Monday, January 23, 2012

What if I"ve lost it??!

I love baking - I do!  I can't help it.  It's my "happy pill".  I have dubbed myself a stress baker, simply because when my world is going insane around me, all I have to do is bake something and "POOF!" everything is better! :)  I'm a junkie for the smile.  You know what Im' talking about...Have you ever passed anybody an adorably decorated cupcake and not had them smile?? That's what it's all about for me! The smile!  Ironically enough, I don't even eat it!  I mean - I do...but I don't inhale it just cuz it's there.  I'd rather let somebody else enjoy it. I'm more of a boredom eater...which is probably why I bake. :)

Lately, I've wanted to try something different.  I've been noticing tons of cupcake ideas around and thought I'd give it a whirl!  After all - it's like cake decorating on a smaller scale and I can easily pull off pretty much any design - YAY!  Plus - it's much closer to the instant gratification category that I'm also a junkie for. :)  Anyhoo - I have a work meeting coming up next month and figued I'd bake for the group.  Cupcakes!  Pretty sunflower cupcakes with oreo centers - yeah!  That's what I'll do! :)  But I have to test them first - oh darn!  I hate it when I have to eat the test subjects. NOT!! So - I start my search for a good reliable recipe.  I found a pretty good chocolate one and everything went' great.  The batter even tasted good.  Trouble is...I burnt the bottoms. :(  Ok - Next dozen...lower the temp by 25 and raise the rack...burnt!!  AUGH...Ok - so chocolate cupcakes - even with burnt bottoms will get eaten.  I decorated them anyway and they turned out pretty good.  Super cute actually :)  But too burnt to share with anyone beyond immediate family. :(

Tonight I tried a vanilla cupcake recipe that rawked!!!  They turned out beautifully...except that I burnt the bottoms AGAIN!!! 4 DOZEN CUPCAKES BURNT!!!

I have lowered the temperature, raised my rack, replaced my pans, reduced cooking time...and I'm still burning them!!  :(  What if I have lost my baking super power??!  What do I do then??  This has never happenned before and I don't like it - not at all! :(  And so...There won't be any cupcakes for work tomorrow...and consequently...there is no baking therapy for me. :(

If I would have been born rich instead of beautiful, I could buy myself a new stove...but what if it's not the stove? :(   Oh lord! I'll let you know how the 5th and 6th dozen make out. :(

1 comment:

Auntie Em said...

The burnt cupcake problem sounds familiar. Ugh!
What if you put an old cookie sheet on the bottom rack and put the cupcake pan on the next rack. It should deflect some of the heat.
When I made a sunflower cake for my niece I used mini chocolate chips for the seeds in the center. Regular ones were too big. In Calais I get huge tubs of chocolate sprinkles for cheap which would work really well too.

Gorgeous cakes in your last post. (hard to believe your baby is 9!