Elinor Klivans - Cupcakes: Reference to Go

Cupcakes and I have a long and happy history together.

Over the years, Ive baked cupcakes to celebrate every family birthday and decorated cupcakes for every holiday. My family and I carried them to countless bake sales, picnics, and potlucks, and they were there to welcome the kids home from school. An afternoon tea party called for bite-size tea cakes, and for dinner parties, I brought out the showstopper versions. I have never tired of the endless variety of tastes and styles that make these treats such a joy. For Cupcakes: Reference to Go, Ive chosen 25 of my favorite recipes; from the elegant to the unexpected, these cupcakes will suit any occasion and are sure to charm and delight the inner child in everyone.

The exact equivalents in the following tables have been rounded for convenience.

LIQUID/DRY MEASURES

LENGTH

OVEN TEMPERATURE

Keep it simple is my cupcake motto. Cupcakes rely on straightforward and easy-to-understand methods. Most recipes that make 12 to 18 cupcakes use about 1 cup of flour, which results in about half the amount of batter that would be used for a large cake. These smaller quantities can be mixed together quickly. Making the frostings and toppings usually requires only beating or stirring the ingredients. Making cupcakes is relaxed, informal baking.

Cupcakes are baked in muffin tins, which are also called muffin pans or cupcake pans. I prefer to use nonstick pans. Cupcake pans come in three sizes: regular, mini, and extra-large. Each cup of a regular cupcake panwhich might have either six or twelve cupsholds 1/3 to cup batter. Pans for mini-cupcakes, or tea cakes, have twelve 1-ounce cups. Pans for extra-large, or Texas, cupcakes have cups with a 1-cup capacity and usually six cups per pan. To bake any of the recipes in this deck, youll need enough pans to bake 18 regular cupcakes, 48 mini-cupcakes, or 12 extra-large cupcakes.

The paper or foil liners used to line cupcake pans, often labeled baking cups, can be found at almost any supermarket. These fluted liners come in a regular 2 -inch size, a 1 5/8-inch mini-size, and a 3 -inch extra-large size. These liners make for easy pan cleanup, keep baked cupcakes from drying out, and protect the cupcakes when they are transported to a picnic or during shipping.

A large pastry bag, about 16 inches long, is a useful tool, but a heavy-weight self-sealing freezer bag can be substituted. Disposable plastic pastry bags are another good option. A large star tip and a large plain tip are the only ones needed for decorating these cupcakes.

Most cupcakes are cooled on a wire rack so the cupcakes do not get soggy on the bottom as they cool. Since standard rectangular racks hold about a dozen cupcakes, it is useful to have two of them.

When mixing a cupcake batter, it is important to know when you should beat the ingredients thoroughly and when you simply need to mix them together. Each recipe provides this information.

Most frostings simply require beating the ingredients together until smooth. Old-fashioned egg-white-and-sugar frostings, however, are beaten in a container set over a pan of hot water. These frostings need to be cooked until they increase in volume, become white and fluffy, and are firm enough to hold a shape.

To make powdered-sugar glazes, you simply stir the liquid and dry ingredients together. The consistency of these glazes can be adjusted by adding a little more powdered sugar to thicken them or a little more liquid to thin them.

When filling pans or cupcake liners with batter, use a tablespoon or a smaller spoon to drop the batter into the center of each cup or liner. Rubber or silicone spatulas are useful for scraping all of the batter out of the bowl.

The size of the cupcake pan cups, of course, determines the cupcake size, but the quantity of batter you use for each cupcake is also a factor. Use less batter, and the cupcake will rise just to the top of the liner or pan. Use more batter, and the cupcake forms a big flat top that rises over the top of the pan.

Most of the recipes take advantage of the convenience of paper liners, but there are a few that omit liners. I dont use them for upside-down cupcakes that have sticky bottoms, which would stick to the liners, or for angel food cupcakes, which need to climb the sides of the pan as they rise.

When making either dense or very moist cupcakes, I spray the liners with nonstick spray. This keeps the baked cupcakes from sticking to the liners and prevents any large cupcake tops from separating from the rest of the cupcakes when you remove the liner.

I provide the quantity of batter to use for each cupcake when filling the pans. If paper liners are used in the recipe, I also give a measurement for how high the batter should be in the liner.

Paper liners help protect cupcakes from drying out, as well as keep them stable during travel, so I usually leave them on the cupcakes until Im ready to serve them.

An average-size cupcake bakes in about 20 minutes. The baking times provided here are general guidelines, however: Ovens, muffin tins, and even the temperature of your batter may vary, so check cupcakes often as the end of the baking time nears and use the touch and toothpick tests. Most cupcakes are done when the tops feel firm if lightly touched and if a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.

I bake cupcakes on the middle rack of the oven and seldom need to rotate the pans for even baking. When the oven rack is filled with several pans of cupcakes, the cupcakes may need additional minutes to bake.

After the cupcakes are finished baking, they should cool in the pan on a wire rack according to the directions indicated in each recipe. Once cooled in the pan, the cupcakes should be removed from the pan to cool completely as follows: Carefully place the wire rack on top of the cupcakes in their pan. Protecting your hands with pot holders and holding the pan and rack together, invert them to release the cupcakes onto the wire rack. Turn the cupcakes top side up to cool completely.

Most cupcakes can be covered and stored at room temperature or in the refrigerator for at least two days. Cupcakes without frosting can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, sealed in a container, and frozen for up to two months. Most frosted or filled cupcakes can be frozen for up to two months (excepting those with meringue, pastry cream, or other highly perishable fillings and frostings). Frosted cupcakes must be chilled before they are wrapped so the frosting will firm up and not be squashed by the wrapping. Leave the wrapping on while they defrost, so any moisture that forms will be on the wrapping, not on the cupcakes.

I prefer to use toppings that repeat the flavor or ingredients used in a cupcake. Chocolate cupcakes could be finished with shaved chocolate, chocolate cutouts, or drizzles of melted chocolate. The tops of nut cupcakes can be rolled in chopped nuts to cover them completely, or the edges or tops can be sprinkled with nuts. Whole nuts can be placed individually in the center of a cupcake or arranged as a border. Ginger-or citrus-flavored cupcakes look attractive topped with thin strips of candied ginger or citrus peel. Cupcakes for a holiday call for more of an anything-goes finish: colorful sprinkles, small candies, nonpareils, and crushed peppermint candy all look festive.