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Monday, November 12, 2007

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.

25 comments:

Sarclover said...

last time i baked was when i was in my kelas ekonomi rumahtangga before i got in boarding school.

we tried cooking nasi lemak, mee siam and even sup daging... sumer rasa macam lain je lah kan. our baking project was a cake that i dont remember the name of...

rasa like tepung seriously...

i dont bake cupcakes, so does that me un-hot??

Marliza Radzi said...

baking is fun!

Anonymous said...

There goes my diet.

Hajar said...

bake dalam oven toaster boleh tak?

D.N.A.S said...

sarcy,
the hotness theory is like this: If a babe bakes cupcakes she'll be a hot babe becoz she has to slave herself in front of the oven for hours. Usually kat dapur takde kipas angin, kan? Maka jadilah dia pompuan hangat (kepanasan).

am,
makan the freshly baked cakes is even more fun!

D.N.A.S said...

SD,
laaaa bila masa pulak u diet ni?

jade,
if the oven toaster can reach 180 degrees Celcius, bolehlah kot.

Lily G said...

I've never blogged about cupcake. Soheh koi tak hot awok.

Nik Farizah said...

I am into baking too recently...but yet to discover about baking cupcakes! Boleh share recipe tak and cara2 nak buat laaa....??

ardy said...

I love to bake, so does that make me a (hot) stud?

cpj said...

resipi choc cake ari tu u bg pun tak try lagik :p

i nak blajar wat frosting dia jer aci tak?

dewi palsu said...

I pun tak hot kalau mcm ni. Hmmm

tigerlaneboy said...

why don't you bring the cupcakes along for the STF pot luck gathering this Saturday? Bolehlah I merasa sikit.

D.N.A.S said...

This comment was successfully published! Yeay.

D.N.A.S said...

Pasting here my replies to Lily and Nik Farizah:

Lily, blogging or not, baking or not, aweks Pahang seme nye hot hot belake. Hot sokmo!

Nik, try this URL: http://www.cakemixdoctor.co

D.N.A.S said...

ardy,
u're a meletops stud! :)

pijah,
buat frosting pun ada diploma, I think.

wardrobemistress,
okey, tonight bake something. :)

tigerlaneboy,
wot? Ada boy attend STF punya open house? Camana I nak pegi pakai halter top nih.....

Zetty said...

ha!!! your first batch of cupcakes tu mcm i punya cupcakes raya hari tu...tapi, yours look more presentable la.

ada geng cupcakes berlapis hehe.

so, it was because uneven heat distribution eh? I'm so glad to know this sebabnya ini bermakna makcik masih ada harapan dlm bidang cupcakes ni.

the rest of the cupcakes look yummy la. gebu!

D.N.A.S said...

zetty,
u know what, ada sorang ofismet I baru je resign sebab nak concentrate meniaga kek. So, let's polish our skills membuat cupcakes, nanti boleh jadik boss sendiri, insyaallah.

FYI, segala kuih yang I buat jadik gebu. Seman tuan dia. (Orang Rembau panggil kenan tu seman gak ke?)

Zetty said...

kitaorg guan 'ghoman' biasa nya hihih.

tigerlaneboy said...

gambar u yang tak pakai halter top tu ade on my blog. damn, terlupa nak cari your cupcake semalam.

all jazzed up said...

i am so miffed that i was too full to eat your cupcakes at the open house. next time NSSC meeting you have to bring some!!!! frust giler nih.

Angel Eyes said...

I didn't bake cupcakes yet but i can bake american choc cake. Nak try tak?

So when is our next sushi session ni sis?

D.N.A.S said...

zetty,
orang Bera pun cakap ghoman but it has a different meaning. Contoh ayatnya:
'Anak Cik Kiah tu ada ghoman-ghoman Siti Nurhaliza sikit, kau perasan tak?'

D.N.A.S said...

tigerlaneboy,
thank you... thank you.... That pic just confirmed that I only brought 4 containers. I thought I brought 5. Puaslah dok try nak mengingatkan mana pegi lagi satu.

mimin,
terlupa nak suruh u tapau haritu becoz that choc-on-choc cupcake is best served chilled. Haritu dia punya frosting sudah ada sikit 'mencair' lah.

D.N.A.S said...

Sheryl baybeh,
I might have some assignment not so far from your office later this month. Nanti we calling-calling, okeh?

Zetty said...

contoh ayat guna Siti yg tak tahan tu hahaha.