Monday, July 5, 2010

Mondays with Martha :)



Due to the long holiday weekend (Happy 4th!) I decided to bake on Monday. I did some red, white and blue cupcakes but due to lackluster results decided not to post them. I know, Lame. I didn't like the taste and the look was, well, boring. Oh, and they also were not "Martha" cupcakes, so the charm would be lost. At any rate, today I did "Devils Food" cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream. I have to say, nothing beats a chocolate cupcake. I love chocolate. I know tons of chocolate fans. And other than the German chocolates I did last week, this was my first chocolate on chocolate cupcake. I loved the results!
The recipe was a diversion from the normal. It had you melt the butter and sugar together over medium heat then transfer it to the mixer to cool while being mixed. I had never done that before. It then had you add the eggs after the butter "whipped cool" for 5 minutes. Next you added the unsweetened coco mix that you stirred til limp free in some hot water. Then you alternated sour cream and flour/baking powder/baking soda/salt mixture til just combined. Lastly, you added a touch of vanilla. It was kinda interesting and made a fairly fluid mix. I filled my cups around 2/3 to 3/4 full. I wanted them to dome well, because I wasn't going to pipe on the icing. I have discovered that my oven bakes slightly faster than the recipe, i.e. my 20 minute bake times are more around 18 minutes. So I baked them at 350 for 18 minutes. They came out perfect.
My icing was fairly simple. Milk, powdered sugar, unsweetened coco, and butter. Very little butter actually, just 6 tablespoons. It ended up very chocolate-ty and sweet, which was good with the not as sweet cupcakes. They balanced well.
If you pick up the book and want to try this recipe I suggest the following:

-Use very good quality Unsweetened Coco. I think that helped my cakes and icing taste deep and refined, not over sweet and light on chocolate flavor

-Study the recipe and take your time to ensure you have everything out before you start. For example most recipes spell out "in the mean time get blahblahblah ready for the next step". Martha assumes your very smart and read the entire recipe before you start and doesn't bore you with such helpful blabber. I learned that in the first recipe and that helped me feel more in control this time.

-Use good quality bake ware. I know any old pan will do but when your trying to achieve a truly perfect cupcake the pan really does matter. Even heating is key.
So there you have it. My cakes came out moist and spongy- my favorite type. And the icing complimented the cake perfectly.


My Wilton cupcake pan. Its heavy and perfect!


Invest in a stand mixer. This is a cheaper Hamilton Beach and it does a great job! (Also note the vintage kitchen, lovely right?!?)
The picture sold me on this one!






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