Failed Cupcakes!?!? How Is That Even Possible?

Decorating By czyadgrl Updated 5 Sep 2006 , 8:54am by mistiek2006

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czyadgrl Posted 20 Aug 2006 , 4:24pm
post #1 of 17

Uggggggghhhh. My first complete disaster since I can remember!

Using a new recipe from a cupcake cookbook.

I'm sure I put everything together correctly. The recipe said to fill the cups almost full, just 1/8" from the top!(?) So I did.

Cupcake overflow onto the pan, flat out. You can't even see the muffin tin underneith. I baked and baked and baked. 10 minutes longer than recipe said because they were still really jiggly. Toothpick came out clean. Sat on cooling rack.

(And here's where it gets really bad!)...

Muffins sank back into the cups, so now each one looks like a little crater with the overrun stuck to the top of the pan.

I manage to get one out for a test (they're toast for what I was going to do anyway).
It's like they're not cooked on the bottom! Except they LOOK like they're cooked all the way through. You know how you can tell? And almost feel like they're cooked. But they turn to mush in your mouth like batter almost.

I made some mini cupcakes with the leftover batter, didn't fill them as full. They're cooling right now. It looks like they're sinking back down too. AND they're stuck in the pan even though I've used liners.

Any ideas? It's a sour cream cupcake recipe with both baking powder and baking soda. Both were used last night and last weekend in cakes that turned out fine. I'm so confused!
LOL.

16 replies
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ps3884 Posted 20 Aug 2006 , 4:36pm
post #2 of 17

Wish I had some advice to offer. Any chance it's just a bad recipe?

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cakes47 Posted 20 Aug 2006 , 4:38pm
post #3 of 17

Giving you a ''BUMP''!!
I don't do cupcakes but am interested to find a solution to what happened.
Good Luck!!

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czyadgrl Posted 20 Aug 2006 , 4:42pm
post #4 of 17

Might just be a bad recipe. The book just might be too pretty to have good recipes! LOL.

Cookbook is going straight back to the library. Thank goodness I didn't buy it! And it's soooooo pretty too. Darn it.

Any other ideas? Fluke maybe?

They don't even taste that good to me. I keep picking at them hoping they'll magically come to life!

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MikeRowesHunny Posted 20 Aug 2006 , 4:43pm
post #5 of 17

The recipe may have too much sugar in it - that will cause overflowing and crusting onto the pan. Also, the baking powder/soda can do the same if there's too much in the recipe. Can you write the recipe out so we can see what the measurements were in proportion to each other?

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pilesoflaundry Posted 20 Aug 2006 , 4:44pm
post #6 of 17

The only time I had that happen I figured out I overmixed and too much air got into the batter. I got distracted and wasn't paying attention to how long I was mixing things up.

Otherwise I can't figure it out if you are sure the baking powder and stuff is good.

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Narie Posted 20 Aug 2006 , 4:50pm
post #7 of 17
Quote:
Quote:

The recipe said to fill the cups almost full, just 1/8" from the top!(?) So I did.



I have never heard of that. Then it ran over the top ...humm...! It never baked through- that usually is a sign of underbaking or too low a temp. You could have gotten a bad recipe. Could it be a misprint or typo in the book?

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czyadgrl Posted 20 Aug 2006 , 5:20pm
post #8 of 17

Here's the recipe:

3 oz. unsweet. choc.
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. butter
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. water.

I did sub 2 oz bittersweet choc for unsweetend, and left out about a tablespoon or less of the sugar. Other than that, everything went it correctly and I followed the mixing instructions to the T.

Hmmm.

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MikeRowesHunny Posted 20 Aug 2006 , 5:46pm
post #9 of 17

There doesn't seem to be enough flour in that recipe for it to hold its form when it has risen. Here's a chocolate cupcake recipe I use, that I can promise is good:

Devil's Food Cupcakes

8oz self-rising flour
1tsp baking powder
8oz light brown sugar
8oz butter, softened
2 eggs, separated
3 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Place 18 muffin liners into muffin tins. Sieve the flour & baking powder and set aside. Cream together the butter & sugar until light and fluffy, add egg yolks and beat well. Add melted chocolate and vanilla. Add flour & milk alternayely, beating well after each addition. Beat egg whites in a grease-free bowl until soft peaks form. Gently fold into the batter. spoon into the liners and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and leave in tins for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Hope these work out better for you - enjoy!

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czyadgrl Posted 20 Aug 2006 , 7:58pm
post #10 of 17

Thanks bonjovibabe!

I may try it out tonight as my "redo."

I hate doing things twice!

Thanks so much for all of your help!

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alfie Posted 24 Aug 2006 , 9:15pm
post #11 of 17

The recipe does not have enough flour in it; this is using bakers formula which uses specific ratios of ingredients.

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aupekkle Posted 24 Aug 2006 , 9:23pm
post #12 of 17

You don't mind me asking which book this is, so we can avoid it? Thanks

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carilyn Posted 24 Aug 2006 , 9:35pm
post #13 of 17

Sorry for your yucky cupcakes. I would like to know the book also.

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czyadgrl Posted 25 Aug 2006 , 12:22am
post #14 of 17

The book was Cupcakes! By Elinor Klivans.

It's got lots of impressive-looking cupcakes and great ideas for different things to do with them. I'm copying some pages to try on another base cupcake recipe, probably bonjovibabe's above!

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cupcake Posted 27 Aug 2006 , 10:11am
post #15 of 17

Believe or not recipes can be bad or misprinted. I make a recipe from a Texas State Fair recipe book one time and either the printer forgot an ingredient or the writer of the recipe messed up. The book always list whose recipe it is, I looked her number up and called her to get clarification. It turned out that there was a major ingredient left off the recipe. I would compare your recipe to one that is similar and maybe make adjustments. Sorry for your dilema.

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MissBaritone Posted 27 Aug 2006 , 10:25am
post #16 of 17

Hi Bonjovibabe

I'd like to try your recipe. Whats bittersweet chocolate known as in the UK please?

I'm guessing plain chocolate but I'd like to be sure

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mistiek2006 Posted 5 Sep 2006 , 8:54am
post #17 of 17

MissBaritone
I've always been told that bitttersweet is comparable to a dark chocolate. Sometimes it is called baking chocolate.

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