How About A Thread To Seriously Discuss Making Cupcakes?????

Baking By Cookies4kids Updated 11 Dec 2020 , 12:18pm by -K8memphis

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Cookies4kids Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 12:13pm
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As I travel through this forum and a few other sights, it seems that so many people are searching for good, dependable recipes for cupcakes. I would love to see a nice long discussion on this topic including favorite recipes for flat and domed cupcakes, fillings and tips on achieving good cupcakes.
The last two cupcake recipes I tried were miserable failures, but the peanut butter filling recipe on CC posted by Shirley W. was awesome. I also tried a lemon or lime curd recipe for filling that is "no fail" and can be frozen. I love recipes that can be made ahead and frozen for future use. I also discovered a new cupcake shape that is really cute for mimi cakes and I will share it also. I don't know how to post pictures so will have to describe it for you.
Also how about sources for really cute cupcake liners--anyone???
I hope we can keep this going for some good answers.
Lily

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alanahodgson Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 12:18pm
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AKA_cupcakeshoppe Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 12:21pm
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i'm all for a cupcake thread! icon_smile.gif

yummymummy posted a recipe that i've tried about four times now and it hasn't failed me. it makes perfectly domed cakes, doesn't overflow at all.

i'd love to know about different ways to decorate cupcakes, poured fondant, swirls, etc. icon_smile.gif

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Cookies4kids Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 12:26pm
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Here is my "new cupcake shape by accident". I had leftover batter from a doctored cake mix that I didn't want to throw away. I used one of those white 7oz. ramikins--you know the ones that are ribbed on the outside and the top 1/2 or so is not straight up, but tipped out a little. I set a regular cupcake liner right down in the center of the dish. Then I filled that liner right up to the top with batter and as I did that, the liner spread open so that the top edge was pushing on the dish. I really filled it to the top. Then I sprayed that top lip of the dish with some baking spray. I set the ramikin right on the oven grate and baked it for 25 min. at 350 degrees. I let it cool a little and it popped right out of the dish. I had the cutest mushroom shaped mini cake and I thought it probably was a fluke, so I mixed up more batter and did 6 more and they all turned out the same. They are a very solid cake and wonderful to work with. I took the papers off some ( they only come up about 1" or so on the sides) and covered them with ganache and fondant flowers on top. If you did lemon, you could drizzle a lemon glaze over them. You could leave the papers on and dip the tops in poured fondant and decorate like Louise does on Cakejournal.com. Or you could dip the bottoms in melted chocolate and the tops in white or pink melted chocolate and put on sprinkles like Bakerella does on her website. Sorry this is so long but can't post a picture. I hope you will try this as it really works great.
Lily

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AKA_cupcakeshoppe Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 12:31pm
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it's so cute! post a picture! now you're making me wanna run to the mall and grab some ramekins LOL

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SweetResults Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 12:31pm
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Yes Yes Yes!! PLEASE!! First cupcake wedding in the fall and I really want to know!

What do you charge?
What size are they - "regular" cupcake size" Larger?

How do I get the dome and not the Shrinker? I baked them too long I heard?

Details all you cupcakers! DETAILS!! icon_biggrin.gif

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amysue99 Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 12:32pm
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I'd love to know about filling cupcakes. I got one of the long bismarck tips, but it didn't seem to help much. I only had a tiny bit of filling in the top part of the cupcake. Very disappointing.

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AKA_cupcakeshoppe Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 12:33pm
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what i do is preheat my oven at 400 then once the cupcakes are in i lower it to 325. a trick i learned from cupcake blog. icon_smile.gif

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January202 Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 12:36pm
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I am really excitied to find out others' ideas, tips, etc. for making cupcakes, because I think they are such fun to decorate! Maybe someone can offer me some suggestions for the problem I always seem to have: When I make white or yellow cupcakes, they always rise up real nice, but as soon as I take them out of the oven to cool, they fall flat. Maybe it is because I had been using a box mix, and following the instructions on the box. I am not sure. But it does not happen when I bake chocolate cupcakes. Just white or yellow. Odd, huh?

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HerBoudoir Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 12:41pm
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I adore cupcakes - GREAT vehicle for frosting!

Unfortunately I was very silly and did not take a picture of these fabulous chocolate strawberry cupcakes that I made recently. But while they're a little time consuming, they're not difficult and they came out FABULOUS.

Start with 24 of your favorite chocolate cupcakes.

Make 24 chocolate strawberries by melting 12 ounces chopped dark chocolate with about 1 1/2 Tablespoon canola oil. Wipe strawberries carefully, dip, and set on a parchment covered pan. Chill until firm.

