Cupcake Geek

I made cupcakes today. (What?!) Yeah, I know--cupcakes and me are in a bit of a tiff right now. In my last post, I slammed them. Or rather, my feelings of inadequacy came out in regards to making pretty cupcakes, and you saw me whining. Well, one can only wallow for so long. I have decided it's my mission in life to find a reliable recipe and method for big, beautiful domed cupcakes. It consumes me! I have been cupcake-obsessed lately, scouring the internet for tips, tricks, recipes and photos of the elusive dome. Then I sat down with my baking texts, took the most basic balanced cupcake recipe I know-- and tweaked it. It's out of Paula Deen's Kid's Cookbook, and it is surprisingly good. It makes a great cupcake, but I chose it because it's easy to adapt. I wanted to make some changes that I thought would give me a better dome. Specifically, I wanted to make the batter more acidic, which Shirley Corriher says gives you a better rise. I accomplished this by swapping the milk for yogurt, and messing with the leavening--I added just a touch of baking soda to counteract some of the acid. (1/2 tsp of soda will counteract the acid in one cup of yogurt. So I used half as much to leave the batter slightly acid.) Then instead of baking at 350, I baked at 400 to begin, turning it down to 375 after I put them in--listed many times on the internet as a good way to get a good rise. Makes sense--I always bake muffins at 400, I don't know why cupcakes should be different. The higher temperature makes the batter cook more quickly, pushing the tops up before the proteins can set and form the top. Same pan, same desired shape. I also applied a trick I use in breadmaking--I placed some ice cubes in a preheated pan along with the cupcakes. The idea being the same there--the moisture delays the proteins from setting and allows the tops to continue to rise.
Also, while mixing I made sure to cream the butter and sugar for an extended amount of time, to incorporate as much air as possible--the butter and sugar were almost white by the time I added the eggs. About 5 full minutes total, and I started with the butter at about 65 degrees to help this along.
The resulting cupcake is...halfway there. It did peak better than before, but not quite what I wanted. More testing needs to be done, as far as how far to fill cupcake cups (here was my experiment regarding that aspect)

and whether the paper cups or liners do a better job. Also, I need to buy a dark-colored baking pan, as a lot of internet advice says a dark pan will give a better dome, and I only have light pans. One of them did rise pretty well--I think I may have filled that one the most, so we'll be trying that again.


So I am still experimenting...but I do want to share something. I will be sticking with this basic recipe every time I need a good white vanilla cupcake, because it's awesome. Yes, it's really, really incredible. Just changing the milk to yogurt gave it an almost creamy texture and fantastic flavor. It reminded me of another favorite thing that I haven't had in over four years--a buttermilk donut. The interior texture was almost dead-on, and anything that replicates my favorite donut is going into the permanent files. The crumb was so delicate and light, thanks to the extended creaming, and almost pure white in color despite the eggs. My husband, who is not known for his enthusiasm when asked if he likes something, tasted one of these cupcakes and said, "Holy crap, you don't even need frosting." This coming from a man who rates all of my cooking and baking with the same standard of "It's good."


Best Vanilla Cupcakes
by Anna at Mediocre Chocolate

10 oz (2 1/2 cups) cake flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, about 65 degrees
430g (2 cups) white sugar
3 eggs, room temp
1 tsp vanilla
1 liquid cup (250g) plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 400. Prepare muffin tins with paper liners or spray paper cups with abking spray.
Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl, whisking for at least one full minute to incorporate. Mix yogurt and vanilla together. In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light, fluffy, and almost white in appearance, 5 minutes at least. Add eggs one at a time, scraping after each. With mixer on low or by hand, add one half of flour mixture, followed by one half of yogurt. Then add one half of remaining flour, the rest of the yogurt, and finally the last of the flour. Scrape bowl by hand, making sure to blend very well. (Don't go crazy beating the batter, but do make sure you don't have streaks. Cake flour has very little gluten-making ability, so you don't have to be as careful as when making muffins.)
Fill cups 2/3 - 3/4 of the way full. Place in oven, and turn down immediately to 375. Bake 16-18 minutes, until light golden and a toothpick inserted comes out with just a stray crumb or two. Cool on a wire rack completely before frosting.



--Sorry it's been so long since my last post! I have a sick little guy here. I'll be posting soon for SHF, the Daring Bakers, BBA and Bread Baking Day.