Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (5 page)

TROUBLESHOOTING

When Bad Things Happen to good Cupcakes

S
OMETIMES IT SEEMS like no matter how many times you give your seat on the train to a pregnant lady, open doors for old people, or recycle, bad things still happen when you bake cupcakes. Below is a little go-to guide for just those times when things mysteriously don’t work out. We don’t have all the answers, but here are suggested solutions to some of the more common problems that happen with cupcakes.

 

Suspect#1:
Too cold oven/too hot oven/ oven not preheated enough

Solution:
Use an oven thermometer to ensure that your oven is the proper temperature for baking cupcakes. Most crappy old ovens (no, we’re not bitter) need 15 to 20 minutes to get fully hot.

Suspect #2:
Opening the oven door before it’s time/removing cupcakes from oven prematurely

Solution:
Don’t peek! The first fifteen minutes of a cupcake’s life is a critical time when most of the rising takes place and the structure sets, so even the tiniest draft or disturbance from an open oven door can cause a fall. However, the more sugar/moisture/fat a cupcake has, the longer the rising/setting time will be. So, don’t remove cupcakes from the oven, even to test, until the minimum amount of time has passed. Master the art of testing a cupcake by opening the oven door carefully, yet quickly, dipping the toothpick into the nearest cupcake’s center, and gently closing the oven door. A final tip: cupcakes are close to being
done when you can smell that great cupcake fragrance wafting through your kitchen. By then it’s usually okay to peek.

 

Suspect #3:
Too much liquid/sugar/fat in batter

Solution:
Some of these recipes require adding “premade” ingredients such as fruit preserves or soy yogurt, and different brands may have different moisture or sugar contents. Stir products to distribute any excess moisture before using, or in the case of soy yogurt, pour out any excess water that has collected. Experiment with different brands until the desired results are achieved. Of course you aren’t on your own here; we will let you know if precautions should be taken in any given recipe.

 

Suspect #4:
Overmixing

Solution:
Overmixing can be a problem when creaming solid fats (like margarine) with sugar. Margarine can get too soft and melted from overbeating and lose valuable air bubbles that lift the cake’s structure, hence the occasional problems when using margarine. The same goes for undermixing; all the ingredients must be evenly moistened and distributed to avoid rising problems. See Exhibit B for more information on the criminal history of overmixing.

 

Suspect#1:
Overmixing (repeat offender)

Solution:
Manhandling the batter can cause cupcakes to rise unevenly or form strange bumps and shapes. Use a light touch; often it’s enough to just moisten ingredients and eliminate large lumps. As a rule, don’t mix cupcake batter for more than one minute when using an electric mixer; you can go a little longer when mixing by hand. Over mixing can also lead to tunnels, “worm-holes,” and a tough, chewy cupcake, so don’t do it!

 

Suspect #2:
Cupcakes placed on a too-high oven rack

Solution:
All cupcakes should be placed on a baking rack in the center of the oven. Arrange racks before preheating the oven, unless your hands are made out of asbestos.

 

Suspect #3:
Oven temperature is too high or uneven

Solution:
Again, the oven thermometer is your friend. Set it on the center rack for at
least 20 minutes, where the cupcakes will bake, for an accurate reading.

 

Suspect #4:
Too many cupcakes in the oven

Solution:
You may be in a hurry to bake fifty cupcakes for the band who’s crashed on your living room floor, but some ovens don’t take kindly to cramming in a lot of pans at once. If you to double or triple a recipe and bake them all at the same time, and the cupcakes are coming out funny-shaped or at different stages of doneness, you just might have to go backto baking one pan at a time. So tell that band to relax and change the cat litter for you instead, because a cupcake artiste! cannot be rushed. Don’t panic, though; it is fine to double any of these recipes—just be warned that depending on your oven to bake them all together could be a pitfall.

