cup cakes!!!

floyd

My muffins do have a hard crust when they come out of the oven but if you cool them down and put in a Lock and Lock box somehow the crust goes all squishy and delish. Made some particularly fabulous choccy ones with big rounded tops, a smidge of fudge icing and some crumbled Flake on top. Yummy

lemonade_money

Thanks everyone - very helpful.

sugarplum

Whenever I make cupcakes or muffins the case always seems to come away from the cake after a couple of hours. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong or what I can do to stop this happening?

Fourcandles_3

This might be caused by them sweating. Are you putting them in a container before they are cool?

I would try cooling them on a rack (or shelf borrowed from the oven), for longer.

If you all ready do this I have no idea.

Good luck.

frankie1star

I would like to make the perfect cupcake, in flavour texture size and colour, how do I go about it? Like the Fiona Cairns ones

NickiM

Do you mean like fairy cakes? Or muffins?

frankie1star

not muffins, the ones that are used in wedding cake designs

Gingernutmeg

There's no real 'secret' ... Just use good quality ingredients, and mix well - if you're making a 'creamed' recipe then make sure that the fat and sugar are as white as you can possibly get them. Then mix the egg in slowly, and sift the flour twice, once onto a sheet of greaseproof and then again as you mix it into the fat, sugar and egg. I like to add a bit of vanilla to the cake, but I don't (as yet lol) have a definitive recipe - some people swear by self raising flour, others say you need a mix of SR and plain. There are literally hundreds of recipes on the web, even famous ones like the Magnolia Bakery recipe, just google and do some baking experiments

When I made cupcakes/fairycakes/buns for weddings I found that it was really important to use good paper cases, as the cheaper ones bent and the mix burnt more and they never looked as professional. I also never used traditional 'bun' cases, as they're too wide, you can get 'cupcake' cases which are kind of taller and narrower and they give you a better looking cake, especially if you're stacking them on tiers. Also, slightly underfill your cases, so that the cake doesn't rise too much - remember that you'll either be filling the case up with icing or piping something on the cake so a less than perfect top isn't a disaster.

sunshine6650

Hello All,

I want to make some cup cakes for valentines day.

Ive never made cake from scratch, only from the ready made packet stuff..

Where do i start????

Ive looked at the Index Thread but im not sure what im looking for, just a normal sponge & divide it? (sorry again!) I can only find the 2nd edition, Is there a 1st?

Thank you for your help, Im trying very hard & been using lots of recipes on here!

Just a simple bog standard recipe will do..Think i have all the stuff needed, ive be filling the the cupboards!!


Thank you.
x x

(ive been & bought some icing pens & silver balls to decorate!!)

Cruiksl

Here's the fairy cake recipe that I use - much tastier than bought mixes.
Makes 24 mini cakes or 12 larger ones.
For mini cakes you will need a 12 hole tartlet tin (these are 5cm at the rim and 1 1/2 cm deep) and you will need to use it twice. For larger cakes use a 12-hole bun tin (these are 6 1/2 cm at the rim and 2cm deep). You can use the little paper cases according to the size tin you have. If not, butter the base and sides of the holes before filling with the mixture. [/font]
125g / 4 1/2 oz softened butter
125g / 4 1/2 oz caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
125g / 4 1/2 oz self-raising flour
2 tbsp milk

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas mark 5. Either butter the tin or place the paper cases in the holes (see above). In a mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. You can use an electric whisk or a wooden spoon.
2. Add the beaten egg, a little at a time, whisking to incorporate, then beat in the vanilla.
3. Sift in half of the flour and fold into the mixture. Add the milk and the rest of the flour and fold until well combined.
4. Spoon into the tin and bake for 12 minutes or until risen and golden on top. Allow to cool for ten minutes on a rack before removing from the tin.