First of all, I must say I am completely overjoyed by the oh-so-wonderful Betsy, or Java Cupcake, as she recently asked me to be a guest blogger and write a brief photography piece for her fantastically delicious blog! Cupcakes and photography? Both are individually delightful and together they are enough to provoke an over the top happy dance. I‘m not even kidding. Seriously, baking yummy cupcake treats, photographing those little lovelies and then of course the taste testing, can it get any better?

I think not!

Although I must admit, I’m quite new to the world of photography. So new that I just recently celebrated the first anniversary with my lovely little Canon 30D. I genuinely do not consider myself a real photographer and I’m primarily blaming this on my unwillingness to read instruction manuals or directions. I’ve always been the type to figure things out on my own and in my own way. My creativity is continuously improving and I’m finding myself more inspired each and everyday with the incredible people who do photography professionally. I’d like to think every picture I take is a new adventure – So, let me share my top three favorite pieces of advice with you.

First, the two most common techniques I absolutely believe in, is to utilize natural lighting and to style your subject attractively. Yep. That’s it. Very simple and extremely effective.

Although, in this wonderful State of Washington, utilizing natural light can be quite tricky. At least that’s my primary complaint during those forever long, dark and rainy winter months. I often found myself rushing to finish decorating the cupcakes to simply run outside and take a picture before the sun disappeared. In most cases, I would end up saving my cupcake creations until the next afternoon simply to take a better picture. So, if possible, take advantage of any natural lighting when it is actually available.

Second, most of my food and cupcake pictures are taken right in my own dining room – Hurrah for a sturdy window sill! Not only do I have ample amounts natural light but the presentation is also clean in appearance. I’m personally drawn to the simplicity and minimalism as it directs your focus to what really matters, your subject. Props and backgrounds are fun and can certainly add nostalgia to your photograph; however, using items or backgrounds that are too busy can often distract from the fabulousness of your subject. I like to think a bit of simplicity is often enough to make a photograph ‘pop’ on its own.

Finally, my absolute favorite piece of advice is to photograph absolutely everything you see. Yes, continue to photograph everything even if your significant other looks over to find you attempting to balance a cupcake on top of your pet Chihuahua’s head. Just ignore those judgmental stares and continue on with the silliness! You can read an instruction manual all day but the real lessons will come once you pick up the camera and begin shooting.

Enjoy the endless creativity!

Guidelines for Shipping Baked Goods to Deployed Service Members

Tips for Choosing what to Send

In the warmer months (Late Spring, Summer and Early Fall):

1. Try to avoid butter, margarine, peanut butter, & nuts. These fats tend to go rancid quicker in high heat and should be avoided when sending in hot summer months.
2. Also avoid brown sugar, corn sugar honey, & molasses. *These sugars can speed up the molding process in hot summer months.
3. Bar cookies and brownies are the best bets to retain their shape during shipping.  *You aren’t limited to these, but special care must be taken when packaging.
4. Don’t send chocolate! *Chocolate WILL MELT in the hot summer months and your care package will go to waste.

Tips for Packaging

1. Wrap items individually if possible using foil or saran wrap.  If possible, vacuum seal your items… this will help hold the freshness longer.  Wrapping individually helps to cushion the item and helps prevent breakage in transit.
2. Once they are individually wrapped you can do one of several things.  You can either:
   1. Place the items in a zip-loc type container with lid.
   2. Place the items in large zip-loc type bags.
   3. DO NOT SHOVE TOO MANY ITEMS INTO THE BAG/CONTAINER.  Over-crowding creates an environment where your goodies will break easier!

*You want to make sure they are in this second layer of wrapping in case some of them break or start to go bad, they won’t ruin the entire package.

1. Once they are in their container/bag, they are ready to be boxed.  When boxing, remember these tips:
   1. Put a layer of cushion between the bottom of the box and the first layer of goodies.  You can use:
      1. Packaging peanuts
      2. Crumpled up newspaper
      3. Bubble wrap
      4. Any other packaging cushion you have on hand
2. Add your goodies to the box. Fill in any gaps between goodies with more of what you used on the bottom.
3. Leave some room at the top of the box to fill with crumpled up newspaper or other packaging paper.  This will help keep the items in place during shipping.

