The recipe calls for some ingredients that I thought was unusual. First, it called for both "1/2 cup cocoa powder" (Castella 58), and "2/3 cup (4 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped" (Castella 58). Why would you need both? It didn't make sense to me until I started making the cupcakes. If I added just the powder, it would be too dry of a cupcake, so to make it more moist, you melt down the bittersweet chocolate. Not only that, but it also makes it more chocolatey!
Another ingredient that puzzled me was that the recipe called for 1 cup plain yogurt, at room temperature (Castella 58). Once again, the cupcakes have to be moist. Except there was one problem: we didn't have any plain yogurt in the house. I ended up calling my mom, who was conveniently out grocery shopping, and she picked some up for me.
I had made these cupcakes the night prior to my dad's birthday, and didn't know if they would hold up for the night. Castella offered tips for that too. When storing, she says, "Cupcakes keep well in the freezer" (Castella 19). This was a good tip for me, and I put them in the freezer to stay for the night. You may notice that I didn't talk about the chocolate frosting or frosting the cupcakes, because Castella says that "[when freezing] do not frost the cupcakes. Divide the cupcakes and frosting into separate airtight containers" (Castella 19). Following her orders, I did just that. The next day, we had the cupcakes. Everyone in my family had to admit they were good.
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| Chocolate on Chocolate Cupcakes |
When you learn new information/instructions, do you follow it or do what you think is right?
Castella, Krystina. Crazy about Cupcakes. New York: Sterling, 2006. Print.
Happy belated birthday to your dad! I wish I could try some of the cupcakes you made. Usually, when I decide to make something from a recipe, I try to follow the instructions as closely as possible. If I don't, I sometimes end up messing up at one point and it doesn't turn out good. Hopefully I can get better enough to just cook on my own without having to rely on recipes so much. Although for other instructions besides recipes, I sometimes do what I think is right if I'm confident enough or have experience in the topic.
ReplyDeleteTiffany,
DeleteMy dad says thank you! I too am normally the person who won't stray from the instructions unless I have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing. Maybe if I see you tomorrow I can give you a cupcake to try, since I have so many!
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