What have I been doing for the past 2 days?? Urrmmm... Well, I've been baking. Cupcakes specifically. So over CUPCAKES these days after watching DC Cupcakes. LOL
I've been baking Vanilla cupcakes and Oreo cupcakes but to all produce disappointed results !! Saddd.... =( The Vanilla cupcakes recipe is obtained from Martha Steward while the Oreo cupcake recipe is obtained from a recipe book.
A failed Vanilla cupcake >.<
At least the Vanilla one is still much more edible than the hard and wet Oreo ones. Nahh. I didn't time to snap a picture of the Oreo cupcakes. They tasted horrible that I threw them in the bin after a taste. Blekkk..
Giving up is so not on my dictionary. Keep wondering what did I do wrong in baking them? Perhaps it's because I didn't follow the step-to-step. For the Oreo, after beating the egg and sugar, I straight add in flour without adding in milk and corn oil first. A MAJOR mistake! Frustrated for producing inedible cupcakes two in a row, I'm off to find answers for that brfore baking another batch of cupcakes tomorrow.
So,
WHAT CAN GO WRONG IN BAKING CUPCAKES ??
1. Measurements and Proportions
I took granted for small little things like a difference in 1 ml or 10 grams. The mistake I learn here is that I need precise measurements and not just 'agak-agak'.
"Many recipes are poorly constructed or contain errors, which doom your
best efforts before you ever start. The key to evaluating recipes is to
understand the necessary proportions. This is easier to do with
professional recipes, because they're measured by weight, but you can
use a kitchen scale to check the familiar recipes you use. In a regular
butter cake, the weight of sugar should be equal or less than the flour,
the fat equal or less than the eggs, and the eggs and milk together
should equal the weight of flour. Too much liquid is a common cause of
cupcakes falling."
2. Mixing
As I'm still using the old fashioned electric beater which needs the help of my hands, I don't think I've beaten the eggs to the correct texture as I stopped when my hands got tired. Hmm. Way to go...
"Most of the problems found in butter cake batter are also found in
sponge cake batter, with a few extra ones for good measure. Sponge cakes
rely on beaten egg whites for most of their volume. Egg whites won't
achieve their best volume if any yolk or other fat gets into the whites
before they're whipped, or if they're too cold. If the egg whites aren't
folded into the batter with a delicate enough hand, you'll lose much of
your volume and the cupcakes may be cratered in the middle. Sponge
batters are especially susceptible to shaking and banging as they bake."
3. Baking
I never thought that I can get the temperature wrong! *gob smacked
"Assuming that your recipe works properly, and that you've measured and
mixed the ingredients correctly, you still have to bake the cupcakes
successfully. If the temperature is too low, they won't rise properly
and will leave a small crater in the center. If the oven is too hot,
they'll puff mightily and then collapse. They'll also fall if the oven
is jostled or the door is slammed, while they're risen but not yet set.
Baked cupcakes will collapse in the middle if they are taken out of the
oven before they're quite baked through, or if they cool too rapidly."
I also understand that to produce a successful cupcakes, oven played an important part too. I never actually understand the fanning sign or the square box on the my oven. They have their roles there too. According to CupcakesIndulgence, she baked her cupcakes at 180 degrees without fan assist and at 170 degrees when using the thermofan. And that thermofan uses less electricity. Well, I do realized that my oven have hot and cold spot (as she called it) when my cupcakes at the inside part baked much earlier than the ones in front.
Note: DO NOT disturb the cupcakes the first 15 minutes by opening the oven. It is to let them develop structural integrity. Shift the position of the cupcakes to hoy or cold position only after that.
After baking,
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE TEXTURE OF MY CUPCAKES ??
1. There's a hole in the middle
Thou I've not encounter this problem this time but I've experienced that previously but I never thought it's a problem until I google it out today.
"Most common reason is when the oven door is opened too soon and the cake
hasn’t set up and baked properly. The mixture could be too soft due to
not enough ingredients or if there is too much liquid added. Using too
much raising agents can make the cake rise too much too quickly and it
implodes on itself."
2. There's a big peak that crack
Well, at least Popo said it's nice. Nah. In my opinion, the perfect cupcakes would be the one rise evenly. And explanation to that is...
"Cakes which dome or peak and crack are usually as a result of the butter
and sugar not being creamed together for long enough. Give the
ingredients a good five to seven minutes of creaming, this incorporates
air into the mix making it light and fluffy. Baking in too small a tin
restricts the expansion of the mix, so up it goes and
pops! Also baking too close to the top of the oven will make the
center rise before the sides have had a chance to catch up. However, it
is natural for madeira cake to dome and crack."
3. Too dry
The Oreo cupcakes is so dry even thou I've adding 175 ml of milk in. And my answer to that is...
"Maybe you’ve over baked it, or didn’t use enough liquid/ not enough
eggs, if the recipe says use large eggs and you haven’t got large, use
an extra egg, size matters! Using too much raising agents will also make
for a dry cake."
4. Holes in the cake
My cupcakes seems to have pimples mark on their surface. If you don't like to have pimples scar on my face, I also don't like to have pimples scar on my cupcakes !!
"Again the culprit is not enough creaming, this time sugar, eggs and
butter/marg.Oven temperature too high and too much baking powder will
also cause holes and an uneven grainy texture. Add eggs into creamed
butter/sugar mix one at a time, cream well so the mix is smooth and
incorporated. If the mix starts to separate add a tablespoon of
flour with each egg. The rest of the flour should be carefully folded in
with a large metal spoon so as not to lose any of the air in the mix."
5. Closed Rubbery Texture??
I don't understand this term however, it's here to remind me not to make this mistake.
"Over mixing cake batter can result in a heavy, closed rubbery texture.
Over mixing acts on the gluten in flour and will make cakes hard instead
of the lovely soft spongy texture we associate with a good cake.
Insufficient creaming of sugar and eggs will also make a tight texture
because there isn’t enough air trapped in the mix to give it a
lift. Adding too much liquid will make it dense and pudding
like. Genoise sponge will become heavy if the melted butter is too hot
when added and if it is not folded in evenly."
Y.O.L.O
You Only Love Once
<3
. 