Shipping

1. USE FLAT RATE BOXES! When shipping to an APO address, flat rate boxes offer a discount and are really a great value when shipping overseas.
2. Use clear tape to seal box.  Make sure to seal all edges with at least one layer of tape.
3. When addressing the box, make sure you have the soldiers correct address.  It should look something like this:

Rank Last Name, First Name

Unit Name or FOB Name

APO AE #####

1. DO NOT PUT IRAQ or AFGHANISTAN or the COUNTRY NAME on the box.  If you do that, it will be put in that countries mail system and the soldier may never receive the package.  Stick to the address the soldier has given you.  Nothing more, nothing less.
2. Before you go to the desk at the post office:
   1. You will need to get a CUSTOMS FORM.  They can be found at the post office.
   2. Fill out the following:
      1. To including address
      2. From including address
      3. Contents of box
         1. Be specific, but don’t be too specific.  You want to declare that there are snacks, letters, books, etc, but you don’t want to say that there are super valuable items in the box.  You can be vague and say, electronics or movies… but don’t write laptop or portable DVD player.  It’s more likely that it will get stolen in route to your soldier.
      4. Value
      5. Check the box: If undeliverable, return to sender
      6. Check the box: Gift
      7. Sign and Date
      8. At the post office:
         1. Take your package and customs form to the counter to be mailed.
         2. They will attach your customs form to the box and take your payment.
         3. Answer NO to all their questions about the contents of the box.
         4. You won’t need confirmation of delivery for your package.
         5. Only get insurance if you are sending something of great value that would be hard to replace.

Source: HowdiniGuru

1. Substitute an equal part of whole wheat flour for white flour as long as it’s the same type of flour. In other words, 1 cup of whole wheat bread flour can replace 1 cup of white bread flour, and 1/2 cup of whole wheat all-purpose flour is an acceptable substitute for 1/2 cup of white all-purpose flour.
2. Sift whole wheat flour more than white. The problem cooks tend to run into is that because whole wheat flour is more dense, the end product can often seem heavy or solid. No one wants to eat bread that has no air in it, so if you’re using whole wheat flour, lessen the density by sifting the flour a couple of times. This helps incorporate more air into the dough.
3. Adjust your recipe to keep your baked goods from drying out. If you do a complete substitution and there is no white flour in your recipe, you’ll end up with a baked item that is a bit drier than normal. There are two ways to avoid this: you can adjust your baking time and take the bread or muffins out of the oven sooner, or you can increase your wet ingredients ever so slightly. For example, if you’re making an applesauce muffin with whole wheat flour, add just a bit more applesauce to compensate for the dryness of the whole wheat.
4. Avoid over-mixing when you use whole-wheat all-purpose flour in baked goods such as cookies or muffins. Too much mixing will cause the flour to form glutens, which gives you a tougher, chewier end product. Some cooks choose to use a combination of whole wheat and white flour for a slightly fluffier end result. Depending on what you’re cooking, you may want to substitute anywhere from half to all of your white flour with whole wheat.

Source:  http://www.ehow.com/how_2299938_substitute-wholewheat-flour-white.html

Have your cupcakes ever separated from their liners? If so, do you know why that happened? (via Twitter)

Hi [wishes to remain anonymous]!

I get this question ALOT from my cupcake minions… ahem… readers. Here are a few things that I’ve noticed when I bake that may play a role in cupcake separation from liners.

(1) Humidity and excessive rain (weather) is a big factor. If there is more moisture in the air than usual or you live in a high humidity environment combined with the heat from the pan, steam will occur between the liners and the pan if you leave the cupcakes in the pan to cool. Regardless of increased moisture, I usually take my cupcakes out of the pan after they come out of the oven and let them cool on a rack or baking sheet to avoid the build up of steam. Also make sure that before you start baking that your cupcake pan is dry too!

(2) I have found that there is variation in cupcake liners too. I usually like the party nut cups for their simple structure and it allows me to get away with not using a cupcake pan but when I’m baking for clients many request the normal cupcake liners since they are easier to unpleat and eat. I suppose the customer is always right. HA! In my experience the plain white liners seem to work better than the more decorated ones. To be honest I’m not sure if there’s something different about some of the decorated ones vs the plain white ones. That’s just an observation I’ve noticed. Decorated liners have a little wax maybe? *shrugs

(3) Make sure to fill your cupcake liner to the correct height so that the cupcake rises enough towards the top of the liner. I’ve noticed that the cupcakes that aren’t filled enough seem to separate more if they don’t rise above the top of the liner. Maybe there’s less moisture build up at the top of the liner so they are able to stick better? Unfortunately all recipes are different so you’ll have to experiment with each recipe for the amount to fill the liner before the breaking point of overfilling. I aint gonna lie. It’s a fine line. I usually fill mine about 1/2-2/3 full depending on the baking soda/baking powder measurement in the recipe.

