Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Mistakes in Baking


I'm sure everyone has made mistakes when they're baking or cooking. Baking is a learning experience, everything can't be perfect alll the time.

I wanted to bring some kind of cupcakes to Thanksgiving so I decided to try and make Tiramisu Cupcakes. I've never made them before, so it thought it would be fun. Um.. wrong.

The recipe was very bad/: Sorry, but it's true. The directions were not very good at all and the steps were very complicated. The recipe had me form stiff peaks with egg whites once, and whipped cream twice! That's a lot of whipping. And I only have a hand mixer so it takes longer than it would with a kitchen aid.

But, the good part is I made my own frosting! The custard for the tiramisu came out very runny but the cupcakes were fine so by that time, I just wanted to make a simple frosting and be done with it. Everyone liked the frosting a lot!(: I'll be making that again soon.

White Ladyfinger Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
5 egg whites

Directions
Sift together flours, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

In mixing bowl, (if using a stand mixer use paddle attachment), cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add vanilla extract and beat until Incorporated.

In separate small bowl, combine oil and milk.

Add flour and milk/oil mixture alternately to the butter and sugar mixture. Beating on low speed after each addition.

Pour mixture into large bowl. Scrape down the sides to make sure you get all of the batter.

In small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter to "lighten" the batter. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites.

Grease and lightly flour two muffin pans. Fill each cup half full.

Bake at 350 Degrees F for 18-20 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool on wire rack.

Mascarpone Frosting
recipe by Me

Ingredients
8 oz mascarpone cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon almond milk (or regular milk/soy milk will work)
1 teaspoon vanilla
(butter can also be added to the recipe, if needed)

Directions
Using an electric mixer, beat mascarpone cheese and powdered sugar together. Slowly add almond milk in 1/2 teaspoon measures. Add the vanilla. Mixture should be thick, but not runny. Do not over beat.

If you want to make the tiramisu cupcakes, the recipe is here.

What was your biggest mistake/fail in the kitchen?

10 comments:

  1. That stinks! The frosting sounds amazing though, glad that came out good :)

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  2. The cupcake certainly looks good! Your frosting sounds to die for. :)

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  3. Well frosting is a valuable skill...one might argue you don't really need the cake to go under it EVERY time... ;)

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  4. Cupcakes are always a bit tricky--there's alot of good recipes out there, but some duds too!

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  5. I agree with Diana, nothing nicer than a bowl of frosting and a spoon!!!!!

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  6. I definitely plan on trying this recipe! Tiramisu is one of our favorite desserts, so thanks for posting another version of it. :)

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  7. It happens once in a while.. Some recipes are misleading. I actually find that a hand mixer can whip egg whites faster than a stand mixer, especially if you use a small amount.

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  8. You make it look so easy...which is why I'm always so scared to bake! It just takes one mistake to ruin the entire batch, and I just don't think I'm ready to make a big mistake like that!

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  9. Oh well...it will be a good reason to get a kitchen aid. I would wish to have one :D

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  10. The cupcakes look good at least! I love icing :) I've had plenty of baking mistakes! The most recent was granola bars that came out with a chalky texture. No idea how it happened, but oh well. I ate them anyway :)

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