A Tale of Two Cupcakes

I have a favorite cookbook, I will admit it. It is very closely followed by another book, but I think this one wins in the death-cage match. It would be damn close, but The Whimsical Bakehouse would emerge bloody but triumphant. Every recipe I have made from this book is gold. The ladies who run the Riviera Bakehouse are lovely. I greatly admire them.

My latest labors of love have come in the form of cupcakes. I began with the chocolate cupcake recipe. I've made it before, but I don't remember being as amazed by the texture the last time. That time I did make about four dozen cupcakes, so I was a bit tired of them. They have a lovely, light, fluffy texture. Lighter than even box cake, and that's tricky. The crumb is very fine and soft. The taste is nice, but not overly chocolately. One of my guinea pigs, erm, co-workers, said he was not initially sure if they were chocolate, but he was very pleased. I did pair them with a very chocolatey ganache-based frosting, so that might be the cause.

For that frosting I began with a simple ganache, cream and chocolate, whipped it up when cold, and tinkered with it. I was not overly pleased with the experiment; I chalk it up to an interesting failure. I added some butter and powdered sugar in hopes of making it more stable, but it didn't really help. It tasted divine, but the texture and visual were poor.

Cupcake Part Deux: Vanille
Vanilla cupcakes. Recipe I have used before and thought, they are pretty good, I guess. I suppose I forgot this less than stellar experience and made them anyway. They are really not bad, in fact the boyfriend gobbled them up and proclaimed his undying love, so maybe it is just me. They have an odd texture. Said boyfriend likened them to cornbread, but more chewy. The crumb is large and just a wee bit odd. The taste is okay, it is just the texture that unnerves me. They greatly improved with an excellent buttercream. I will make them again, but it is not my cupcake of choice.

In case you are wondering, the runner-up cookbook is Baking with Julia. It is a collection based off of the television shows. A lot of different bakers compiled their recipes for it and it truly is great, though probably not best for complete novices. It has taught me a lot, and what I have tried has been quite good. It probably should have won the death-cage match, but I am biased towards cakes.