5 Steps to Perfect Cupcakes
Moist, tasty, and expertly iced, here are the secrets to success.
Good ingredients truly equal good taste.
When your teeth sink into a cupcake, your taste buds should register nothing but bliss and send you straight to cupcake heaven. Gourmet flavors are highlighted in something as small as a cupcake, so make those 3-4 bites count. Buying more costly / expensive ingredients will guarantee a better taste. Using a creamer butter or full cream chocolate to create the icing can make a huge difference.
Never, never over-bake a cupcake.
It’s always recommend erring on the side of under-baking, if you over-bake a cupcake, there's no way to save it. And it won't be moist on the inside. Some professional bakers even set two timers to ensure the cupcakes make it out of the oven on time. For even better results, check your oven's heat with an oven thermometer, to determine its true temperature. Test them with a toothpick if you're unsure, if no batter clings to the pick, they're done.
Mix your batter with a light hand.
If there's one thing bakers have learnt, it's to simply be more gentle. Baking fluffy, moist cupcakes is all about creating air bubbles in your batter that expand in the oven. If you over-mix your batter, you collapse those bubbles and end up with a brick-like cake. To avoid this, always mix on a low speed, stopping just as all ingredients blend.
Let all ingredients come to room temperature before baking.
All ingredients incorporate into batter much more easily if they're at similar temperatures. Sure, it requires a bit more planning to set out eggs, butter, and other refrigerated ingredients 15-20 minutes before you set to work, but for a perfect cupcake, it's worth it. And as far as baking tips go, this one ranks among the easiest!
Baking in advance? Cooling your creations.
If you've baked them to eat right away, we recommend storing cupcakes at room temperature. But if they're for tomorrow, keeping them cool in the fridge will help them retain their moisture much better than leaving them on a countertop overnight.
Moist, tasty, and expertly iced, here are the secrets to success.
Good ingredients truly equal good taste.
When your teeth sink into a cupcake, your taste buds should register nothing but bliss and send you straight to cupcake heaven. Gourmet flavors are highlighted in something as small as a cupcake, so make those 3-4 bites count. Buying more costly / expensive ingredients will guarantee a better taste. Using a creamer butter or full cream chocolate to create the icing can make a huge difference.
Never, never over-bake a cupcake.
It’s always recommend erring on the side of under-baking, if you over-bake a cupcake, there's no way to save it. And it won't be moist on the inside. Some professional bakers even set two timers to ensure the cupcakes make it out of the oven on time. For even better results, check your oven's heat with an oven thermometer, to determine its true temperature. Test them with a toothpick if you're unsure, if no batter clings to the pick, they're done.
Mix your batter with a light hand.
If there's one thing bakers have learnt, it's to simply be more gentle. Baking fluffy, moist cupcakes is all about creating air bubbles in your batter that expand in the oven. If you over-mix your batter, you collapse those bubbles and end up with a brick-like cake. To avoid this, always mix on a low speed, stopping just as all ingredients blend.
Let all ingredients come to room temperature before baking.
All ingredients incorporate into batter much more easily if they're at similar temperatures. Sure, it requires a bit more planning to set out eggs, butter, and other refrigerated ingredients 15-20 minutes before you set to work, but for a perfect cupcake, it's worth it. And as far as baking tips go, this one ranks among the easiest!
Baking in advance? Cooling your creations.
If you've baked them to eat right away, we recommend storing cupcakes at room temperature. But if they're for tomorrow, keeping them cool in the fridge will help them retain their moisture much better than leaving them on a countertop overnight.