Hi,
I haven't really made cupcakes in a very long time, but I need to make about three dozen for Halloween at the office. I would normally obsess about it for a few weeks, buy a few books and, of course, several cupcake tools, but I just don't have time now. I have a rather large cake due the day after Halloween -- and I have a day job -- so I need a little quick help.

Questions:

Is there any particular type or brand of cupcake pan I should avoid? I think I have one, but I'm going to need to buy at least one more.

I'm going to make about half white and half chocolate cupcakes and probably will forego any filling at this time. Can I just use my favorite regular cake recipe?

Do I fill the cupcake cups about 3/4 full?

Do I need to bake them at a lower temperature?

Is getting the dome on top a matter of how full you fill them and how long you cook them, so would I call them done when they're domed and have just a little bounce back on top?

Is it okay to use regular paper or foil cups? I thought I'd try to find some Halloween ones.

I want to decorate them with fondant. Do I just find the right size serrated edge round cutter and cut a piece of fondant to fit the dome?

I assume I need to lightly butter cream the top before I apply the fondant. Is that correct?

I need to bake the cuppies on Sunday and deliver them on Friday. Will it be okay if I wrap them multiple times and freeze them until I'm ready to decorate them Thursday night?

I'm not a natural baker, so if you can think of anything else I might need to know, I would soooooooooooo appreciate it.

Many, many thanks.

Susie

Okay so I just made a batch of cupcakes and this is what I have experienced..

Questions:

Is there any particular type or brand of cupcake pan I should avoid? I have just a Wilton cupcake pan and a ordinary one I bought from the store they both work the same as long as your using cupcake liners.

I'm going to make about half white and half chocolate cupcakes and probably will forego any filling at this time. Can I just use my favorite regular cake recipe? You can use any regular cake recipe or I sometimes use the boxed betty crocker cake mix and either add 1/4 cup more oil or skip all the wet ingredients altogether and just use ONE can of Dr. pepper. It makes the cupcakes moist and you usually get about 19-20 cupcakes per box.

Do I fill the cupcake cups about 3/4 full? I usually do that way they stick out of the top a bit and its easier to ice and decorate

Do I need to bake them at a lower temperature?I usually bake at 325 degrees

Is getting the dome on top a matter of how full you fill them and how long you cook them, so would I call them done when they're domed and have just a little bounce back on top? It matters on how much you put in the cupcake. 3/4s full is great and then I usually just test one with a toothpick. They don't take long to cook

Is it okay to use regular paper or foil cups? Foil cups I like because you skip the whole oily looking cupcake liner. I say if your using paper to DOUBLE LINE your cupcakes that way the paper on the outside isn't so greasy. Anyone will work though

I want to decorate them with fondant. Do I just find the right size serrated edge round cutter and cut a piece of fondant to fit the dome? I take a little bit of butter cream and ice the cupcake first, that way the fondant has something to sick to. Your basically using the butter cream as glue...a edible glue lol

I need to bake the cuppies on Sunday and deliver them on Friday. Will it be okay if I wrap them multiple times and freeze them until I'm ready to decorate them Thursday night? I think they should be fine usually I bake 2-3 days ahead of time but im sure if you wrap them multiple times and then maybe a wrap of foil you should be fine.

I think you should be fine, there not as hard as it seems. Just mix, bake and cool...icing is the fun part. Feel free to msg me if you have any other questions..


good luck

Thank you soooooooo much for your great advice. I really appreciate it. I'm glad I decided to check in on CC to see if anyone had replied, because I certainly did not get email notification that you'd replied.

Anyway, thanks so much. It's good that foil liners are good because there were absolutely no Halloween liners left at Michael's.

Thanks again,
Susie

One note on getting a nice dome- preheat your oven to 400 degrees, then bring down to 350 when you put the cupcakes in. The initial burst of heat will help the rising

Further to the cupcake size thing, I use an ice cream scoop - one of the ones with that swishy part that skims along the bottom of the scoop to sweep out the ice cream - to fill my muffin cups. It puts in just the right amount of batter and the batter amount is exactly even in every cup.

Thanks, stsapph and tracey1970, for your tidbits of cupcake wisdom. I appreciate your help.

I dont add eggs. It is lower calories and still taste great. Although it doesnt rise like it would normally but it still bakes wonderfully. I usually just add a bit more batter.

I have heard of people adding eggs though and they said it worked just as well.