First things first. It's important that you all know I will be joining a bowling league this summer. It's time I focused on my career.
Now on to my cupcake adventure . . .
Today I forced myself to get out of bed at 8:30 in the morning so I could make cupcakes for my friends birthday.
Those of you who know me well, know I can't cook, and since baking is along the same lines, I can't do that either. But I wanted to make them for my friend so I did what anyone who can't cook or bake would do, I bought a box of cupcake mix.
When I started to make them I pretty much got confused on the first step in the directions. They said " Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees for glass and metal pans, for darkly coated pans, preheat the oven to 325 degrees".
BUT WHAT IF MY PAN IS DARK IN COLOR AND METAL!???
Contrary to the capital letters I just used, I remained calm. "I'll call my mom" I thought . . . "No, my mom is never up this early" . . . "I know! I'll text T! . . . Wait, she's at work" . . . "The beast? . . . Will she even know the answer? . . . WHATEVER, I'll just set the damn thing for 350 degrees."
Okay, crisis averted . . . or at least overlooked.
The second problem occurred in step 2 . . . I couldn't catch a break.
Step 2 : "Blend in large bowl at a low speed until moistened" . . . as in, with a mixer . . . I have no mixer . . . I was surprised I even had a cupcake pan.
Luckily I'm really strong and can whisk my little heart out.
Side note: Whisking a bowl of cake mix should be a machine at the gym . . . it's a good workout.
I feel like if you asked anyone what the most annoying thing about making cupcakes is they would all say the same thing: pouring the batter into the little cups.
These thoughts might go through your head while you're doing so:
"Did I pour too much in that one?"
"Damnit, I got some on the pan!"
"Why is it pouring so fast?"
"Crap, I don't have enough batter for that last cup."
At least that's what went through my head while I was pouring the batter.
I put them in the oven and 20ish minutes later they were done. They looked pretty good. But how did they taste?
When they were cool enough to eat, I had to do a quality check. I decided to eat it without frosting, because . . . well . . . I didn't feel like frosting it.
The first bite was pretty disappointing. It was a little dry.
I don't understand why it was so dry because the box clearly said "Moist Deluxe" . . . liars.
I frosted them anyway, and did another quality check a little later. I thought "perhaps they will taste better with the frosting on them".
They sure did. The frosting covered up the dryness of the cupcake quite well.
Mission accomplished.
9 comments:
I think the oven was probably a little too high - dark pans, whether glass or metal, will absorb more heat.
You also have to watch out for the pesky, "for higher elevations, 4000-6000ft, change temperature/baking time to...". Used to get me all the time!
Now, for the important questions. What flavor cupcakes and what kind of frosting? Inquiring minds need to know.
Your oldest sister would have known which temp to use, even if mom doesn't think so.
Why wasn't I on your list of people to call?? I am mildly offended.
I love cupcakes as much as the next guy, but anything involving baking requires an in-depth risk vs. reward analysis. In this case, I would have almost certainly given up and called my mother to make them for me.
But I am happy for your success and hope you enjoy frolicking in your well-earned cupcakey glory.
Anon # 1 - I'm going to try again tomorrow at a lower temp.
Zebra - I checked for the elevation thing, but it wasn't on there . . . isn't only 3000 feet here anyway?
anon # 2 - I believe you, beasts have a sense about food.
Amanda - You were in my thought process, you just didn't make the blog.
Cofo - I thought about just buying them already made several times.
We are at a solid 4500ft my friend. Good ol' high desert. Gotta love snow in May!
I handle all baking responsibilities around these parts. I'm also pretty good Super Mario Bros. Wii.
My resume is very impressive, no?
Jon - I made another batch of cupcakes for another friends birthday and they were much better, I baked them at a lower temperature and used a little more oil then it said to . . . I thought they were really good . . . we'll see what everyone else thinks though.
Also, I'm probably not as good as you, but I'm pretty good at super mario brothers wii as well.
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