Cupcake challenge - The Aftermath (Charis writes)

Now I remember why it took so long to get back to the baking challenge. It was simply exhausting! I took a full day to recover from the heat and exertion. Didn't help that I smoked up the kitchen when I put chocolate chips in the microwave to melt them - a big no-no but a mandatory for a novice baker (as self-consolation).  But I did it albeit slightly veering from the original plan. I baked two batches of cupcakes and if you had followed my tweets that fateful day, I mentioned that it was due to snacking and some cakes that didn't pass the QC.

For the first batch, I used Goddess of Housekeeping, Martha Stewart's recipe for One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes , a really simple recipe which has all the ingredients in one bowl. I had to substitute buttermilk and safflower oil with milk + vinegar (yes, there's vinegar inside!) and melted butter and the result was amazing! It tasted a little bit like Mum's moist chocolate cake recipe. I used this recipe for the frosting instead of buttercream frosting so it was easier to pack it up for the bake sale I was contributing the cakes to.

The second batch with the original vanilla flavor just didn't work out at all. It sunk in the middle and despite my efforts to revive it with "decorating" it just didn't stick. Here's the reason why it sunk.

So here is the picture of the cupcakes (first batch only). I still need to work on the decoration bit. Maybe the next challenge would be fondant icing!

Cupcake challenge (Charis writes)

Last year for Christmas, I challenged myself to a bake-out where I baked cookies, a loaf of bread and a cake, all from scratch, and also threw in a roast chicken for good measure. This year after a 5-month hiatus, I am ready to bake again. This time, it's cupcakes.

My best memories of cupcakes were eating them with great friends in Wondermilk in Damansara Utama and of course, the baby blue with white/yellow daisies on top wedding cupcake-cake we had. You can view the pictures from the creator's blog, May, my lovely ex-neighbour :) She does an amazing job with all things cake!

So in celebration of the recently concluded royal wedding, I baked 2 dozen cupcakes with tiny pink heart sprinkles on top. But I took no pictures as they were, well, kinda ugly. I thought getting brown colouring for my buttercream frosting was a good idea but without the right piping tools, it just turned out, rather... natural-looking, if you know what I mean. So no pictures, but thank goodness they more than make up in taste. So I am taking myself up to this next cupcake challenge, a very simple vanilla cupcake recipe with either chocolate ganache or fondant for icing.

Now, who wants to join me in this quest? :D