Melt 8 ounces chopped dark chocolate with 1 cup heavy cream to make ganache; stir well. Dip the tops of the chocolate cupcakes in the ganache to coat. Chill for about 10 minutes until set.

Melt 3 ounces of chopped white chocolate with 1/4 cup heavy cream to make ganache. Let cool. Whip 3/4 cup heavy cream to medium peak, and add white chocolate ganache. Continue whipping until ganache is incorporated and at stiff peak. Fill a pastry bag with a large star tip with whipped cream, and pipe a swirl on top of each ganache'd cupcake. The swirl should be about 1/3 to 1/2 the diameter of the cupcake in size.

Top each whipped cream swirl with one chocolate strawberry.

(almost done - promise!)

Melt 2 ounces of chopped milk chocolate with 1/2 teaspoon of canola oil. Using either a pastry bag with a very small round tip or a sandwich bag with a tiny bit of the corner snipped, drizzle the milk chocolate over the strawberries lightly, making sure that it drizzles over the whipped cream and onto the dark chocolate ganache.

Chill to set - these do need to keep refrigerated.

If you're taking them somewhere - keep one or two for yourself, because they disappear FAST.

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Melody25 Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 12:50pm
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I LOVE cupcakes! I have a recipe for a Peanut Butter Cupcake thats really dense, and really rich. I think they are one of my favorites. They are great with any kind of Chocolate icing. I'll find it and post.

January, I had the same problem with the white and yellow batter, by fluke I found that if you refrigerate the batter for 30-60 minutes, they stay domed after they back.

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HerBoudoir Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 12:56pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SweetResults

Yes Yes Yes!! PLEASE!! First cupcake wedding in the fall and I really want to know!

What do you charge?
What size are they - "regular" cupcake size" Larger?

How do I get the dome and not the Shrinker? I baked them too long I heard?

Details all you cupcakers! DETAILS!! icon_biggrin.gif





I would think for a wedding, a standard size cupcake is equivalent to a "wedding slice" of cake, and the cost would be equivalent as well. While I rarely bake-for-profit, most of the cupcakes I do would have to cost $2-$4 each and I could see going higher for some of the very fancy ones. Additionally, since most of my recipes make 24 cupcakes, I require they order in multiples of 12.

Also with wedding cupcakes, you usually do a 6 or 8 inch matching cake to have something to cut.

I use a 1 and 5/8 ounce scoop to portion out my standard size cupcakes, and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. I get flat-tops just above the paper line with that method, and that's what I prefer as a decorating base.

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GrandmaG Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 1:00pm
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This is a great idea! I see many future posts written on this thread. The Martha Stewart Cupcake week got me excited to make more cupcakes. Here is a good You Tube video to make simple flowers on cupcakes.


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CakesByLJ Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 1:06pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amysue99

I'd love to know about filling cupcakes. I got one of the long bismarck tips, but it didn't seem to help much. I only had a tiny bit of filling in the top part of the cupcake. Very disappointing.




Get yourself an apple corer. Use it to "core" out a section in the middle of the cupcake. Fill the hole with filling and place a 1/2" "plug" to cover the filling. Neat, clean and easy thumbs_up.gif

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Melody25 Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 1:12pm
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OK found the peanut Butter Cupcakes...

1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1/4 Cup Butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350
Cream Brown Sugar, Peanut Butter, and Butter until fluffy.
Beat in eggs, and vanilla.
Mix the dry ingredients.
Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the milk. Beginning and ending with the dry.
Mix until blended.
Place 2 Tablespoons into cupcakes papers.
Bake 25 minutes.

Makes 18.


I play around with the actual batter in the cups, just see what works best for you. I also have filled these with chocolate, and with jelly, for different flavors. Enjoy!

*ETA: I forgot to put the flour in... oops

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GrandmaG Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 1:18pm
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Here is a fun website that has a cupcake contest every month. Some good recipes and idea. The Quirky Cupcake
http://slush.wordpress.com/

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Linliv46 Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 1:40pm
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Is the yummymummy recipe on CC or does anyone have it? I tried a recipe yesterday and it was not a pretty site! I hope this thread keeps ging! I love cupcakes!

Linda

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ladyonzlake Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 1:40pm
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This is a great thread! Another cupcake liner source is www.fancyflours.com

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ZAKIA6 Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 1:48pm
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i make cupcakes all the time. i prefer to make them over cake.

