Anyone who comes by here new is going to think this is a site about baking and pastries. I swear it isn’t! It’s illustration! It just so happens that my posts have been about pastries lately. What can I say? They’re oh so good.
Anyway, like I mentioned in my post last week about the redesign, I’ve been slowly becoming more and more obsessed with cupcakes. I am not a baker, I’m not very good at it and I don’t really have the patience for it. But I needed to have cupcakes! I can only remember ever baking them with my mom one time to take them into school. I must have been around 8. Other than that I’ve never made them. And I’ve only eaten them on rare occasions. It’s safe to say that it’s probably been 10 years since I last had one. At least. I really think it’s closer to 15.
ANYWAY…
So today was “Cupcake Day.” And I finally made cupcakes. I decided to make vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting. And here’s the photo journal…
Batter prepared and ready to go in to the oven!
Cupcake breech!! I’ve learned my first lesson already: double cup the cakes! But a quick taste test shows that they taste fine, despite their awkward proportions.
Frosted! Which didn’t go as planned. It came out too soft, and I couldn’t make it all pretty with one of those cake decorating things squeezy things (see how much of a baker I am NOT?!). The end result is a little messy looking.
A completed cupcake, in all its glory. Can you hear the angels singing?
But the real question is - how do they taste?
The answer - Eh… 
Ok. I have a few theories on what went wrong. One, or all of them, can be true.
Theory 1: - I had to use eggless recipes because my husband is allergic. I can’t make a whole batch of cupcakes JUST for ME. So eggless it was. And eggless cakes often have a vinegar/baking soda combo in them to give them some air. Unfortunately, the cake was still quite delicate and sort of falling apart under the weight of the frosting. But actually, I don’t think this has anything to do with the flavor.
Theory 2 - I used an American recipe and only had Swedish ingredients. Meaning, I had to use a few substitutes. Actually, I only had to make one substitute, and that was using unsalted butter in the frosting instead of shortening. That may be why it went so soft… maybe… Geez, I don’t know.
Theory 3 - Oil. I messed up with the oil. And I knew I had, but I refused to be patient. I meant to look up what kind of oil I needed, and I forgot. Then I went to the store and totally didn’t even think about buying oil. So I was left with either using olive oil (which I know shouldn’t be used for baking) or waiting another day to make them. I went with the olive oil risk. And I can taste it in the cake. And I think it’s ruining the vanilla flavor the cake should have as well.
Theory 4 - I’ve been living in Sweden so long that I have become intolerant of the sweetness of American cakes. This one IS true. It’s something I’ve noticed when I’ve gone back to the US on my trips. It’s good healthwise, but bad for messing with my memories of things.
Anyway, this is not ending the cupcake adventure. I will try again! I will get the proper oil (what kind should I have anyway?), and I will look up a different frosting recipe that won’t send me into a sugar coma. oh yes, and I’ll remember to double (or even triple!) cup the cakes 
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Use rapsolja or solrosolja. For the frosting, I ususally get that powdered sugar (florsocker), add some melted butter and a bit of water. Keep playing with the levels until it gets to what you look like. If it’s too runny, add more sugar. It tastes SUPER good!
Heather, that’s exactly what I did with the frosting! I probably should have added more sugar to make it harder. But I wasn’t too pleased with the taste. But thanks for the oil suggestions. I’ll remember that for next time!
Oh, BTW… vegetable oil
i usually use vegetable oil in my cupcakes when i make them, so i agree with Luna. Also, are you able to get muffin tins? they will help with the cupcakes keeping their shape and not breeching over too much. check your local home goods store or odere them online at ikea, they’re really cheap and worth it becuase you can make much more then cupcakes in them. I use my muffin tin to make little chocolate pudding treats that sort of shaped like flan.
I use muffin tins as well, they’re really great! Just put the nice decorated cups in the holes and your cupcakes will look great!
Silly secret. One box of cake mix. One can of any kind of soda. Mix well. Bake at whatever degrees the box says for whatever time (wait until the oven is preheated before you mix). Dark sodas like coke and dr. pepper work best for chocolate. Sprite seems to be the best for white, and I haven’t played with the rest yet. I use diet or coke zero usually, and they’re better! I swear! No oil, no egg, they’re moist and yummy and won’t kill your boyfriend. Just a can of soda, the 12oz (355 ml) kind.
That last idea is awesome, Rinn! It’s crazy, but I’d love to give it a try. If only I could! But I have 2 problems. One, my husband is ALSO allergic to chocolate, and Two, no cake mixes here!