Howdy,

I'm mostly a cake baker, but I like to do cupcakes too. Here is my quandry:

A few days ago I was making a Death Star cake for someone; I used the mini ball pan to make the DS, but I didn't have enough cake mix left to make it. So I used one of the little DH mixes to make 4 mini balls and a few cupcakes. My cupcakes turned out great. Nice high middles. I used an ice cream scoop to fill them and it filled the wrappers almost to the top.

Now, today I made cupcakes for a friend who ordered a cake, but was afraid that the amount of cake ordered wasn't enough for the amount of RSVP's that she received. (13 YO's party) So today, I used DH Cake mixes again and instead of getting nice high tops, they spread out.

Do any of you wonderful cupcake bakers have any advice for me? I hate spread out cupcakes.

Thanks.

Christy

The one thing you have to remember about using mixes is that you have no idea how long they have been sitting on the shelf. DH is usually pretty good but once in awhile I will get a bad box that doesn't rise. It just happens.

There are other factors too such as cake temp and preheating that can make a difference. If you forgot to preheat it can make them not rise as much and if you baked them below 350 they won't rise as much.

Cat

Thanks.

Melvira's tip is to preheat oven to 400 degrees. When you put the cupcakes in the oven turn it down to 350 degrees. Back up to 400 before you put the next batch in. And repeat.

Yep - if you want the nice domes you need to start at a higher temp, then drop it to a normal baking temp as soon as you put them in.

Thank you GrandmaG and Evoir!!!