Prime Suspect:
Ingredients that are too cold/ingredients that are too warm

Solution:
Make sure your margarine and shortening is at room temperature. Before you cream your solid fats with sugar, make sure they have been properly warmed to room temperature to avoid separated or lumpy frosting. Allow the margarine or shortening to sit on the kitchen counter for at least 15 to 20 minutes—as long as 30 minutes if the room is cool. Properly warmed margarine or shortening will have shiny, not greasy, appearance, and lightly pressing your finger on a wrapped bar will leave a slight indentation. Don’t let it get too warm, however. If it looks too oily or is starting to melt, stick it back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes and check it again. If it’s too warm, icing won’t cream properly and could curdle as well.

While you’re at it, make sure the rest of your ingredients are at room temperature, too. Not so much an issue with sugar, but don’t throw ice-cold soy milk into a frosting either.

Prime Suspect:
You and your impatience

Solution:
It could be that the cupcakes are still too warm to frost. The bottom and the sides, not just the top, should not have the slightest trace of warmth when applying frosting. A few of the glazes can take a warmer cupcake. It could also be that it’s
just too damned hot everywhere, so holding off on vegan buttercream in the middle of August and opting for fresh peaches, instead, will save you some aggravation and a dozen greasy cupcakes.

 

EXHIBIT E:
My cupcakes didn’t rise enorughl
See Exhibit A for possible suspects. Many of the reasons—oven not hot enough, uneven heating—are similar. But there are a few others like ...

 

Suspect #1:
Batter has been sitting around for too long

Solution:
Use that batter pronto! The chemical reaction created by baking powder, baking soda, acidic ingredients, and trapped air generated by beating is powerful yet fleeting, so once the batter has been mixed and poured into the pan, put it in the preheated oven as soon as possible. You did preheat the oven, didn’t you?

 

Suspect #2:
Expired baking powder

Solution:
Maybe it’s been in the family for generations, but that baking powder in the old, beat-up can that’s been in the cabinet since stirrup pants were cool has lost much of its reactivity overtime. It just won’t work right. Buy a new can just for cupcakes, and while you’re at it, drop off those acid wash jeans at the Goodwill on your way back from the store.

 

Suspect #1:
Impatient you (repeat offender)

Solution:
Go do a sudoku puzzle and relax. If you try to eat a cupcake before it cools we cannot be held responsible for what happens.

 

Suspect #2:
Overbaking

Solution:
Sometimes accidents happen; you misjudge the doneness of a cupcake and let it bake for too long. Other times you guess-timate the baking times. Get a kitchen timer and put your mind at ease.

If this gets to be a chronic problem, it may be solved by spraying the liners lightly with nonstick cooking spray before adding batter.

DECORATING YOUR CUPCAKES

I
F WE COULD create a new dictionary entry for the word “fun,” it would be solely composed ofthe joys of decorating cupcakes. Okay, it might include something about kittens and puppies and a few unmentionable activities, but cupcakes would take center stage.

 

As with lots of fun activities, the more you do it, the better your skills will get. When it comes to decorating, be adventurous with food colors, candy sprinkles, or piping on that frosting with a flourish ofthe wrist. Don’t be afraid to get a little messy—remember, you are a cupcake artist immersed in yourwork! Just bribe somebody with cupcakes to clean up after you.

Most ofthe decorating instructions in this book require a few special tools. Be sure to read Tools for Taking Overthe World (page 15) before checking out this chapter.

Buttercream frosting is what most people think of when it comes to decorating, eating, and gazing admiringly at cupcakes. And who are we to argue: its smooth, fluffy texture and the ease of tinting it to almost any shade makes it perfect not just for slathering on top of cupcakes, but also for creating snazzy additions like flowers, stars, and lettering. Here are a few tips to
keep in mind when working with VEGAN
FLUFFY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
(page 142).

 

BEFORE YOU START DECORATING:
When using more than one frosting flavor or color, or even just a lot of one kind of frosting, prepare all the recipes and fill pastry bags before you begin decorating. It’s annoying to break your decorating flow to stop and prepare another bag or batch of frosting. If you’re planning to use different tips for different shapes on the same cupcake, consider using a screw-on nozzle set with your pastry bags.

