The Complete Muffin & Cupcake Cookbook:
600 Recipes to Bake at Home, with Love!
Anna Goldman
Table of Contents with Recipe Names is on The Next Page
Main Table (Alphabetical)
Baking Basics
Baking required no introduction. It is one of the oldest and most popular cooking methods known to mankind. These days, pretty much every kitchen has the food ingredients and equipment required to bake some delicious goodies.
Baking is a fairly simple process that can be used to prepare food ranging from simple breads to spectacular confectionery.
Before we jump into the recipes, let us take a look at the ingredients and equipment you will need. If youre a veteran baker already, feel free to jump straight into the recipes. If youre a newbie, stick around for a while longer.
Ingredients
In this section we will discuss a few of the most commonly used ingredients in baking recipes.
Butter
Butter has an amazing flavour and texture by itself, and when used in baking recipes, it greatly enhances the flavour and texture of the final product. Unsalted butter is best as it gives you full control over the taste of your recipes.
Milk
Milk is one of the most important ingredients when it comes to baking. It makes the four tender, and also forms the base for quite a few recipes.
Flour
Always sift the flour before you use in a baking recipe. Pretty much every kind of flour out there can be used for baking, but the most popular kind used for making is All Purpose Flour. It is easily available, doesnt cost much, and easy to work with.
Cake Flour is another kind of flour that is smoother than all purpose flour. It is great for making cake sponges and other tender & spongy baked recipes.
Pastry Flour is another flour which works pretty much like cake flour.
Self-Rising Flour is basically all-purpose flour mixed with baking powder. To make your own, mix one teaspoon of baking powder for each cup of flour.
Rye Flour is a healthy flour with great nutritional benefits. However, it doesnt form gluten strands, making it ill-suited for yeasted dough.
Oat Flour is loaded with fiber and protein. It is commonly used in healthy baking recipes.
Almond flour, coconut flour, tapioca flour are a few other flours that are used in baking recipes today.
Baking Powder
Baking powder is basically a mixture of baking soda and an acidic component. It is a leavening agent on its own, and doesnt require addition of an acidic ingredient to do its work.
Hundreds of branks make baking powder, and they are all pretty much the same. Just make sure the baking powder you buy is free of aluminium. Baking powder has a shelf life of about six months, so make sure you use it all before that.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is a leavening agent that requires another acidic ingredient to do its job. It can be stored safely for years.
Yeast
Found commonly in bread, dinner rolls and similar pastries, yeast is a natural leavening agent which does its job by fermenting in the batter or dough, causing a rise in volume by absorbing air.
Sugar
Excess of sugar leads to a spike in blood glycogen levels, and is rightly blamed for many health problems. Eat sugary delights in moderation, and as a side to a healthy balanced diet. Sugar adds texture, sweetness, and moisture to baked recipes, making it an important ingredient in some of the sweet baked goodies. It promotes the growth of yeast in a few of the recipes too.
There are many kinds of sugars available out there, and every recipe will specify the kind of sugar used. If not mentioned, use the regular granulated sugar. Brown sugar is unrefined white sugar, and has a strong taste of its own, making it unsuitable most of the recipes. However, in some recipes, the flavour of brown sugar compliments the flavour of the recipe.
Chocolate
If a recipe in this book calls for dark chocolate, it is best to use a chocolate that has a cocoa content higher than 70%. Dark chocolate is the most commonly used chocolate in this book, as it has low sugar content, and has a strong flavour and great texture. If a recipe calls for chocolate chips, and you dont have those on hand, just chop up a chunk of dark chocolate into small bits and youre good to go!
White and milk chocolates are quite popular too these days, and taste great due to the high sugar content.
Cocoa Powder
Today, two kinds of cocoa powers are popular- natural cocoa powder, and Dutch processed cocoa powder.
Unless stated otherwise, all cocoa powder used in this book is Dutch processed cocoa powder due to its darker colour and intense taste.
Eggs
Free ranch fresh eggs are best. Unless stated otherwise, all eggs used in this book are medium-sized.
Eggs are one of the most commonly used ingredients in baking as they greatly enhance the texture of cakes and cookies, and allow air to be absorbed into the batter, making it fluffy. They are also help keep the recipes moist.
Eggs are delicious and nutritious on their own, and when used in baking recipes, impart their nutrition, taste, and colour to the recipes.
Gelatin
Gelatin or gelatine is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, derived from collagen extracted from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and gummy when moist. It is used to to stabilize creams or jellies and it needs to be bloomed before use. If you boil it, it loses its strength, so dont do that.
Unless stated otherwise, all gelatin used in this book is powdered or granulated. Leafed gelatin comes in handy sometimes too.
Nuts
Nuts are rich in healthy fats, and taste absolutely scrumptious on pretty much everything baked. Some of the most commonly used nuts in baked recipes are: almonds, coconut, hazelnuts, pecans, peanuts, walnuts, pistachio, macadamia nuts, cashew nuts, etc. Nuts are best used fresh.
Salt
Salt is a common ingredient in all kinds of cooking, and baking is no exception. Salt strengthens the gluten structure, enhances the flavour, and highly useful with yeast.
Spices
Spices are delicious and nutritious, and add a variety of flavours to baked recipes. One of the most commonly used spices in baking is vanilla. A natural extract of vanilla is best. Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, orange zest, lemon zest, cloves, lavender, etc are some other spices commonly used in baking.
Equipment
Some cheap basic equipment is all you really need to start baking. You probably already have most of the stuff I am about to list.
Baking Pans
Small pans, large pans, they all get the job done. Just make sure you have some.
Cake pans are great for making cakes. If you dont intend to make multiple cakes simultaneously, just one pan is all you really need. A basic pan with a diameter of eight to nine inches usually gets the job done. They are easily available in stores, and on amazon.
Bundt cake pans are used to give spectacular shapes to your cakes. They come in pretty much all shapes, sizes, and patterns. Just remember that the more complex the design gets, the harder they are to clean.
Muffin tins are really useful for making muffins, and are easily available on amazon, and in stores around you. I personally prefer muffin tins with minimum 12 cups, as I have a family of 4, and 12 cups hits the spot. If you get a smaller one, just reduce the amount of ingredients you use proportionally.
Pie and tart pans are also handy little pans, and it is a good idea to have minimum one of each if you wish to make these recipes.
Mixer
