Hummingbird Bakery cupcakes help

skinnygirlnot

Hi. Does anybody have The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook?

I have tried to make the vanilla cupcakes several times and have stuck to the recipe rigidly but they come out dense, sticky and taste eggy. They don't rise vey well either (I don't think there is enough for 12 cakes but again I wanted to stick the recipe).

What I don't understand is although the book and recipes have loads of bad reviews on the Amazon site there are far more good reviews with many saying their cakes have come out really well because they stuck to the recipe!!

If anybody has made them please tell me what I'm doing wrong because I really want to make some to take to a Christmas party

frivolous_fay

I avoided the book because of the Amazon reviews.... no smoke without fire, so they say... And ok, lots of people said they are great, but there were also an awful lot of people who said the recipes didn't work - they can't ALL have been not following the recipes? (a quarter of the reviewers rated it 2/5 or lower... about 38 people)

Maybe some recipes are good and others rubbish. You could try posting the ingredients?

I really liked the look of the book too... but have picked a different one for a Christmas present.
Have you looked at the corrections on their website?
http://hummingbirdbakery.com/bakingtips.pdf

skinnygirlnot

Thanks Fay. I have had a look at that site but there's no corrections for the vanilla cupcake recipe.

Am I allowed to post it (copyright)?

Anyway I bought the book from the Book People so it was only £4...but still.

I reckon all the positive reviews were written by people hired by the bakery lol because I cannot for the life of me understand how following a recipe exactly produces two extreme results

save-a-holic

skinnygirlnot wrote: »

Hi. Does anybody have The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook?

I have tried to make the vanilla cupcakes several times and have stuck to the recipe rigidly but they come out dense, sticky and taste eggy. They don't rise vey well either (I don't think there is enough for 12 cakes but again I wanted to stick the recipe).


If anybody has made them please tell me what I'm doing wrong because I really want to make some to take to a Christmas party

I've made quite a few recipes from the Hummingbird book and they all worked out wonderfully. These recipes are now my staple cupcake/muffin/cake recipes.

I follow the recipe 'to the letter' and it has worked every time for me. My step-daughter (17) also tried this recipe and made a HUGE batch (around 72 cakes) - all perfect.

The only alteration I had to make was to the frosting - the amount that the recipe made was far too much so I half the frosting recipe and that makes just the right amount to cover the batch of cupcakes.

Could you tell me specifically what ingredients you used (ie. brands) to see if/where they differ from mine.

Marie :question:

Raspberry_Swirl

I have a copy of the vanilla recipe from a friend and have made them with success. I found the recipe slightly different to make than my usual one but the cupcakes turned out fine. My friend makes lots of recipes from the book and all have been lovely. The carrot cake is now a staple recipe in our office when it's someone's birthday!

llac

I have the book too ( £4 book people as well) and my cupcakes turned out fine although I do agree about there not being enough mixture for 12 if you do what you are told! I used muffin cases the first time as stated in the front and only got 9 so next time I just used ordinary cases and they were fine.

skinnygirlnot

Thanks for your replies.
I used tesco free range eggs, anchor butter, tesco flour, tesco baking powder, milkman's milk!,tesco sugar.

I'll have another try.

2giraffes

I got this book for Christmas and I'm not that impressed with the results! Definitely doesn't make enough for 12 cupcakes, I usually get 8 or 9 out of it. So far I've made cupcake recipes, one as a large cake, and they do taste ok, but I've definitely made better! If anyone else has any tips I'd be happy for some. Has anyone made the brownie with raspberry cream and cheesecake? That's next on my list!

miss_cupcake_2

It seems to be a bit hit-or-miss with the recipes in this book, people either love them or hate them, but I must say that I've tried quite a few recipes from the book (hence the username!) and have never had any problems. I highly recommend the strawberry cheesecake cupcakes, they got rave reviews from everyone when I made them for a group of friends. I haven't had the chance to try it out yet, but I recieved the Primrose cupcake book for Xmas and I'm interested to see how their recipes compare.

angeltreats

miss_cupcake wrote: »

I haven't had the chance to try it out yet, but I recieved the Primrose cupcake book for Xmas and I'm interested to see how their recipes compare.

Have you tried any of the recipes yet? I'm so tempted by the Primrose Bakery book but haven't heard much about whether the recipes are actually nice.

elf06

Oh i am a bit worried now - i just ordered it from a gift company that come into my work. Will be getting it next week when its delivered. Recipes looked great and it was a reasonable price so went for it ...........