 

FILLING A PASTRY BAG:
Fit the pastry bag with the tip of your choice. Next, cuff the end of the pastry bag, like how your mom used to cuff the bottoms ofyour pants. The cuff should be about 3 inches. The purpose of this is mul tifold; to make sure that you don’t overfill the bag, to get as much frosting as close to the nozzle as possible, and to avoid getting frosting on the sides of the bag where it could end up squirting out ofthe top. Use a rubber spatula to handle frosting and fill pastry bags. Scoop frosting into the bag, carefully shake the bag a little to get rid of any air bubbles, and gently squeeze the top ofthe bag to push the frosting to the bottom. (It’s a good idea to set the bag above the frosting bowl so that any excess frosting pushed through the nozzle lands back in the bowl.) It’s also easier to control a pastry bag that hasn’t been filled more than two-thirds of the way. Uncuffthe bag and either twist it or tie it shut with a rubberband. Squeeze the bag a little more before you’re ready to decorate, to eliminate any last little air bubbles and to “test” the tip to make sure it’s creating the kind of results you’re after.

 

THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE FOR THE RIGHT JOB:
When preparing flowers, stars, or any detailed piped-on decoration, keep prepared buttercream frosting chilled until ready to use. Conversely, buttercream or mousse that is going to be spread on the cupcake with a knife or piped on with a very large nozzle should be allowed to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes, especially if it’s very firm when first removed from the refrigerator. Spreading on too-firm frosting can tear delicate cupcake tops. Finally, if your frosting starts to look greasy or less fluffy, it’s getting too warm to work with. Pop the whole thing, bags and bowl and all, in the fridge to cool and firm up.

 

FOR A PRETTY MARBLED EFFECT WITH PIPED FROSTING:
Load up a pastry bag with
half vanilla buttercream frosting and half chocolate frosting. Or try tinting one-third to one-half of a batch of vanilla buttercream with food coloring and a contrasting flavor extract (check out the pink and white frosting for the
PISTACHIO ROSEWATER CUPPERS
on page 117). Be sure to tap the bag and squeeze out any air bubbles to ensure smooth delivery of frosting.

 

EASY CLEANING:
An easier way to clean off greasy buttercream from pastry bags, tips, and mixing bowls: Fill the used mixing bowl with hot water and a squirt of dishwashing liquid. Agitate the water and get everything sudsy, then toss in the bags and tips. Allow to soak for a few minutes, slosh everything around a little more, and clean with a sponge. The hot water and soap will help melt off and emulsify the fats. Rinse one more time with hot water and dry.

 

ADVANCED PIPING:
Here’s where we tell you to leave the nest. Most pastry bag and decorator tip kits come with a little pamphlet that instructs in the making of roses, leaves, etc., and can be a great place to start learning more advanced decorating tricks. Check out some in-depth decorating books and Web sites if you’re serious about making frosting flowers and details beyond plopping out pointy little shapes with a star tip. However, we still love you even if you don’t feel this desire stirring inside. Your cupcakes can still taste awesome and look cute, no matter if you ever top them with orchids made out of chocolate ganache.

This is the arts and crafts part of
Vegan Cupcakes Take Overthe World.
Make a paper stencil, sprinkle on the powdered sugar and spices, and people will think a reality show just walked in on your cupcakes and gave them a sassy makeover.

1. Measure out a square of sturdy construction-type paper; a 4 by 4-inch square should do. Flip over a cupcake liner and trace a circle that more or less is the circumference of the top of a cupcake. You’ll want to have an extra inch or more around the circle.

2. Fold your square in half, then fold it in half again. With a sharp pair of scissors cut out a few shapes—hearts, diamonds, hearts, moons ... oops,
whatever—but keep it relatively simple and the shapes a little bit exaggerated. Think first-grade art class snowflakes.