(4) There’s also a fine line for overbaking. I try really hard to pay attention to my kitchen timer when I bake but life gets in the way sometimes and when the timer goes off at 17-20 minutes (although most of the time I rely on the toothpick test more than time) but the dog is running up and down the stairs b/c the UPS man is at the door, it’s really hard to remember you’ve got cupcakes baking. (I think I need a clone.) Overbaking cupcakes could result in dry cupcakes that tend to pull away from the liners. And who wants a dry cupcake? Let the UPS man wait.

(5) In contrast, underbaking could be an issue too. If the cupcake is too moist especially from excessive butter, buttermilk, sour cream, oil, water etc that could result in the cupcakes not adhering to the liner.

(6) I don’t use cooking spray on my liners. It seems to defeat the purpose of wanting them to stick to the cupcake liners IMO.

Hope that helps!

-CB

PS- You all have no idea how much it irks me that I could not come up with 4 more reasons to make it an even 10. I’m a list and numbers girl. It’s either 5 or 10. Anything in between is just weird on the eyes. Is it just me??

PPS- Please remember that I have no scientific proof. (It pains the scientist in me to say that.) I’m just going off what I’ve seen in my own kitchen. If any readers have something to add to my list, feel free in comments! Preferably 4 more things… Please and thanks.

Mint Buttercream

• 2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
• 2lb or 8 cups sifted/whisked powdered sugar
• 1/2 heavy cream or milk
• 1/8-1/4 tsp peppermint extract

1. Cream butter.
2. Slowly add sugar, 1 cup or so at a time.
3. Scrape sides.
4. When mixture becomes too hard on the mixer, slowly add milk.
5. Continue adding sugar and milk until completely creamy and combined.
6. Scrape sides.
7. Add peppermint.
8. Mix on high 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.

(Rose cupcake photo: A Baked Creation)

Get the recipe: http://www.ciaculinaryintelligence.com

The Culinary Institute of America is the world’s premier culinary college. Culinary school chef instructor Kate Cavotti demonstrates how to make fondant cupcake decorations and fondant ornaments. For more information about our cooking school, please visit www.ciachef.edu.

After reading through the list of blogs that Cupcakes Take the Cake had posted on their blog, I came across the Cupcake Bakeshop.  I have no idea why I had never read this blog before, but it’s simply amazing.  Their most recent post discusses the importance of taking your time and really paying attention to the care you take when baking butter based cupcakes.  Over the course of the last year I figured out all of these steps, but after many many many trials and errors and not so great cupcakes.  I wish I would have seen this post sooner!  These tips are really worth reading and following… they really do make the best cupcakes!

——————————–

There is nothing terribly exciting or novel about this recipe. It’s my standard chocolate cupcake recipe with strawberry frosting. Boring, no? Well, what I intend to do with this post is to articulate all those little tips & tricks that I know from experience/reading, but never include in a condensed recipe. Some of this is covered in my “basics & troubleshooting” section, but I thought it would be of use to describe these tips & tricks in the narrative of a recipe.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I wrote out the recipe for my chocolate cupcakes. This is what I want to do if I plan to be very careful and not miss anything. I find its easier to follow and I can check off things as I add them.

Then I had the idea to write down the little things I was doing that normally don’t end up in a recipe and explanations for certain aspects of the recipe. Hence the idea was born. So, no formal looking recipe in this post. Just a story…
Beat 2 sticks of butter until soft.

