Cupcake crazy

Everyone loves cupcakes -- guys, gals, senior citizens and, of course, kids of any age. "And if they're filled that's even better," said Milli Banks-Boggan, owner of Cupcakes Bakery and Deli in Kennewick.

She should know. Since opening this summer, she and her two employees have turned out cupcakes by the hundreds of dozens and learned a few baking tips specific to the mini cakes.

"Cupcakes are different from baking a cake. You need to modify the recipe, sometimes using more or less liquid or more or less baking soda," she said.

With a cake, there's a chemical reaction between the batter and the pan that makes it rise. But cupcakes are baked with a paper liner between the batter and the pan.

Banks-Boggan uses scratch recipes for her cupcakes, but millions of bakers rely on cake mixes, especially when it comes to bake sales or supplying birthday cupcakes for a classroom.

Here are some tips:

-- If making cupcakes for an occasion like a baby shower, you can have many different flavors but a unified look by topping them all with the same icing and decorations.

-- Before baking, check the oven temperature with an oven thermometer. If using dark metal pans, reduce the temperature by 25 degrees.

-- Bake big batches fast by using two pans, a dozen cupcakes each, one per oven shelf. The first goes about 4 inches above the element and the second about 4 inches above that. "They'll bake just fine and this is a great time-saver," Banks-Boggan said.

-- For bake sales, even a ho-hum cupcake will sell if you put a frosting flower on it, a few sprinkles on top, or top it with something like a peanut butter cup.

-- Before frosting, allow the cupcakes to cool completely, at least two hours but overnight is better.

-- Here's an innovative idea from Martha Stewart from an appearance on the Today show: Instead of baking cupcakes in cupcake pans, bake them in sugar or waffle (ice cream) cones.

To keep the cones from falling over in the oven, cover a Bundt cake pan or other deep baking pan or casserole dish with foil. Fill the cones about three-quarters full with cake batter and push them through the foil so they stand upright.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Frost when completely cooled.

And don't skimp on the frosting.

"People love globs of frosting," Stewart said.

*Loretto J. Hulse: 582-1513; lhulse@tricityherald.com