My (version of) Cupcake Story

If you’ve frequented the (hot) girls’ blogs, chances are you’ve read about cupcakes. When I first started blogging, I made a theory that many (hot) girls blog, and almost all (hot) girl bloggers bake cupcakes. You can find all sorts of cupcake stories especially first attempt of baking the sweet little devils. You’ve probably seen all kinds of mouth watering cupcakes covered with enticing sugary frosting, topped with colourful signature(or copied from the books) garnishing.

It’s a cheap therapeutic hobby. Even gardening is more expensive than baking cupcakes. Baking is not only cheap, but if one starts to master the art and produces impressive designs and unforgettable cake taste, it can be turned into a lucrative home business. A few people I know in real life have turned baking into a side income generator.

My sampan is way behind the other boats; my first attempt in baking cupcakes was last night. That was after reading the first 50 pages of Cupcake book written by The Cake Mix Doctor. I bought the book to kill some time to allow my tummy to digest lunch before I headed to the gym. It’s still a mystery to me how books can change and inspire us. Hmmm…

I must say that the baking was a success although there are a few techniques I wish to master soon. FYI, cooking success in DNAS’s dictionary means the food is presentable and edible. It does not necessarily have to look like the cupcakes displayed at the famous bakeries’ windows.

So, here are some tips I’d like to share with cupcake new-bakers:

- never over-beat the batter. Always follow the instruction in the recipe.

- If you don’t have ice-cream scoop to scoop the batter into the cups, just use the plastic measuring cup (yang ada pointed muncung tuuuu).

- If you find it difficult to estimate 2/3 of the cup, pour the batter slowly and recite ‘Bismillahirrahmanirrahim’ with the proper Tajweed. By the time you finish, the cup is 2/3 filled with the creamy batter. (Ni contoh Islam Hadhari ni…… hihihi)

- If the oven user manual says you don’t need to pre-heat the oven, then don’t. Disregard what’s written in the recipe.

- Cake tin placed on the baking tray inside the oven produced cupcakes in better shapes than the ones put on the roasting tray (ni yang ada palang-palang tu le). I’m sure there’s a scientific explanation for this, it’s related to the heat distribution. Will have to Google further. (I’m damn curious about this. I’m sure Zetty is too. Iyelah, after the raya cupcakes yang senget 45 degrees tu. There has to be some explanation, right? We can’t be that bad in baking, can we?)

- Greasing and lining the cake tin is the most challenging part, get your sister/daughter/son to help out.

- Never over-eat the cupcakes. There’ll be only a few pieces left to bring to office the next day. (In case you over-eat, don’t forget to recite ‘Alhamdulillahirabbilaalamiin’ with the proper Tajweed. Islam Hadhari lagik …. )

I am sure there’ll be more cupcake projects soon. Hey, already bought the cake tins, spatula and what-nots. Takkan nak simpan dalam gobok aje, kan? So, good luck to Wazif, Shawqi and dear Mr. Hubby who will have to help with the baking and bring the cupcakes to school/office.

Did I ever tell you that when I was in primary school, I sold limau manis to my school friends. I also sold ikan haruan and kangkong to the neighbours. Some ex-schoolmates called me Budak Sayur. So, Wazif, Shawqi and Mr. Hubby might be called Budak/Abang Cupcake soon. Hehehehe.

Cakap lebih-lebih pun tak guna, kan.... Ini dia gambarnya.... The red lines are pointing to the first batch of cupcakes yang telah menjadi mangsa heat distribution yang tidak sekata.



My first ever mini lemon cupcakes. Boleng aje, takde frosting or garnishing .... sebab belum belajar.