Couple of Cupcakes

Yesterday I made cupcakes. I used the one-bowl chocolate cupcakes recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. I had issues with this recipe in the past and that's why I wanted to try it again. Overall, the results this time were better than before, but there are points that I would like to tweak in the future.

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The batter is pretty runny, unlike the batters that are between runny and muffin batter, which I prefer. If you were to pour the batter from a spoon, it would flow like juice opposed to flowing like ribbons, or however it's supposed to flow.

You have to only fill these two-thirds full unless you want it to overflow in a volcano-like mess. I filled these probably a little too much, though it worked out fine because I didn't overfill it to the extent I did in my pre-blog era. This is where I'd tweak it, decreasing the water slightly to make a somewhat thicker batter and to decrease the amount. It was supposed to yield 2 dozen, but I got 26 and enough extra to fill all the cups a little more. I couldn't use another tin since I only have one oven. (In my dream kitchen I want two restaurant-style ovens with gas burners.)

I blurred out the brand name of my toaster oven enough so that I cover any legal troubles.
Just kidding, that was unintentional.

In this picture, you see the baked cupcakes that have risen quite nicely, extending over the holes enough to add character without saying that I'm a horrid baker.

What you are looking at to the left is pretty much self-explanatory -- the cupcakes outside of the tin.

And if you noticed, it's sunken a bit. That's because the recipe says to switch the tins on the top to the bottom rack of the oven halfway through baking. I've never had success doing so, which is why I waited until later on in the baking time, nearish the end. It didn't work. I think my oven is too creaky and "bumps" when I closed the door that resulted in fallen cupcakes. And maybe it's me. I should have left well enough alone since it was baking nicely anyway.

I wanted to really go all the way with these cupcakes, so I made a simple vanilla buttercream frosting (actually, half butter, half Smart Balance shortening). I don't think I added enough vanilla extract because it kind of sort of just tasted sweet. But still good. Since I don't like too-sweet things. It came out really well, smooth and thick.

Does this picture look better?

These are half of the frosted cupcakes. (Frosted sounds better than iced -- I picture trees at Christmastime "frosted" with snow.) I dolloped some frosting in the middle and spread outwards, keeping a mound in the middle and thinning it out a bit at the edges. My aim was to create swirls on top. Don't they look nice? I could have stopped there, but did I? NOOOOOO.

I wanted to make them even prettier by drizzling MELTED CHOCOLATE... on top... OH yeAH!!!! (I'm "yelling" now...)

This is a close-up on an individual cupcake. MY cupcake, the cupcake I would eventually eat. It's pretty, and I like the peak of frosting at the tippy-top that was happened to be perfectly topped with drizzled chocolate. I didn't do that on purpose. If I tried to do so, it would have failed. That's just how I am.

This really reminds me of a ballerina's tutu. That's why I took this picture, and that's why I almost didn't eat it, it was so pretty. But... it occurred to me that the cupcake was DEAD. So I ate it. After this:

After I took the innards shot, that is. Can you see the billowyness of the frosting? And the cupcake was very moist.

My overall thoughts were that the frosting seemed to overpower the cupcake, because when I took a bite all I could taste was the sweetness of the frosting. Maybe I didn't redistribute it properly. Also, when I took a bite of the top edge, it kind of took away from the textural taste because it was between crunchy and soft, but not quite rubbery. Most likely a result of overcooking a bit and accidentally keeping them in the tins too long.

I had fun making these and I'll bake something soon so I can share it with you all again. :)