First off – the butter. Every recipe says it, but do we always pay attention? ROOM TEMPERATURE. I really can’t stress enough just how important this step is. I have been disappointed before… About to start baking only to remember that I forgot to take out the butter hours earlier. But really – the best thing to do? Wait it out. An alternative? Beat the hell out of the butter all by itself, scraping down a few times in between beatings. Why? If the butter isn’t soft it won’t get all nicely cut up by the sugar and distributed evenly in the batter. You might just end up with little pools of it melting in your end result. I have had it happen. But whatever you do, don’t microwave the butter. It will just melt and melted butter is useless to you.
Add 2-1/2 cups of sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Most butter-based recipes say this as well. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat for 3 minutes. Etc. But do you always? Why 3 minutes? Why not 2 or 4? What is light and fluffy? Bottom line? You want to beat that butter well. You want it cut up into tiny, tiny pieces by the grainy sugar so it doesn’t end up into little pools compromising the structure of your wonderful cupcakes. So, beat away! Turn on your mixer and have a glass of wine! Scrape down the bowl and beat some more. (Sometimes mixers leave a thin layer of butter untouched… once that gets folder into your batter you could be in trouble!)
Add 4 large eggs, one at a time, beating well between each.

Similarly, you want the eggs incorporated very well. Basically when you are baking things like cupcakes, you DON’T want to beat the batter once the flour is in (it will toughen them up) but you DO want to beat the ingredients so they are well incorporated. So, beat the butter, sugar, and eggs as much as you can (without going overboard). Now is the time for beating.
Whisk together 1-3/4 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.

This part is easy! Many recipes mention sifting, but sifting is a pain. I have never noticed a difference with whisking and whisking is easier to do. So, I whisk. The goal is to just get everything mixed together and any lumps removed. As an aside, I use these restaurant style containers to store dry goods and its very convenient for scooping stuff out without making a mess. And I know I should weigh the dry ingredients, but there is something inherent in me that requires I go only SO far when it comes to baking.

Measure out 1 cup of whole milk and 2 teaspoons vanilla.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients and wet ingredients mixing to incorporate between batches.

So what is with this step? It’s always a little complicated to write down. Some recipes are very specific about adding 1/3 dry ingredients, mixing, adding 1/2 wet ingredients, mixing, 1/3 dry ingredients, and so on. Is there something magical about these proportions? Doubtful. What you want to avoid is dumping everything in and having to beat and beat to get it mixed up, because word on the street (ok, I never tried this…) is that doing so will make your cupcakes tough. The idea being the glutens get over beaten. Whether this is exaggerated, I do not know, but with many of the other steps described above, I have screwed up and have seen the unfortunate results. So I am leaning towards this being a good thing to follow. One day I should over-beat some and see what happens.
Scoop batter into cupcake papers 1/2 full.

This step gets me thinking about a few things. First, every recipe is different. So if something goes wrong with a recipe or a cupcake comes out with a dome or without a dome, it all really depends. The more flour there is proportionally, the more structure the cupcake will have, the less likely it will be to sink, the more likely it will have a dome, and the more batter you can put in the cupcake paper (like 2/3s to 3/4s full). But these cupcakes, while more fool proof, are also denser and not as soft. The less flour, the less structure, the more likely it will overflow or sink, the less likely it will have a dome, and the less batter you can put in the cupcake paper (1/2 full at most). BUT these cupcakes will be soft, fluffy, and in my opinion superior… By the way, ice cream scoops are really absolutely necessary. They make filling the papers a breeze…

This chocolate cupcake recipe is a result of my experimentation in trying to get the cupcake to be as delicate as possible and as chocolately as possible without being a complete disaster. That said, you need to be careful. Don’t, I repeat, DON’T overfill the papers. And DO make sure your oven is at the temperature it says it is. If you are super concerned, add another 1/4 cup of flour to the recipe. That will help reduce some of the risk. That said, I love the way the cupcakes come out and while I do sometimes overfill and get some overflow, it doesn’t stop me from eating them and sharing them.
Bake for approximately 22-25 minutes at 350F or until a cake tester comes out clean.

This step sounds easy. It isn’t. It’s where I tend to screw up when I do. For example, I have a working theory that cool spots in the oven cause some of my cupcakes to overflow. This is because the overflowing cupcakes tend to be in one area. I especially see that if I am baking a lot of cupcakes. The ones on the lower rack tend to overflow. So often I will do one of two things, preheat the oven to 375F and drop it to down to 350 once I get them in there. Or I will preheat to 350F but run the convection fan during preheat and for the first 10 minutes of baking. The problem with this (I did it a couple of weeks ago) is if you leave the convection fan on the whole time, the cupcakes will over bake and be crumbly and dry. Normally when you use convection you should drop the temperature down 25 degrees. I also think convection is better for things like cookies or chicken where you want it to get crispy, but doesn’t work so well with cupcakes. It seems like a good way to get rid of unevenness in the oven…. Jury is still out.

