You know, for all the hours I spend in my kitchen, there are just some times when my baking mojo is MIA. This was one of those times.
First of all, the recipe as written is for a triple-layer cake, and I wanted to scale it down and make cupcakes. This actually went alright - I halved the cake recipe - but I overfilled my cupcake liners, and ended up with the flat tops you see above. And here’s where things started to go wrong. The overflow on the cupcakes stuck to the the pan and made it very tricky to remove them. I guess I was trying to fit everything into one cupcake pan and 12 liners; if I filled them correctly, I probably would have got 15 or 16.
I was most interested in the icing part of this recipe, as I’ve actually made the chocolate cake before as part of the Sweet & Salty cake. I picked up coffee extract on my trip to Golda’s at Christmastime, so I had everything I needed. Not really sure what went wrong here, and the icing was smooth in texture, but in appearance it looked like it was grainy or starting to separate. It was also super soft, so the Baked boys recommended putting it in the fridge to firm up before using it.
At this point I was kind of over the whole thing, so I skipped the dark chocolate ganache and just put a few chocolate chips on top. Now let’s be real, these still tasted amazing, but they just didn’t look as cute as I envisioned.
You can find the recipe here!
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
I didn’t care if it wasn’t as pretty as you wanted it to be… it tasted great! The icing was so rich in flavor and the cupcake was extremely moist! LOVED it!!!
Maybe that was my problem: MIA. Cupcakes are a good idea. This cake is huge. We used it for a large family party and everybody liked it but I can’t imagine baking it without a purpose. Sometimes I want flat topped cupcakes so I”ll remember your experience…but I hope to remember not to fill the liners too full…I think we’ve all had that experience. I think you and I are brave to post our experiences this week!
As long as they taste good, that’s all that matters! I like the idea of using chocolate chips on top!
Well, Byn, the good news is these things happen to all of us! I have made the Baked cooked buttercream icing 3 times & this is the only time it turned out - makes me feel like an idiot! I read the recipe carefully several times, but it just didn’t turn out.
Anyway, I love these tulip papers from King Arthur Flour: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/tulip-papers-white-set-of-24
They make clean-up a so much easier.
Great idea with the cupcakes, my cake only ended up with two layers. I think your cupcakes are cute, my buttercream was a bit grainy to but it still tasted yummy!
Isn’t that so frustrating when everything seems to fall apart in the kitchen? Well they still look amazing. And sometimes that’s just the way it goes. I’m glad they still tasted great. You can still enjoy the effort you put in:)
I think they turned out so cute! Great idea to make this recipe into cupcakes. I love the ‘flat’ top and the graininess of the icing makes them sparkling. Nice touch with the bits of chocolate on top.
thank you! i was convinced they were ugly!
Is that cupcake posed on a homemade wood table? Did you spend all weekend crafting that?
HA! you know it! in reality, it’s a debbie travers placemat from canadian tire! big baller over here!
as least you got them finished and posted, unlike me! i made cupcakes too, same flat top problem… got 3 doz with the full recipe. by then i was too lazy to make the frosting and glaze, so i just stashed the cupcakes in the freezer until i feel like making the rest of the recipe! how was golda’s? i was just thinking about going there sometime soon, but it’s 5+ hours away from where i am… worth it? ( I thought i’d go to mccalls too while i’m in that area… u ever been?)
golda’s is AMAZING. they have everything a baker could ever want. but! they have an online store too, so there’s no need to drive 5 hours! i haven’t heard of mccalls - i’ll have to check it out!
i love the availability of products on their website (and super fast shipping) but i also love shopping in a brick and mortar store… if they have the same selection
i’ve ordered from mccalls too a few times… i find they have different products than golda’s… between the two of them, i can usually find what i’m looking for!
You might not have loved them, but they were amazing. One of those babies got us a table at your not so fave restaurant last night. (it was rammed full of post hunger games diners.)
hilarious, i guess the moral of the story is not to judge a cupcake by it’s cover … or ugly icing!
i had the one that wasn’t frosted yesterday. the cake was so good on it’s own!