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Do you bake? Help me.


AlmiraGulch
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I hate to bake. Everything always comes out dry or not-quite-done, even though I follow the directions. I know my oven is calibrated properly because I had it checked. Surely all the bad things I was producing couldn't have been MY fault. Wrong.

 

Anyway, I'm making cupcakes today for my daughter's 17th birthday tomorrow. She's an excellent baker, but I don't want her to have to make her own cupcakes!

 

I'm making the icing from scratch (Nutella buttercream) but the cupcakes will come from a box. That's the best I can do.

 

Any tips for what I can do or add or substitute to try and make the moist yummy goodness I want, rather than the dry (or underbaked) bland lumps I usually get?

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I don't know what flavor you are making, but adding some shredded squash (very finely shredded) will make them very moist, and if you are making a strong flavored cupcake (chocolate, spice,carrot etc) you willnot taste the squash. We add squash all of the time to box mixes, it is yummy.

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It sounds like you may be over-cooking them. Most box mixes are quite moist. My advice would be to cook to the shortest time; if it says 18-22 min, just go to 18, stick a toothpick in and check. If it comes out a little crummy, that's okay. The thing you're trying to avoid is seeing wet batter. Always always cook to the shorter end and check.

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When baked goods come out from the oven, they actually continue baking a bit longer.

 

Use a cake tester. Not expensive, and works better than a toothpick. Very helpful little tool!

 

I'm not used to mixes, but am guessing that the ingredients and directions have been worked out carefully by the manufacturer. So I would hesitate to add ingredients not suggested in the "variations" section of the instructions.

 

Happy Birthday to your DD !

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It sounds like you may be over-cooking them. Most box mixes are quite moist. My advice would be to cook to the shortest time; if it says 18-22 min, just go to 18, stick a toothpick in and check. If it comes out a little crummy, that's okay. The thing you're trying to avoid is seeing wet batter. Always always cook to the shorter end and check.

 

I think that's what I do, but then I really try not to bake often so maybe I'm really not, for fear of having batter instead of cake. I'll definitely do it this time.

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When baked goods come out from the oven, they actually continue baking a bit longer.

 

Use a cake tester. Not expensive, and works better than a toothpick. Very helpful little tool!

 

I'm not used to mixes, but am guessing that the ingredients and directions have been worked out carefully by the manufacturer. So I would hesitate to add ingredients not suggested in the "variations" section of the instructions.

 

Happy Birthday to your DD !

 

A cake tester....is that one of those metal stick looking things?

 

I swear I can cook. I'm just quite clearly not a baker!

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Even if your oven is calibrated correctly it may cycle a bit more than other ovens (all ovens cycle, they don't stay at 350...they cycle down to 300 and then up to 375). Do you have an oven thermometer? That way when you preheat you can see when your oven is ready to start and you can see if its going over the temp you set. An oven thermometer is a cheap way to see what your oven is doing.

 

Because all ovens are a little different I always start checking 5 minutes before the stated finishing time for bake times 30 minutes and under. I start checking times 45 minutes or over 10 minutes before the stated done time. I keep checking every minute or two until its done. Baby those last 5-10 minutes. Get to know what slightly underdone and slightly overdone look like. You can leave just barely done cupcakes in the pan 5 minutes to finish. You can also pull out stuff your worried is overdone and cool it on a rack.

 

My only other suggestion is that if you have an older oven, flip the pans around half way through so all the cupcakes or cookies come out even.

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Yes, a cake tester has a long metal "poker". Something akin

to an unfolded giant paperclip but of smaller diameter.

 

Cooking and baking are different skill sets, so don't be hard on yourself. I became an accomplished cook long before I developed into a passable baker.

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If you have some stoneware (like a pizza stone), you can put that in the oven when you start to preheat and it will help keep the oven temperature constant. We keep our pizza stone in the oven all the time. Best wishes.

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Just a word of caution before using a recipe for a doctored mix... the mixes (sizes and ingredients) have changed. They still "make" the same size, but it appears that the manufacturers have reduced the overall weight, and made up for it with extra baking power/soda to increase the rise. Most of the recipes on the internet for doctored mixes (and older books) will not have these changes taken into account and they will not come out right.

 

Ingredients you can use to increase moistness include: pudding, sour cream, cream/whole milk...when using most of these types of substitutions, you will need to bake longer. Also, another tip is to lower your oven temperature by 25-50 degrees and cook them longer.

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I use a toothpick to test. It it is dry then you are overcooking. Test at the minimum time and like others said, just avoid dry batter.

 

And test one of the cupcakes from the middle, don't test the end ones. If the middle ones are done then the side ones are done.

 

Cupcakes don't take long to bake at all.

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a fast fix that we use is to add orange juice instead of milk to the mix. its gives a fabulous flavour, and orange and chocolate go together really well. even if you are making vanilla cupcakes to go with the nutella frosting, orange juice will add an amazing flavour.

 

and you've been given great advice re the oven.

a) oven thermometer

B) preheat

c) rack in middle

d) check two minutes BEFORE the shortest time listed, as it sounds as if your oven may be overbaking....

e) do not over mix batter

f) when you remove them from the oven, set the timer for five minutes, then remove them from the pan when the timer goes off. set the timer again for 15 minutes. they should be quite cool by then, and can be iced and covered. sometimes things are dry becuase they overcooked a bit and then sat out on the counter a bit too long.

 

have fun!

ann

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I am so glad! What did you do that was different?

 

My mom isn't much of a baker, but she used to make really good banana bread. She said it was just an old recipe that she followed to the letter, but I always thought it was great. Then, came the whole 'eggs can give you salmonella" thing and what little baking she could do went right to hell. She started baking everything within an inch of its life. There is something wrong when banana bread is dry and crumbly at the center. Oh got terrible. We have all tried to convince her that if the oven is hot enough to cook the bread to done then it is hot enough to kill any potential salmonella but she doesn't believe us. So now we visit on the holidays and her quick breads (always a favorite) get passed over for other people's treats. She looks annoyed, but really, it just isn't good.

 

Moral of the story is: Don't over bake!

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I did it!

 

I just made the most delicious, moist, flavorful cupcakes I've ever made in my life. Thanks for your help!

 

P.S. In case you were wondering, Nutella buttercream icing is really, really good. And I don't even like icing.

 

 

Do tell what you did different?

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the brand of mix varies. betty crocker is always dry. I use duncan hines.

the metal of the pans matters - dark metal cooks differently than light metal (and differently again from glass).

 

my sil substitutes milk for water in cake mixes. they're moister.

 

dh is known for his rolls. his neice has been determined to learn to make them. she lives in another state. she went through three or four batches the week before thanksgiving trying to get them to turn out. she was on the phone with him walking her through. she had a glass pan. she needed aluminium. she had a gas oven (it's moister). she needed electric. a few other things. she baked them in her neighbors electic oven. the neighbor offered to keep eat them for her. (when some little things were fixed, they turned out just fine.)

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The only things I did differently this time from what I normally do were to take them out at the shortest suggested baking time, sub milk for water, and use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil.

 

I have always lowered the temp since I use non-stick pans. I think my biggest problem has been not taking them out at the shortest time. I also have let them cool completely before covering, which I didn't do this time. I left them slightly warm (not hot, just barely warm) before I iced them and then sealed them in a plastic cake holder.

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