingredients. Don’t buy the vanilla substitute from Wal-Mart and stuff like that (voice of experience here- I’m a bargain shopper what can I say?). Quality ingredients make a big difference.
4. Store in airtight containers! Like most bake goods, your cupcakes will stay moist and yummy if you store them in airtight containers. But make sure they cool completely before storing. If you can avoid refrigerating that’s best because refrigeration can dry them out.
