Add some berries to your cupcakes!

Mon, 6 Jul 2009 04:35:57 PDT

July is National Berry Month! Berries are a great addition to summer cupcakes. Using fresh fruit as a garnish is great, or filling the center of your cupcakes with jam or preserves, makes for delightful surprise. Here are your summer berry tips:

What Kind of Cake Should I Use?

The cake depends a little on the berry.

-White cake is simple and works the best when making berry jam filled cupcakes.You can use any type of jam or preserves. Strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and blackberry are generally easy to find in your local grocery store.

-Chocolate is a great pair when using a berry compote in the frosting. Raspberries and blueberries have a stronger flavor that carries well with the heavy chocolate cake.

-Sponge cake is good for strawberries. Especially if you stick half a strawberry in the center or on top before baking.

How Do I Get the Jam in the Middle?

There are a couple different ways to fill your cupcakes with jam/preserves.

My favorite way that never fails is to put the jam in before baking.

To do this, prepare your cake batter normally. When you go to fill up the cupcake cups, fill it only half way, then dollop half a teaspoon to a teaspoon of jam in the middle. Cover the jam with batter until the cup is 2/3 full.

You can also put the jam in after the cupcakes are baked.

Wait until the cupcakes have cooled. Cut a hole in the top of each cupcake and remove the piece. Put a teaspoon of jam in the hole, and cover it back up with the cake you removed.

What Kind of Frosting Goes Best with Berries?

The best frosting to pair with berries are ones that aren't too sweet. The berries are sweet enough! A basic whipped cream or cream cheese frosting is usually the best.

Hope these tips help in kicking off your summer with some berrylicious cupcakin' fun.

Posted by Dana

Categories: News, Tip

Buttermilk and Self Rising Flour... and what to do if you don't have any

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:45:05 PDT

There are a couple ingredients that I never seem to have, buttermilk, and self rising flour. Every time I buy buttermilk, I use the tiny bit required for the recipe, then the rest goes bad in my fridge! And I have no excuse for the self rising flour. Anyways, here is some information about buttermilk, and SR flour, and what to do if you don't have any!

Just what is buttermilk anyway?

Buttermilk is milk, with a higher concentration of lactic acid. This is why buttermilk has a tart flavor. Not always fun to drink, but makes for great cupcakes. Contrary to its name, buttermilk does not contain butter, or has any higher fat content than your regular milk. There are two kinds of buttermilk, cultured and uncultured. Typically for baking the uncultured stuff is just fine. To find out more about active cultured buttermilk, you can click here.

How do I make buttermilk in a pinch?

There are a few ways of doing this. My personal favorite that works really well, I learned from Smitten Kitchen's Raspberry Buttermilk Cake.

Combine 1 cup of whole milk with 1 tablespoon of vinegar (white vinegar or apple cider vinegar works best). Let the mixture set for about 10 -15 minutes and stir well. Voila! Instant buttermilk.

Mister Breakfast adds that you can add lemon juice or cream or tartar to milk to get the same buttermilk effect.

Self Rising Flour

On to self rising flour. The difference between self rising flour and all purpose flour is the addition of salt and baking soda. Recipes that call for self rising flour usually don't call for any additional leavening agents. The leavening is evenly distributed throughout the flour for a nice even rise during baking.

How do I make self rising flour in a pinch?

The correct ratio is as follows:

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

1/8 teaspoon of salt

Make sure you sift these ingredients together VERY evenly!

So there you have it! Never again will you have to let your extra buttermilk go to waste, or hunt down self rising flour.

Posted by Dana

Categories: News, Tip

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Add some berries to your cupcakes!

Posted by Dana

Buttermilk and Self Rising Flour... and what to do if you don't have any

Posted by Dana