Finally. 2 months off uni for me to get back into baking and
in that time I have to perfect how I am going to make my wedding cupcakes! The
more prepared I am the less stressed I’ll be about making them a couple days
before the big day in my mothers kitchen with an oven I’m not used to…
But my first trial did NOT go to plan. The cakes looked so promising whilst in the
oven, rising to a good height just above the paper case. But then they kept on
rising and spilled over the edge. After
pulling them out to check if they were done they then collapsed in the
middle. So I was left with 18 pathetic,
unpresentable white chocolate mud cupcakes.
Of course I didn’t waste these, I mashed them up with some
raspberry jam and covered them in milk chocolate for an unhealthy treat.
But I still feel panicked about getting a good sponge – I
love the white choc with lemon icing combination but they just don’t seem to be
working for me! What if the same thing happens when I bake them in the oven in
my mothers kitchen? I can’t give the wedding guests mashed up cake and jam!
The recipe I tried this time I obtained from a fellow cake
baker on a forum – it was the Crabapple White chocolate mud cake recipe but she
said that substituting half the plain flour with self-raising flour would
produce a taller, lighter sponge. Well I shan’t be doing that again! The other
flaw was that she forgot to mention how long the cupcakes should stay in the
oven for. So I googled and found the recipe on one of my fave blogs Not Quite
Nigella at http://m.notquitenigella.com/index.php/2008/10/28/eyeball-cupcakes/
Here the recipe stated 30mins in the oven, had no
self-raising flour, AND 1 cup less sugar which is a lot! So I will have to try
that variation next time….
Meanwhile it was not a complete wedding cupcake planning
disaster. I got out my new piping bag
and nozzle and had a couple attempts at piping a swirl. The picture attached to
this post was my 3rd attempt and took no more than 3 seconds! So I
will be ditching the handmade swirls with a pallet knife and going for this
soft serve look instead. Much more time efficient!
CC
