Saturday 1 September 2012

The Disappointing Cupcakes

Theresa isn't too fond of cupcakes. Which is unfortunate seeing as there is a cupcake craze going on. But one day we passed by a bake sale on campus and got a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing on it. Which she strangely loved. It may have been just due to the cream cheese icing but that's not the point.

There was a type of cupcake she liked, cupcakes are "easy" to bake. I need to learn how to bake this thing. Simple as that.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find Lizzy's red velvet cupcake recipe on her blog. Only a red velvet brownie. And after the results of this particular recipe, I think I'll try the brownie one next time instead.

Pretty much.

Now for those unaware, I'm Canadian and I have a preference for the metric system. So when I saw a recipe that offered ingredient amounts in metric I gladly followed it.

Until I realized most of my tools were in imperial.

So that's the first possible reason why my cupcakes didn't turn out so great. Switching from metric to imperial probably caused some discrepancies. And I was making a half recipe so again, more math. Math is bad. I know I'm Asian and I'm supposed to be good at math, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

I also reduced the recipe down to 12 cupcakes, so if I failed, there would be less failure. So imagine my surprise when I poured the batter and got this:

Something seems wrong here...

In case you can't count, that's enough batter for 9 cupcakes apparently. Not, 12 like I had planned for. So, not only was I unable to do conversions properly, I didn't even make enough batter for the converted recipe.

So I dump the cupcakes into the oven. Think nothing of it. Start working on the cream cheese icing.

And then oven starts smoking.

This is probably bad.

Fortunately, it wasn't my cupcakes that were burning. No, someone else had cooked something in the oven recently and it had got all over the place. Said person also didn't clean the over afterwards so now it was being burnt into the sides and bottom of the oven.

I'm also fairly certain the smoke wasn't doing much for the flavor of my cupcakes.

In the meantime, I continued trying to make the icing. Who remembers my curry brownies should remember the icing I made. Watery, kind of gross looking and not that tasty.

My cream cheese icing was exactly like that EXCEPT replace watery with gritty. I think I'm improving. Well, not to the point of actually using it on my cupcakes. Not that the cupcakes were amazing either.

If you ask me, it looks the same as the first picture.

They didn't taste that great, they weren't that red and the icing was going into the garbage. I later realized that using salted butter for icing is probably not a good idea. And you know what? Maybe it was a good idea that I didn't have enough batter for 12 cupcakes. Considering how good these 9 were.

I'm also going to assume the recipe I used wasn't that great. If anyone can directly link me to a good one, that be great.

Theresa is not going to see these failures in person. Hopefully the next batch turns out better.

BONUS PICTURE: DELICIOUS ICING

35 comments:

  1. Ouch that sounds pretty bad :( I've never tried to make cupcakes yet but my cookies turned out okay. My guess would be to find a recipe you don't have to convert and just hope for the best. The cake I made turned out fine and despite how it looked, the icing did too. I'm no culinary whizz myself though so all I can really do is say "Better luck next time."

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  2. I used to be a chef but my pastry baking was awful as well!

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  3. kudos for the effort but i must say the cupcakes look fine to me :)

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  4. Going from metric to imperial must have actually been tough dude, I can empathise with you there. Great post though man, I'm sorry the cupcakes didn't work out too well, it's the thought that counts though and the cream cheese icing sounds strange yet I reckon it's delicious!

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  5. I totally find baking muffins (bigger cupcakes!) a hit and miss thing! Sometimes they turn out great, sometimes just average! But all may be saved by fab icing! I'm sure Theresa will appreciate your wonderful and very sweet cupcake baking efforts!! Take care
    x

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  6. Sorry man, I'm no chef, so I can't help you here. This here seems to have a recipe with metric units though.

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  7. :( I'm sorry about that!

    I usually like using recipes from the Food Network. They've always worked for me.

    I've personally used this recipe before:

    http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/red-velvet-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese-frosting-recipe/index.html

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  8. Hahah red velvet is tricky. I'd start with something easier, like vanilla. Because when red velvet is messed up, it's never really salvageable.

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  9. Well at least you learned one way that it didn't work so well and yeah smoke is always a bad choice for flavour haha

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  10. I feel sorry for you and everything. It's not that you're bad, it's that everything goes wrong.

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  11. Oh no! I feel your pain. I have a hard time following recipes and I use equipment with matching systems. :)

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  12. All my baking ends up in disaster...I normally end up with cupcakes like burnt bricks

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  13. That happens to me a lot...But next time you try it will be great, I'm sure :)

    Portugal :p

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  14. I need to add that you could've said they were brilliant and I wouldn't have realised, because they look awesome. hehe.

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  15. maybe you should leave baking to the professionals

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  16. Here's an extremely recipe for you, Damien, these are Dezzy's eggless cupcakes or muffins: mix 2cups of yoghurt (or butter milk or even sour cream) with 1,3 cups of sugar and about half cup of sunflower oil. Add some flavour of your choice (Vanilla, or some cappuccino powder, or melted chocolate, or cinnamom, or lemon zest, whatever) and mix in 2 cups of flour and a tablespoon of baking powder. Bake at 200*C for about 10 minutes. They will be extremely soft and moist for days.

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  17. I've never made cupcakes from scratch. Did you know that cake mixes can be also made into cupcakes? check it out from any of the pillsbury boxes.

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  18. But with a shirt like that, you gotta crack a smile---toooo cute!!!

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  19. Sorry to hear it didn't work out the way you'd hoped!

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  20. Yeah the icing doesn't look to great! I've never tried making Icing myself, I'm yet to attempt it. The cupcakes don't look to bad though, definitely not red, but they look edible non the less!

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  21. Awwwww! But it's the thought that counts, right? I've always found that my first attempt at making a recipe isn't always the best (at least when it comes to baking). But, by the second attempt, you've ironed out the kinks... and hopefully the measurements... and things turn out much better!

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  22. Oh, no! I did giggle at your story telling, but I'm sorry they were a disaster. And is gritty really better than watery??? LOL. Here's a link when you get brave enough to give them another shot.

    http://www.thatskinnychickcanbake.com/2010/09/red-velvet-cupcakes.html

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  23. I haven't had a good cupcake in awhile

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  24. At least you had an attempt and showed Theresa your baking skills :)

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  25. I am Canadian, but all my measuring cups are imperical! Oh Canada!!

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  26. Here you go young one: http://www.southernliving.com/food/holidays-occasions/6-decadent-red-velvet-dessert-recipes-00417000076175/index.html

    Cupcakes are on page two. The frosting is on page one. Being US based I'm sure the measurements are different. Here's conversion chart for you as well-
    http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/equiv.htm

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  27. I love your perseverance in the kitchen, don't give up. I have made a great one once but no idea where the recipe was. But you got some good suggestions.

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  28. Next batch will be better! gotta try new stuff to know new stuff.

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  29. It's the thought that counts! Try using box mix. I know it's cheating, but it's worth it ;)

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  30. Hmm, sorry about the cupcakes. Hopefully they'll turn out better next time.

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  31. My Bollywood Princess is a cupcake specialist. Too bad I'm not a fan of any kind of cake. But they always look good and you're right: you need a good recipe. :(

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