Night Elf Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 I used the following recipe and instead of rising, my cupcakes sank in the middle. Any idea why? The only thing we did differently, by accident, was use regular butter instead of unsalted butter. Would that have caused the problem? Apple cupcakes: 2 cups granulated sugar 2 large eggs 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 4 apples, cored, peeled, and chopped (recommended: 2 Granny Smith and 2 Fuji) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 My first guess would be bad baking powder - you can check it by putting a pinch in hot water (bubbles are good) - or that the batter was beat too long after the dry ingredients were added. Over mixing results in flat cupcakes, especially in a recipe with both baking soda and baking powder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 also could have been undercooked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_l_e_0..Q_c Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 ooh, I love it when this happens. It just means you fill the hole with more icing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 ooh, I love it when this happens. It just means you fill the hole with more icing! I like the way you think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tearose Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 I'd second the suggestion to check the baking soda. I once baked cookies at my in-laws' house, and couldn't figure out why the trusty Nestle Tollhouse recipe was so off--turns out their baking soda had expired a few years earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 salted vs unsalted wouldn't do much except maybe change the taste a teensy bit. it is your baking soda..or..is your oven working properly? Could it have stopped working mid-bake? Or, did you let the cupcakes sit for a long time between mixing your wet w/ dry and putting them in the oven? My mom (not a baker) did that once. She thought it would be a good idea to load the muffin cups and then put them in the fridge for a couple hours. She thought she was saving herself some time. Yeah, don't do that. Smart money is on the baking soda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 My first guess would be bad baking powder - you can check it by putting a pinch in hot water (bubbles are good) - or that the batter was beat too long after the dry ingredients were added. Over mixing results in flat cupcakes, especially in a recipe with both baking soda and baking powder. I just checked the baking powder and it fizzles (made bubbles) when I put it in the water, so I guess it's okay. We could have overmixed the batter I suppose. It was very thick and adding the apples in was hard because of that. My dd ended up dumping all of the cupcakes into an aluminum cake pan and drizzling melted frosting on top of it. She called it an apple crumble. She didn't want to pipe too much frosting onto each cake because it would overpower the taste of the cupcake. It was yummy and we ate it all, but it just wasn't the lovely set of cupcakes she had hoped for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Did you preheat your oven? Muffins need to go into a very hot oven to get that nice dome. I generally put them into a preheated 400 degree oven, but then drop the temp to 350 right after I put the muffins in the oven. That way, they get a burst of heat to expand those bubbles inside and then cook enough to contain the risen-ness. If your batter was very thick, along with the added apples, it might just not have had the oomph to sustain the rise. I would still consider getting new baking soda. Yours might be on its way out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 Did you preheat your oven? Muffins need to go into a very hot oven to get that nice dome. I generally put them into a preheated 400 degree oven, but then drop the temp to 350 right after I put the muffins in the oven. That way, they get a burst of heat to expand those bubbles inside and then cook enough to contain the risen-ness. If your batter was very thick, along with the added apples, it might just not have had the oomph to sustain the rise. I would still consider getting new baking soda. Yours might be on its way out. Yes, the oven was preheated but I don't remember what the directions said to do, but we followed them to the letter. I checked the baking powder but I don't know how to check the baking soda. I should just buy some new stuff. It's not expensive. When we do them again this weekend, I'm going to put less batter into the cups as well. They cooked over the liner and sunk in the middle. Maybe it won't be so bad with just a smaller cupcake. Oh, and they stuck to the liner too! We've never had cupcakes that did that before. We've also never had batter that thick before. We're going to try them one more time and if they don't work out, we'll cross them off our list. They are just so yummy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Was there any banging around the stove or slammed oven doors to make them fall? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 Was there any banging around the stove or slammed oven doors to make them fall? Nope. We weren't near the oven while they cooked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 It may have had something to do with the moisture content- 4 apples is a little vague...the 4 you choose might yield a wildly varying amount from the 4 I choose. And the variable of moisture in apples is something to consider, also. Some apples are really juicy while others aren't. When baking, the moisture is released and can make the batter soggy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 It may have had something to do with the moisture content- 4 apples is a little vague...the 4 you choose might yield a wildly varying amount from the 4 I choose. And the variable of moisture in apples is something to consider, also. Some apples are really juicy while others aren't. When baking, the moisture is released and can make the batter soggy. This was my first thought exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 I'm wih Annie - sounds like a lot of moisture. I'd chop the apples and salt them a little - and let them sit in a sieve for a while. That should get some moisture out. The recipe sounds yummy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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