Good morning

I made these cupcakes last night and plan to frost/decorate them today.  I promised to deliver them to my DIL on Sat morning for her party that night.  They are sitting in a large tupperware container right now.  Please bear with me as I have a few questions and answers to any or all are very welcome.

1.  Should I take the papers off the cupcakes now?  Before frosting?  Leave them on for the party?  Spraying the papers before putting in the batter seemed like a good thought, has anyone done that?

2.  The plan is to frost them with the creamy dreamy white chocolate icing. But first, make a thick raspberry syrup.  Do you vote for piping it into the cupcake?  Or just syruping the top? 

BTW, I saw a Jacque Pepin episode where he is straining a raspberry sauce.  He recommends getting starting by taping the outside of the strainer with a knife to prevent the seeds being “mushed” into the sieve.  What a great tip. 

Thanks for your thoughts.

Hi birthdaycake,

Hope I can help….

1. Cupcakes tend to dry out quickly because of their relatively large surface area, and though the paper liner isn’t the best protection against this, if they look attractive, I would leave them on, even for the party. I would also recommend leaving the cupcakes in the tupperware for as long as possible before serving. (I’ve learned from experiences I hope never to repeat ). I’ve never sprayed the inside of my liners - interested in knowing if it makes a difference.

2. Not sure of the consistency of the syrup, but I would be concerned that a thick syrup would not be absorbed by the cupcake if you were to syrup the top and that the top would be left gummy. But, piping a thick syrup into the cupcake might cause the interior to be too wet. If you want to add the raspberry flavour, which, by the way I think would be absolutely delicious with your cupcake and frosting choices, I would recommend thickening the raspberry to the consistency of a jam or perhaps mixing it into some of the frosting (not sure how this last suggestion may work as I’ve only done this with the mousseline buttercream - maybe some other forum members have tried this) and piping this into the cupcake.

Thanks for the tip from Jacques Pepin - simple but it makes sense.

These cupcakes sound delicious! I would love to know what you end up doing.

I agree with Sophia that you should add the raspberry flavor onto the frosting. It works better that way and it’ll give the frosting a pink hue that will be pretty.

Please take pictures and post it under Show & Tell when you can. It’s a delicious cake and I bet it’d be lovely with the raspberry flavor.

thanks to both of you for the input.  Taking your suggestions I made the raspberry sauce and combined some of it with the frosting.  Then I cut a small triangular cone into the top of the cake and filled it with the raspberry frosting and replaced the cutout.  Then applied the white choc frosting which I sort of corrupted with confectionary sugar to make it a bit stiffer.  Probably will be pretty darn sweet. I only did three tonight for my dh and will do the rest in the morning.  I am enjoying learning to bake and realize how much there is to know.  It is so helpful to have some friendly direction from this forum.

Thanks for the tips. I also have problems with cupcakes. I use some great cake recipes (including many of Rose’s recipes) and they always TASTE great, but they are flat and sometimes even a bit sunken. Since most people seem to like a pretty swirl of frosting mounded up, nobody notices that the cupcake itself is not domed. I will try the 20 minute rest trick and see if that helps. Otherwise, I thought of reducing the BP, but how much would I reduce it?

Also, sometimes when I store them in an airtight container, the paper loosens and starts peeling off. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Christa

http://www.bakeoutsidethebox.blogspot.com

ChristaBaker - 19 March 2012 01:19 PM

I also have problems with cupcakes. I use some great cake recipes (including many of Rose’s recipes) and they always TASTE great, but they are flat and sometimes even a bit sunken. Since most people seem to like a pretty swirl of frosting mounded up, nobody notices that the cupcake itself is not domed. I will try the 20 minute rest trick and see if that helps.

Welcome Christa!

I find that the 20 min rest works for many recipes, but some recipes just don’t lend themselves to cupcakes without a lot of doctoring.

ChristaBaker - 19 March 2012 01:19 PM

Otherwise, I thought of reducing the BP, but how much would I reduce it?

I don’t usually make BP adjustments but Rose’s adaptation of the her white velvet butter cake to cupcake form uses ~10% (1/4 tsp) less baking powder. You may want to use that as a starting point.

ChristaBaker - 19 March 2012 01:19 PM

Also, sometimes when I store them in an airtight container, the paper loosens and starts peeling off. Any suggestions?

I’ve never had that problem but it may be because I tend to make mine a little larger, so that the cake fills the liner while baking and domes above it so that the cake essentially “grabs on” to the edge of the liner. This is a suggestion that was made in a previous thread regarding peeling liners. Several reasons for peeling were proposed as well including over baking, storing before thoroughly cooling….you may want to check out these threads:

http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/index_ee.php/forums/viewthread/568/
http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/index_ee.php/forums/viewthread/566/

Hope this helps!

Thank you for your quick reply!