Guest Post- Tips for Making Perfect Cupcakes + a WINNER!!!

Today's guest post comes from a baker all the way over in Melbourne, Australia. Maybe one day Matt and I will be able to visit Ivy and her sweet little shop- wouldn't that be fun?! Yes, yes it would.

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Some people think making cupcakes is easy, and it’s easy to see why. If you put the right amount of batter in the cupcake tin they will rise nicely and look perfect, but often that isn’t all there is to it. Cupcakes, any cake, can easily become hard and loose their fluffy texture if they are over cooked, or the batter is over worked. There are a bunch of variables that can impact the tastiness of your cupcakes, so I’ve put together a quick guide with some key pointers.

Quality ingredients matter. I don’t mean just your flour and eggs, make your cupcakes crazy delicious by using top quality flavour ingredients. Use vanilla beans or vanilla paste instead of vanilla extract, or worse, vanilla essence - which is just a combination of chemicals mixed together to taste like vanilla. Use a pure butter and cocoa to bring out the richness of the flavours, and don’t be afraid to be a bit exciting by trying exotic flavours like rose water, lychee, watermelon or even irish cream. Your guests will be impressed by your superior taste buds, you’ll keep em’ coming back for more!

Never over-cook! These are probably the hardest things to get good at so don’t be disheartened if you don’t get it right the first time, remember practice makes perfect! Always check your cupcakes at the minimum cooking time, you’re better off taking them out erring on the side of undercooked, because once you’ve cooked them too long, there’s no going back. You can check their progress by sticking a skewer into the centre of a cupcake, if it comes out clean, even with a couple of little crumbs sticking to it, they are ready to go! You can also check whether your oven is sitting on the right temperature by using a oven thermometer. 

Don’t over mix! The key to fluffy, moist cupcakes is air bubbles. To keep those air bubbles in tact you need to mix gently, over mixing collapses them making your cupcake solid and dry. Mix your batter on a low speed and stop when just combined to get fluffy cupcakes like these ones from Little Bertha.

The right temperature is room temperature. Taking this tip on board will make your life SO much easier! All your ingredients will come together a lot more easily if they are at the same temperature, especially butter which can be very difficult to work into a batter when cold. It takes a little forethought, but it is well worth the wait.  

Here’s a little bonus tip: if you don’t like how cupcakes stick to their wrappers, you can very lightly spray them with non stick spray before spooning your batter in. Alternatively, use silicone cases or spray your cupcake tin and have cupcakes without wrappers. If your cupcakes have a colourful flavour, let it show!

Ivy Delfin is an avid baker; she has been baking for the better part of 30 years from her mother’s kitchen to her own cake catering company. She loves nothing more than decorating her delicious cupcakes and sharing her spoils with friends.

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And the winner of the free blog design giveaway is:

Congratulations, Michell!!! DYWW will have a new look soon and you will LOVE it!

Email me at notesftn@gmail.com for more info. :)

Everyone else, thank so much for your sweet compliments about the new look! 
Don't forget that Tricia Nae Designs is offering 20% off through September 1st when you use the code NELSEN20 at checkout!