The Perfect Cupcake

       Hi everyone. Today I wanted to write about how to make a perfect cupcake. The first trick I would like to talk about is cold ingredients. Often, people will mix ingredients into their cake batter regardless of the temperature. However, the temperature of your ingredients does matter. When baking a cake of cupcakes, always make sure that all of your ingredients are room temperature. This greatly affects the consistency of the batter. By having all of the ingredients at room temperature, you will find your batter less clumpy and will eliminate balls of flour in your finished product.

My next tip is to not over-mix that batter. Have you ever heard the saying “baking is science”? Well it really is. When you mix batter, make sure that you only mix it until all of the ingredients have combined. If you over-mix then you crush some of the air bubbles. Then, when it bakes the remaining air bubbles burst because of the force put on them instead of the small, normal expansion creating fluffiness. This explosion will leave you with hollow-out cupcakes that are tough. If you want moist cakes, don’t over-mix! 

My final tip is about scooping your batter into the cupcake holders. One of the most common mistakes that people make when baking cupcakes is adding to much or to little to the cupcake holders. The trick is don’t eyeball it. For normal sized cupcakes use a large cookie scoop and for miniature sized cupcakes use a small cookie scoop. 

The Art of Icing

Hi, today I would like to talk about one of the most important parts in baking; the cooling and frosting/decorating of the cake. This is the part where you make everything look good, even if it’s not. I’ll start with the subject of cupcakes. After getting your miniature-sized cakes out of your oven, be sure to immediately put them on a cooling rack or a room temperature/cold surface. This helps to keep them from over-baking in the hot pan. 

Next, make sure that the cupcakes have finished cooling completely before you start making them masterpieces. If your cupcake is even a little warm when you begin frosting your cupcake, you will soon be faced with a gooey, sticky mess and most likely be covered in frosting. No one wants that, so lets make sure the cupcakes are completely cool. While frosting, there are two easy swirl techniques to make the cupcakes look adorably. The first is to start at the top outside of the cupcake, using and piping bag and swirl towards the inside of the cupcake. The second is to start from the top, inside portion of the cupcake and swirling outward.

  Finally, I thought I should talk about cakes cooling. Once completely cooled, you should place your layer cake in the freezer for 30 minutes before you begin icing it. Aldo, when you begin you should brush away stray crumbs with a silicone pastry brush. Finally, after you put each layer of icing on you cake, you should place you cake in the freezer until it sets. This way the icing stays on much better and is fresher for longer. 

Over-baking Tips and Tricks

         Hi, I hope my last post was helpful and saved you some time.  In this post I hope to continue helping you by giving more tips, tricks, and useful advice. The first thing that I would like to talk about is over-baking your cake or cupcakes. This is most likely the most annoying think that can happen to your batter after you spend valuably time preparing it. One useful thing you should know is what to bake your cakes in.  Metal and glass pans have different bake times, that the recipe does not always include. Make sure that if you use glass, you lower your oven temperature by 20 degrees. Otherwise follow the directions if you are using a metal pan.

Now, cupcakes can also  have the problem of overcooking or cooking unevenly. Oftentimes, the only way to make your cupcakes full is by filling the holders 3 quarters the way full. However, you then run in to the problem of running out of batter.  In this scenario, you can allow your cupcakes to cook evenly by filling the remaining holders with water. By doing this, your cupcakes will come out puffy, tall, and evenly cooked!

I discovered a baking tip for eggs a few days ago that will help you in everyday life. A problem I sometimes run into is whether or not I can tell if an egg is fresh. In order to test the freshness of an egg, put it into a bowl of water. If it sinks that it is fresh. If not, than it is old.  I hope these tips and tricks have helped make your life simple!

Welcome to Cakes and Culture

Welcome to my blog about Cakes and Culture. This will give you an  intro to baking and the best places to travel. It will give helpful shortcuts and much-needed information that will make your life easier. I will even post cute cupcake and cake ideas and wonderful cake flavors that are easy to make. I hope this blog helps!

The Secret of Buttermilk

Hi, you've probably already read the title “Cakes and Culture”. This is a blog about my life and those words can perfectly describe most of it. I have traveled around the world and love culture and food. I think of my life like flour and sugar; you can make almost anything of it and you want as much influence and experience as possible. That explains culture, but not cakes. Baking is my creative outlet. I somehow never seem to mess it up and can throw myself into the process and forget about my problems. (It’s also one of the only things that I can do well as far as artistic ability).  

I have been baking my whole life. However, I want to make this about me and give advice to everyone else about what I've learned. Here we go. A few years ago my mom taught me this cool trick that makes cupcakes and cakes taste awesome without all the time and work. Many cake box-mixes taste awful, but homemade ones take too much time or the ingredients are hard to obtain and work with. The secret is buttermilk or sour milk. You can make sour milk by adding one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk and letting it sit for a few hours. By using a box mix and substituting buttermilk or sour milk instead of regular milk, your cake will taste awesome and homemade. The conversion is 1 cup to 1 cup for both. It’s so easy to do!