Cupcakes!

Third Time's the Charm!

Cupcakes... Delicious, individually wrapped little treats that hold no limit! Tons of different flavors that can be paired with so many different fluffy frostings. And don't forget you can fill a cupcake! With pie filling, buttercream, candy, anything you want! You'd be surprised at the difference it can make.

One of the best things about cupcake batter: it doubles as cake batter! Just remember to adjust the oven temperature and bake time. I assure you, I have made that mistake before. Honestly, more mistakes than I'd care to admit. Yet here I am, sharing them all with you. Why? Because it's rather funny and we all need to be reminded not to let such things bring us down! We are all human, and it is okay to make mistakes. That's the best way to learn. Raising a little one will remind you of that real quick!

Cupcakes are a fun and easy dessert to make. I personally love decorating cupcakes. It's fun to experiment with different piping tips to see what you can do! The most recent cupcakes I've made were for a gender reveal party. They turned out so beautiful and delicious, but I had to work hard for that. I had more mishaps than I have ever had...

I made 24 chocolate cupcakes and 24 white cupcakes. I have been making both of these recipes for years, and I still ruined at least two batches of vanilla batter. This is why it is so important to premeasure ingredients! Not only does it make the baking process quicker and easier, but it also ensures the proper amount of said ingredients. Prevents mishaps like you're about to read. Here's the story:

Quick backstory: We recently gained a new oven. The old one quit working one morning in the midst of chaos, while making breakfast. When I received the order for the gender reveal cupcakes, the new stove was about a week old. Needless to say, I hadn't had the time to know all there is to know about it. It's a pretty fancy stove, at least to me. It's a nice, glass-top stove with five burners and a double oven. I've never had a double oven before, but I sure was excited about it. Was... Now, onto the cupcakes!

Baking with a baby doesn't sound like a difficult task, and it usually isn't for me, but that day it sure was. My baby didn't want to sit in her booster seat, her walker, or anything. She wanted to be right there on my hip to see what was going on. I don't blame her; babies are very curious creatures. Everything is new to them; who am I to keep her from learning to bake so young? She sat in her walker long enough for me to get the chocolate batter made, scooped into their papers, and into the oven. It was during the cleanup and reset when she got upset.

In the midst of all her crying, I didn't pre-measure ingredients for the vanilla batter as I did for the chocolate. BIG MISTAKE. By the time I began mixing the vanilla batter, I was out of sorts, to say the least. Nevertheless, I'm mixing with confidence, barely glancing at the recipe. I get the batter made, baby on my hip, scooped into their papers, and into the oven. The white cake batter takes longer to bake, so I set the timer and finally sit down. Thankful to be off my feet for a minute, I make a list of what is left to be done as I look forward to the sweet vanilla scent that will soon fill the air. But no such scent appeared. After about 10 minutes, I get curious and check on the cupcakes. They were nearly black! Frustrated, I took them out and questioned myself. That's when I learned the divider could be removed from the oven. After removing the rack, I refilled the tin, thanking my past self for filling every other spot in the tin, as opposed to every spot, and back into the oven they went, keeping a close eye on them. After about 5 minutes, I check on them, and they still don't look like they normally do!

Even more upset than before, I take a deep breath and retrace my steps. Looking back at the recipe, going step by step, ingredient by ingredient. The recipe calls for shortening and butter. I looked at the full stick I started with, and the correct amount was missing, so I used what I was supposed to. The butter, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. Knowing I always use a new stick of butter, I knew this was where I went wrong. The recipe calls for half a stick, and I used the whole stick! This explains why the cupcakes were baked the way they were!

Giggling at myself, shaking my head, I started completely over, premeasuring all of the ingredients, like I should have to begin with. See? I told you pre-measuring saves a LOT of hassle. Luckily, the third time was the charm. I carefully remake the batter, scoop it into the tins, and carefully watch them bake. And they came out looking gorgeous, with that sweet vanilla smell filling the house, making its presence known.

Finally, I can decorate! I got the baby to sleep and started on the vanilla buttercream. I made three shades of pink and three shades of blue. I pipe half of the vanilla in pink roses and half the chocolate in blue roses. The remaining vanilla gets textured piping in pink and the same for the chocolate, but in blue. I used three different textured tips to make rosettes, lines, and dallops. It's well past midnight as I carefully box the cupcakes and ready them for delivery.

Now, as for those crispy cupcakes, they did not go to waste. I always have leftover buttercream, so that means cake pops! We actually call them cake balls because I never have the sticks that turn them into pops. They taste just as good without them. This batch didn't come out too pretty, but they were eaten up just as quickly! You can never go wrong with some unplanned cake balls.

Moral of the story: always premeasure your ingredients. I cannot stress it enough. It may seem like a hassle at first, but it will save you hours of frustration and angry baking, I assure you! Even though I added a couple of extra hours of work for myself, I shrugged it off and produced some beautiful cupcakes that got appreciated and devoured at that party.

Remember to always take a second to breathe, and if you mess up a recipe, it can still be made into something delicious! Stay tuned for more stories and delicious recipes! Thanks for stopping by!