All-New Cake Mix Doctor - Anne Byrn [153]
Cupcakes are also easy to bake. The only extra supplies you need are a cupcake pan and paper liners. In fact, you can turn your favorite cake recipe into cupcakes just by filling the paper liners about three-quarters full and baking the batter from twenty to twenty-five minutes. A typical recipe will yield twenty to twenty-four cupcakes. And they’re delicious frosted in any fashion—with a thick and creamy buttercream, a spoonful of glaze, or simply a dusting of confectioners’ sugar.
You’ll see in this chapter that I’ve got a wonderful lemon cupcake, a strawberry cupcake, and a dazzling red velvet one, plus a white cupcake that’s perfect for weddings and birthdays and a caramel cupcake recipe custom-made for bake sales. But I’ve also got recipes for chocolate lovers like me. I especially love the Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes with Chocolate Fudge Marshmallow Frosting, the Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes (my take on the Hostess cupcake), and the remake of my cookie dough cupcake from the cupcake book.
Muffins, on the other hand, are a cup-cake without attitude. And, without a liner and frosting. However, the lines have been blurred between muffins and cupcakes as muffins now come packed with chocolate chips and fruit and fun toppings. But essentially, muffins have a crisp exterior and are intended to be eaten for breakfast or a snack. You can serve the Sock-It-to-Me Muffins, a take-off on the famous Bundt cake, for breakfast or brunch. The Chocolate Chip Muffins are a favorite at our house any time of the day. And the Apple Spice Muffins are perfect for fall brunches and tailgate parties.
The two surprise recipes? A cinnamon roll made using a cake mix and Whoopie Pies, a soft chocolate cream sandwich recipe that many readers have both requested and shared through the years. I am pleased to be able to include these two recipes in this book.
As always, read through my recipes and adapt them to your tastes. I want you to be the best cupcake baker, so feel free to mix and match the frostings. Let my ideas begin your cupcake baking fun.
A BETTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH CUPCAKE
THE COOKIE DOUGH CUPCAKE has to be one of our family favorites from Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor. But I noticed that sometimes the dough would rise up out of the baked cupcakes. Martha Bowden figured a solution to this—setting aside some of the batter before filling the cupcake pans and spooning a teaspoon of the reserved batter onto the filled cupcakes just before baking. This seals in the cookie dough and makes a prettier cupcake. Don’t worry, the same great taste is still here.
makes:
22 to 24 cupcakes (2½ inches in diameter)
prep:
15 minutes
bake:
23 to 27 minutes
cool:
20 minutes
24 paper liners for cupcake pans (2½ inch size)
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup milk
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 package (1 pound) frozen chocolate chip cookie dough (see Note)
Fluffy Chocolate Frosting (page 478)
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners and set the pans aside.
2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 1½ to 2 minutes longer, scraping down the side of the bowl again if needed. The batter should look well blended.
3. Set aside ¾ to 1 cup of the