I recommend not disturbing the cupcakes for the first 10-12 minutes. Then I will often rotate the pans also because of the unevenness mentioned above. I start testing at around 22 minutes for this recipe. I think post people use toothpicks as opposed to official “cake testers” but I use an ice pick as that’s what I have on hand. Anything pointy you can stick in there. If you under-bake these cupcakes they will be gummy. If you over-bake them they will be dry and crumbly. So start testing around 22, test every couple of minutes, and try your best to get it right.

Whew, with any luck you have some gorgeous cupcakes cooling on a wire rack. Now let’s get cracking on the frosting.
Beat 2 sticks of butter until soft.

Pretty much the same thing goes with frosting. It’s way better if your butter comes naturally to room temperature before making frosting. I have tried many shortcuts and they work ok enough, but in my opinion you won’t get as smooth as a frosting otherwise.
Sift in 3-4 cups of powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Again, I don’t like sifting, but if I must (and with frosting, you must or it will be lumpy) I will use one of these metal sieves and a spoon. By far the easiest method I have come across. I always start with a good amount of powdered sugar with room for adding more later.
Add 1/4 cup of strawberry puree and beat until combined.

Not much to this except your yellowish frosting turns a pretty pink. Feel free to add a teaspoon of vanilla at this step if you want.

Add more powdered sugar until you get the consistency you like.

When you add a liquid to buttercream it’s hard to get it to a nice thick consistency that is good for photo shoots. You can keep adding powdered sugar, but it won’t help. So minimize the amount of liquid. I went beyond 1/4 cup in one try of this recipe and it was way too much. I never recovered the frosting. It was usable, but runny. If you are anxious about this, omit the puree and just add chopped strawberries. It won’t be as strong a strawberry flavor, but less risk is involved.

I also made a cream cheese version of the strawberry frosting. If you want to try that substitute 1 8-ounce package of philly cream cheese with 1 of the sticks of butter and don’t add much puree. Stick more to using chopped strawberries as the cream cheese will already make the frosting softer than buttercream.

Decorate as usual by either piping the frosting on, scooping it on, whatever works for you. If you pipe, use a tip with a big opening, like 1/2 inch or so.

Would you ask…

…for their secret buttercream recipe?

…how they get their cake so moist?

…what is their inspiration for new cupcake flavors?

…how they decided to start their own business?

…what is their favorite flavor?

What questions would you ask?

4 Easy Steps to Filling a Pastry Bag

1. Place your pastry bag, tip down, in a tall cup. Fold edges of the bag over the side of the cup. Using a spatula, scoop frosting into bag.
2. Using the spatula, push the frosting down into the bag, holding the cup for support.  Use the spatula to wipe off extra frosting, creating a smooth top.
3. Fold up the sides of the pastry bag.
4. Take the bag out of the cup and with your hands push the frosting down to the tip of the bag, trying to not let any air in the bag.  Twist the bag at the top of the frosting.

JavaCupcake Note: This is a re-post of a blog from Nicole at Baking Bites! I used this technique to make the White Velvet Raspberry filled cupcakes. Be sure to check out all the other delicious creations Baking Bites is Nicole is making on her blog!

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My favorite way – and, in my opinion, the best way – is the method I used for the Devil’s Food Cupcakes. It gives you the maximum amount of filling and the best overall look for the cupcake. All you need is a paring knife, or other small, sharp knife with a narrow blade, to begin. Insert the knife into a cooled cupcake at an angle, halfway between the center and the outside edge.

The exact angle isn’t crucial, but it should be around 45 deg., and the knife should go into the cake about 1″. The idea here is to cut out a circular cone of cake.

Once you have your cone of cake, remove it and slice off the pointy end of the cone, leaving just the circular base (which was the very top of the cupcake). The filling will be put in the hole once filled by the cake cone, and the circular piece will be used as a plug to seal the filling in.

Filling should be added using a pastry bag or (my favorite) a ziploc bag with the corner cut off. There is no need to use a pastry tip to fill the cupcakes; a medium-sized opening in either type of bag will make filling the cakes a breeze.

Once the filling is in place, just pop the flat circle of cake back into place and continue to frost as you would with any other cupcake. You can see what the finished cake, sliced in half to reveal the cream filling, looks like here.

From the Culinary Institute of America.

Thanks to Cupcakes Take the Cake for sharing this video on their blog!