* i use an ice cream scoop to fill the papers so that each cupcake is the same size
* i use cupcakecourier when i send cupcakes to school.
http://www.cupcakecourier.com/

* i use cupcake inserts and cake boxes when i have an order
http://www.brpboxshop.com/bakery_boxes/cupcake_boxes.html

here are a few of my favorite cupcake blogs & websites
*Cupcake Bakeshop: http://www.cupcakeblog.com/
*Whiskie Bits Bakeshop: their flavor combinations are unbelievable.
http://www.whiskiebits.com/
*Quirky Cupcake: http://slush.wordpress.com
*Cupcake Hero: a monthly cupcake blogging event hosted by Quirky Cupcake: http://slush.wordpress.com/cupcake-hero/
*Cupcakes take the cake: the name says it all. they also hold monthly cupcake get togethers.
http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/

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HerBoudoir Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 1:50pm
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Love the die cut cups for cupcakes but WHEW are they expensive!

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vmw774180 Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 1:53pm
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Yum I can't wait to try the PB ccs

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Melvira Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 1:55pm
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Fantastic!! We totally need a cupcake forum too!! (Oh wait, there isn't one, is there??) icon_lol.gif

I will share a small thing with everyone, although I am quite certain it is not a secret... Pour a wickedly generous amount of Hershey's malted chocolate syrup into your mixer bowl with a carton of unwhipped Bettercreme, whip until fluffy. Use this to fill and ice chocolate cupcakes and you will rule the world!! My husbands co-workers are beginning to offer me sacrifices for these! They are affectionately referred to as 'crack cakes'. icon_lol.gif

Ok, I've shared... now someone help me out PLEASE!?! I cannot get my cupcakes to dome. Ever since I've learned to bake perfectly flat cakes, now I can't get domes to save my life!! I am talking about scratch or doctored mix, any flavor, etc. I turned my heat up to 350 for cake, and 375 for muffins, is this simply not high enough? I saw the hint about refrigerating the batter, and I will certainly try that step. Now sometimes flat cupcakes are good for decorating, or certain uses, but you know there are times when you just want a big, pretty dome? Why can't I get that!? Wah!! icon_cry.gif And I also had the problem someone else expressed where it domed fairly well in the oven, then sank as they cooled. GRRRRRR!!!!

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moonlightschild Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 2:02pm
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let's keep this going LOL....i, too, would like to know how to make my cupcakes dome

please and thanks icon_smile.gif

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chqtpi Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 2:04pm
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Zakia you and I must have been thinking at the same time..I was just looking up the websites as you posted icon_smile.gif lol


a few more good ones are:

http://lovelylittlecakes.blogspot.com/
http://www.cupcakeproject.com/
http://52cupcakes.blogspot.com/
http://vanillagarlic.blogspot.com/

I've found great recipes on all of the blogs as well as tips and cupcake stuff icon_smile.gif

I also bought the Hello Cupcake book ($10 and only took 2 days from Amazon) that is WAY cute..there are tons of cute ideas and she doesnt use anything fancy use regular old ziplocs...icon_smile.gif


Melvira...consider yourself lucky that they don't dome...mine dome CROOKED!!!!! icon_cry.gif lol...they look like leaning Tower of Piza cupcakes....[/quote]

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Linliv46 Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 2:06pm
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Zakia thanks for all the links! Melvira I second everything you said, I cannot get a dome and have tried everything!

Linda

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HerBoudoir Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 2:07pm
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Like I said, I'm a "flat topper", but we used to make angel cupcakes as kids where you need a domed top - we used to just put extra batter into the papers to make them do that. Have you tried that?

Angel cupcakes - slice off the dome, spread the "stump" with jam....cut the dome in half and position like "wings" on the top, and sprinkle with 10x sugar.

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serenelui Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 2:10pm
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me too!!! My vanilla cupcakes always dome nicely but my chocolate cupcakes always dome in the oven and fall flat when i take them out to cool!! so i would love to know the reason for this. icon_smile.gif

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Melody25 Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 2:13pm
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OK this might be a stupid question but... What tip do you use and how do you make those beautiful star swirls on top of cupcakes? I can never get them to come out right maybe my tip isnt big enough

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Melvira Posted 12 Apr 2008 , 2:14pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HerBoudoir

Like I said, I'm a "flat topper", but we used to make angel cupcakes as kids where you need a domed top - we used to just put extra batter into the papers to make them do that. Have you tried that?




Unfortunately I have tried that! What happens is that I end up with large flat frisbee tops on the cupcakes that all bake together, then I have to cut them apart. Of course, then they won't fit nicely in the boxes. Grrrr!

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