I am not a baker. I have fits with pie crust, having thrown the last batch that went wrong off my deck and into the blackberries, chasing the congealed mess with blue language. Cakes come out of the oven smaller than they were when they went in somehow. Bread comes out ok, but it doesn't excite me.
There's a good reason for that. Baking requires precise measurement. When I can't find my measuring spoons because the teenagers have taken them to measure chemicals for making white gun powder, I'll guess at how much a teaspoon is. It's not the same as a teaspoon in a place setting, I know that for sure. Measuring cups find their way into the laundry room and get thrown out with the empty box of Tide. It's not easy keeping kitchen equipment organized and in place when other people live in the house.
Normally, I stick with soups and stews for creative cooking. Those are easy to adjust to taste by adding a little bit of this and a dash of that. It is great fun to make stock from bones and vegetables, because all kinds of tastes can go in there. I'm happy with those results.
But the last few months I've had a hankering for a cupcake. Grocery store product is too sweet, there aren't any good bakeries within an hour of here, and although I can follow directions on a box of cake mix, those are not satisfactory, either. They taste fake.
Cupcakes are a very individual dessert expression. You can bake a couple dozen and make them all look and taste very different. Ice them in as many different colors and there is no limit to decoration. They fit any occasion from after dinner dessert to birthdays and weddings. Everybody likes cupcakes.
I stood in the baking section of Safeway and selected cake flour, new baking powder (thinking what's in my kitchen may have been purchased before the century turned), fresh eggs and powdered sugar. New measuring spoons and cups. I went home and dusted off the Kitchenaid mixer and pondered Betty Crocker's Cookbook. Let's see, will a Betty Crocker recipe work with Pillsbury flour? I hope so.
So many recipes. This first try was with a simple yellow cake, using some butter with the shortening. I will try for form first, see if I can get the texture and appearance I want, then explore variations later on.
These are good. A little dry, but I think I baked them a little too long. The simple icing I finished them with is good. Pink tinted buttercream with this first batch. Pink icing has to taste yummy, right?
Next batch will be lemon cake. I'll spoon a lemon juice glaze over the tops with just a dollop of white buttercream and a candied lemon rind. I can do it.
