OCD: Obsessive Cupcake Devotion

I'm the kind of person who jumps off the bandwagon once everyone jumps on it, or jumps on it long after everyone else has gotten off. I never do something because everyone else thinks it's cool, I only do it if I think it'll be really enjoyable. The only fad that has kept me with it's siren call is a tiny thing known as the cupcake. Cupcakes are small, charming, beautiful, and more often than not, delicious. For most cupcakes, the recipes are straightforward and nearly all the same. ie: chocolate, vanilla, angel food, and variations on these. However, EVERY single time I make red velvet cupcakes, they turn out different from the last batch! I have tried so many recipes that I have considered buying red food colouring in bulk. Send me your favourite red velvet cupcake recipe! And any tips you may have on producing the best cake!

Magnolia cupcake recipe

Martha Stewart recipe

Joy of Baking recipe

Obviously, you can't tell how each tasted, but they all turned out different sizes, different colours, and wildly different textures of cake. I think it may have something to do with how quickly I added the baking soda and vinegar concoction and also how long I mixed the batter for. The cream cheese icing is pretty much the same across the board, it even tastes good when I cut half the amount of sugar the recipe called for.

The verdict? The Magnolia recipe won hands down, but there is a definite difference when you try to make only a third of the recipe. (The recipe is for 36 cupcakes) The size changed when I tried to split the recipe, but it was still very moist and spongey both ways. Martha Stewart's cupcake turned out well and very delicious, I actually prefer her cream cheese icing! The Joy of Baking cupcake was... less than satisfactory. I may have to try that one again and really concentrate on what I'm doing, because I feel like it may have been my sheer boredom with the experiment that ruined them. My husband ate them and thought they were great, but I found them to be dry and hard to swallow. Enough said.

Have a great weekend everyone! See you on Monday! Don't eat too many cupcakes!