Personally, the best cupcakes I have ever tasted are those that were made at home, not at those high-profile bakeries that jack up the prices of the cupcakes just because they have become “famous.” For me, nothing spoils the flavor of cupcakes more than the notion that you would have to pay a ridiculous amount just for one mini-cake.

Most people I know who have the slightest passion for baking has the humble cupcake as their starting point. Here they perfected just how much sugar should be put in the batter so that it wouldn’t be nauseatingly sweet nor frustratingly bland. And they seemed to enjoy themselves making them too! So I thought, why not try making it for myself? And I resolved to do it the “hard way,” not utilizing one of those “easy-bake, instant batter” products sold at many stores. Read More

Making delectable and fluffy cupcakes is so easy. As long as you know the right procedure, then you’re all set to make to those wonderful desserts. Cupcake wedding cakes are just as simple. All you need to do is follow the basic cupcake recipe, throw in a little bit of creativity, and there you have it – a wonderfully-made creation that tastes just as good as it looks. Even if you’re not artistically gifted, you can still come up with great decorative ideas for your cupcakes by making use of attractive cupcake cases and papers that will make your cupcakes really stand out.

Baking cupcakes is not only easy but fun as well. Why not have your friends at home to help you out in the baking? That would surely make the activity twice as fun. Just be sure to have everything prepared a week before your wedding, so you don’t need to stress out so much when the big day comes. Put the baked cupcakes in a sealed container and store them in a cool, dark place.  Read More

Another Simple Cupcake Recipe

The easiest way to come up with a new cupcake recipe is to personalize an existing one.  If your favorite cupcake flavor is chocolate, to make create a new recipe from the original chocolate, you can come up with various ideas to make the recipe your own.

For chocolate cupcakes you can do a black forest version of this treat.  You can add a little brandy to the batter and top off your cupcake with cherries.  You can also use bittersweet or dark chocolate. A Devil’s Food cupcake is also another adaptation for the chocolate cupcake modification.  My favorite version is to top off my cupcakes with ice cream instead of frosting.  After your chocolate cupcake has cooled, slice off the domes to create flat topped cupcakes. Garnish your cupcakes with your favorite flavor ice cream.  I like to put vanilla on top of mine. Aside from cupcakes, I also love brownies, so another way to incorporate these two is to add some nuts and marshmallows into the batter.  If you have time to make different flavors of cupcakes you can layer them to create a multi flavored one.  For example, you can exchange the domes of your chocolate flavored one with a vanilla bottom.  Top a chocolate domed cupcake with a butter flavored frosting and the vanilla domed with a chocolate flavored icing.   Read More

Baking Cupcakes With Kids

Baking cupcakes with children is a fun filled activity for families or friends to enjoy. Whether preparing for a party or baking for a quick snack this activity is entertaining and easy to do.

For first time bakers it would be advisable to start with an easy recipe. The basic recipe is to mix butter, eggs, flour and sugar. It is important to remember that since cupcakes are smaller, they bake faster than most layer cakes. Read More

If there is one thing one thing I have learned from my kids is that they are very picky about their food. My kids, nieces and nephews, in fact all toddlers now, do not settle for just about anything I set in front of them. This rule also applies to cupcakes.

I find it curious how they pass over the plain, unfrosted ones I have stocked in my refrigerator. They always go for the ones I spent the most time designing. My Sister shared a ‘mommy secret’ with me: make the food look attractive and the kids will eat it, no questions asked. After all, that was how they introduced them to vegetables. Read More

Adults aren’t as picky about their foods as kids are, but they do appreciate good aesthetics. How else would some of those fancy restaurants flourish when the food itself occupies a mere ¼ of the plate and the rest is compensated by the exquisite arrangement? The same applies to foods cooked in households, be it pasta, main courses, or desserts. Cupcakes are not above the rule as well.

Sure, adults can and will eat those plain, unfrosted cupcakes you didn’t have time to design. But for them to truly appreciate your creation, you need to ice them according to the occasion or the preferences of your family. There are already a lot of unique frosting recipes that utilize a wide variety of ingredients. Experiment with your family’s tastes and stick with what they prefer the most. Read More

The wedding I went to the past week had something unique in their menu. Instead of serving the guests cake from a three-tiered, white fondant-covered cake, the bride and groom (and their planner) opted for cakes that are easier to serve and easier to stow away for later: they have decided to introduce cupcakes for dessert. Though I have heard of cupcakes being served in formal events nowadays, that wedding was the first time when I saw an elegant cupcake in action (that is, ready to be consumed).

I spent some time scrutinizing the cupcake. It was the blackest, most moist, most luscious chocolate cupcake I have ever tasted. But the taste pales compared with its design. The baker used fondant to decorate the cupcake. It was topped with a flat circle of pale blue fondant (the wedding’s theme was blue) with white fondant flowers placed delicately on top of each one. The light colors contrasted sharply with the color of the cupcake itself, giving it an elegant look that no full-fledged cake could ever hope to achieve. Read More

All-Star Cupcake Frosting Recipes

All cupcake frostings were not created equal. Some are sweet, some with a tang; some have fruits, others are garnished with nuts. Making cupcake frostings in itself is an art – you have to take into consideration how it looks, its consistency, and most especially how it tastes. No wonder a lot of people have experimented on cupcake frostings over the years. The tastes that you can incorporate in frostings are as diverse as the combination of different ingredients to suit your preferences.

Cupcake frostings range from the most basic – such as the basic vanilla or chocolate frosting – to the exotic. Each has its own group of loyal supporters, and each can be delicious in their own right. The main criteria for choosing the three cupcake recipes featured below are its taste and how easy it is to prepare. It was not easy to play favorites among cupcake frostings, but for us, these three emerged as clear winners: Read More

Sometimes, I ask myself, “What better way to wake up than to the smell of freshly-baked cupcakes mingling with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee?”

And I answer myself, “No, there’s no better way to wake up from that.” Then again, it’s also fun to wake up to the kiss from a beloved. But that’s another story.

Anyway, now that I’m quite old and very stressed (adult life can really get to you) I find that I have less and less time to go out and get myself a half-dozen of my favorite cupcakes from my favorite bakery. But there’s an easy solution: I can make them myself! So with my salary I bought my own pans and ingredients, and I started baking. Read More