Cupcakes... second attempt

A dear friend of mine who is a experienced baker invited me over to her house to learn more about the technique of baking cupcakes. I was thrilled to go and learn more so I packed up and spent the day watching learning and tasting. It was fascinating how you can take a recipe and turn it into something that amazing just by altering a few basic techniques.

A few of the many things I learned that day were...

• Always start baking with ingredients that are at room temperature
• Sugar is considered a wet ingredient since it is usually mixed in with the eggs
• When adding butter into the dough, cut it into tablespoon pieces and add each slowly till it is completely combined
• If a batter is too crumbly, it doesn't need more liquid, it needs more fat. Add butter
• Measure everything very carefully (scrape off extra flour with a knife)
• Sift all dry ingredients unless otherwise noted
• Metal strainers are perfect sifters
• Halfway through baking, turn the cupcake pan cautiously to prevent to much browning or baking on one side
• Tap filled cupcake pans on a flat surface to eliminate bubbles. 

I really enjoyed the process of the new techniques and I plan to practice them until I can successfully make cupcakes that are light and fluffy like the ones we got to enjoy that afternoon.