Not another blog about cupcakes

Has anyone else been alarmed at the sudden trendiness of cupcakes? They are all over the place. Martha Stewart Living's February issue had a big section on cupcakes, from peanut butter cupcakes to banana cupcakes to coconut cream cupcakes, and all kinds of frosting and decorating ideas. Here alone are four sites that have had postings about cupcakes that have made me want to bake cupcakes:

Pioneer Woman-Now, to be fair, Pioneer Woman is about much, much more than cupcakes, but from the way she raves about cupcakes, it is pretty obvious she's on the cupcake bandwagon.

Bakerella-While it is a baking site, she seems to devote more time to cupcakes than just about anything. Also, she really likes making candy that looks like, but isn't, a cupcake.

Cake Wrecks-Yes, even Cake Wrecks keeps talking about cupcakes. Of course, it's in a very entertaining, mocking way.

All Things Cupcake-This one, like its name, is not just about cupcakes themselves, but also about cupcake stationery, cupcake tattoos, cupcake hair ornament, and cupcake learning toys. I have added a link, lest you think I am making these things up.

Cupcakes Take the Cake-Very similar to the above one. They post links to cupcake stores all across the world, along with pictures of the cupcakes they sell...

This brings me to the second point of this blog: cupcake stores--that is, bakeries that sell only cupcakes, have become quite popular recently. When I was in D.C., there were two or three on the street between our hotel and AAMFT headquarters. Vegas has several, and now, Lubbock has one. It is located in a strip mall, and it is called Peace O' Cake (yes, it really is). Like many Lubbock food establishments, it is only open from Tuesday to Saturday. Business starts at 10 a.m. and finishes when the last cupcake has sold. The inside of the shop is painted a very trendy green with white accents (always a recipe for success). They sell about five flavors a day, both as regular-sized cupcakes and as minis, and they often have names like "What's Up, Doc?" for carrot cake, and "Billy Idol White Wedding." After hearing people rave about these cupcakes, I have now paid two visits to the store to see what all the fuss was about.

I don't know about the rest of you, but, growing up, I couldn't think of a worse dessert on the planet than a store-bought cupcake. They were always covered with twice as much buttercream as was necessary for a good cake-to-icing ratio, and the buttercream was usually airbrushed, which, in the early 90's, was a cool look, but did not serve to give the dessert a "homemade" feel. Today, in a singles' branch that has contrived get-togethers called "Mix and Munch," a package of store-bought cupcakes showing up is a clear indication that some girl has just completely given up on trying to lure men in with her baking skills. So, while I like cupcakes as much as anyone, I am skeptical of cupcake stores.

Yesterday, I purchased three mini cupcakes and one regular cupcake from the aforementioned store. Although, to be perfectly frank, the regular cupcake was more like a blueberry muffin wearing purple buttercream. That said, it was pretty good. The buttercream was sweet, but not so sweet that it made my teeth hurt. The three minis were not as good-they seemed tough, like they had been mixed too thoroughly or cooked too long. Also, on the sign, they were advertising "Lemon Confetti" and "Billy Idol White Wedding." However, the lemon one had no confetti in it. There was a confetti one, however, that had a vanilla base, but didn't seem fitting to be called "White Wedding." I'm still a little confused by that one.

In short, I think the cupcakes are good. However, they are not worth the price, and they don't taste that different from the ones you make from a mix. 

I have spent some time over the last few weeks thinking about what it would be like to scrap my PhD and start my own cupcake business. At the very least, I have had an itch to make cupcakes.

I started with a recipe for strawberry cupcakes I found in Martha Stewart Living. I am a little ashamed to say I bought that magazine, but I did. This is a link to the recipe, in case you think you can do better. 

Here is a picture of my partially filled cupcake papers and the batter bowl on my kitchen counter. Bakerella I am not.

Here's a picture of my first attempt at frosting, using the recipe Martha suggested. Not only was the recipe terrible, but the picture I took of the frosting, to illustrate how terrible it was, came out bad. I'm not Pioneer Woman, either.

My second attempt consisted of adding strawberry puree to my favorite cream cheese recipe. As you can see from the picture, the results were smooth, if slightly runny (I hate that word). However, the butter or the powdered sugar must have been stale because it tasted funny. As did the cupcakes. All of this did not stop me from putting them in a cute box, which may or may not have been slightly used.

The discouragement from that first attempt has kept me from making any of the other Martha Stewart cupcakes, for now.

However, I have found another use for my cupcake pans that makes me happy. Cup pies. 

Have I mentioned that I loved the show Pushing Daisies? I did. I could do an entire post on shows I loved that got cancelled. Maybe, some day, I will. But it was from Pushing Daisies that I got the inspiration to make pies in cupcake tins. If I were Bakerella or Pioneer Woman, instead of the pathetic person that I am, I would post a recipe. Maybe I still will, but don't count on it.

Basically, what I do is buy Pillsbury pie crust dough. A box of two crusts makes about a dozen cup pies, if you are just using one crust. Fewer if you make a top crust. I cut the crust using a small bowl as my cutter (it's about 4 inches in diameter). Then I grease the cupcake pan. It takes a little bit of work to get the dough into the the cupcake pan, but I usually have enough to make a small edge around the crust. I only fill every other hole, so that the crusts don't run into one another. For strawberry, chocolate, or banana cream, I bake the shells first and fill them later. To keep them from shrinking, I put a foil ball (a small one, not like Pee Wee Herman's foil ball) inside, and a little ring of foil around the edge. I bake them for about 10 minutes at whatever heat the box says. As soon as they are cool enough to touch, I pull the shells out of the pan.

Here's a shot of some strawberry cup pies, and a chocolate cream (sans cream) cup pie. I used cook-and-serve chocolate pudding for the chocolate filling, and the Better Homes and Gardens strawberry glaze recipe over strawberry chunks for the strawberry pie.

I had to take pies to a Pi Day party (on March 14), so I got fancy and made these. I used the Better Homes and Gardens raspberry pie recipe, only I substituted blackberries, and I brushed the latticework with an egg rinse and sprinkled it with decorative sugar. I was too chicken to take the pies out of the pan, so I served them like this. They were a hit!

My mind is now reeling with ideas of other things I can make in cupcake pans. Any suggestions?