1- Take a good look at the recipe. Why complicate your life if there are recipes for thousands on the net that will go wonderfully and are contrasted? I think that before we start doing experiments, much better is to get a good cupcake recipe, the one you like the most and play with it, until you find the one that best suits you. But for this it is important that you read the recipe before doing anything, before even buying the ingredients, to make sure that you understand the steps well and control the moments of each of the things. The confectionery is like chemistry, as it fails in some step, the experiment can be failed.
2.- The oven temperature. I am not going to tell you to look for an oven thermometer, there is no need to buy or spend. Of course, it may happen that you see a recipe for cupcakes and suddenly, it does not work in the same way. It may be that the temperature of your oven is not correct. A tip that I give you, that you always warm up to the maximum and lower the temperature (the one that I tell you in the recipe), when you put the cupcakes, especially in winter that temperature is lost when you open the door. But always watch the times. If you can do it with a thermometer, great, but if not, as I say, very pending from the oven.
3.- Use the ingredients at room temperature. If you are not told otherwise, because you have to melt the butter or chocolate, try to have the ingredients at room temperature whenever you can. The butter if it is too cold will make you horrible lumps, or the egg if it is fresh from the fridge, it will cost you more to get into the mixes. Even milk, cream or buttermilk, always, get it out before you start preparing the cupcakes.
4.- You should not beat the cupcake dough more than you should. It is very important, that the moment you have the ingredients incorporated and mixed, pairs to beat, since if you continue, you will have a much more compact and dense cupcake and that is not the idea, we want lightness and softness and air inside it . The most important thing is that butter and sugar beat very well, and getting a lot of air when we mix them (obviously with Thermomix-type appliances, it is much easier, but with electric rods it is also possible). Use smooth, very smooth speeds and no sharpness when whisking, it is essential for the gluten of the flour to work and the magic come alive.
5.- The flour we use, we always relate it to the density of the cake. It is true that we could use flour with yeast, in fact, there are recipes that do it, but normally, the normal one is used, the one that does not have yeast, that of pastry that is finer. And another thing we do is sift the flour very well, even up to 3 times, eliminating any hint of lump.
6.- Let's not spend filling the cupcake molds. It is the typical mistake that we have all made at some time: we spend putting dough, it gives us the feeling that they are not going to go well. My advice: fill them 2/3 and that's it. I use a spoon of the large ice cream to make it the exact and perfect portion and thus they will all come out equal in size and perfect to decorate.
7.- Bake the trays one by one. In my case, I can fit two trays, so I can always bake 24 at a time, but if your oven is small and only fits one at a time, make one at a time. It is more important, if it is that you are in a hurry, that you organize the time to have them done before, and not try to bake two trays at the same time (up and down) for example, since they will not be as good, and some will be done before others.
8.- Once you have your cupcakes in the oven, try not to open it until about 12 minutes or so have passed (if they are mini cupcakes half that time). This rule is also used for cupcakes: you must not open the oven before the first 40 minutes. It is at that time when magic is being done and when everything is trying to come together and create something delicious, so better not to disturb him. If you open it, it may happen that you fall apart and there is nothing left, so a little patience. Another tip that you can use is that after that half the baking time you can move the tray about 180º and so everything will be done the same.
9.- Let's not spend baking! Remember that they are small and that if we spend time we will be drier. You can do the wooden toothpick test to see if they are done, click and if it comes out clean, that's it.
10.- Let them rest for 5 minutes on the tray, before putting them on a cooling rack.
11.- If you want to choose a topping, think about the degree of sweetness, tenderness and the texture of the cupcake. Furthermore, if it is a recipe that has given you coverage, prepare the one that is told to you. Think that if you have a very dense and sweet cake, it should have a light coverage and, if possible, less sweet and the same on the contrary. You have to create an exquisite balance between the two parts of the cupcake if you want to really succeed.
12.- Decorate them to your liking. There are so many things to decorate, the possibilities are almost endless. Be original and create your own auctions to make your cupcake the best anyone has ever tasted.
Bake cupcakes!
As always, the possibilities are many and varied, so use your imagination to try new recipes.
Discover the rest of Cupcake recipes that we have published on the web, you will see that they are very varied recipes. There are many different types, from the easiest to the most complex to make, and with very varied flavors.
On the main page you have three basic recipes for making a buttercream: Basic buttercream, buttercream with cream cheese and chocolate buttercream.
