Introduction
Cupcakes & Muffins
Muffins - small cakes with a big attitude
Muffins offer the ultimate touch of magic! They are much more versatile than other cakes. These lush mini-cakes were originally yeast pastries served with English tea - a 17th century export of the Pilgrim Fathers to the "New World". The American pioneers faced tough daily challenges and little leisure time for such delicacies. Soon, they invented new recipes with sweet dough that were quickly to prepare or hale and hearty fare with cornmeal, pancetta and vegetables. These made great savoury snacks.
Over the centuries almost every region created its classic muffin reflecting the local gastronomy and typical ingredients: maple syrup in New England, peaches in Georgia, oranges in Florida, chilli and cornmeal in New Mexico.
Muffins were home-baked, but nothing special. That didn't change until 1880 when S. B. Thomas, a baker who came from from England, opened a new shop in New York. Refining the rustic bread rolls favoured by the settlers, he supplied "Thomas' fine English muffins" - fresh daily deliveries were sent to hotels and restaurants.
So it came that the muffin made a comeback at polite society's tea table! These American mini-cakes have been popular here for a long time. And it's easy to see why: muffins are not only amazingly versatile, but also the ideal choice for every occasion. They make wonderful party snacks, breakfast food, coffee time treats or for a picnic and the kids' birthday tea - these practical mini-cakes are fabulous all-rounders. And they're quite simple to make.
Baking muffins
Baking muffins in true American style is easy - you don't even need a hand mixer! Just mix the dry ingredients like flour, cornflour, chopped nuts, coconut flakes, salt, baking powder, baking soda etc. in a bowl. Next, add the wet ingredients like eggs, oil, butter, milk, cream, liqueur and sugar in a second bowl. Add your dry to wet ingredients and mix everything together with a wooden spoon. Ta-dah! - the muffin dough is ready.
Remember not to mix the dough too vigorously (it's preferable not to use a hand mixer). Also, bake the muffin dough straight away. Otherwise, your muffins will turn chewy and dry. Muffins are easiest to bake in special muffin trays wich are available with 6 or 12 moulds. If you don't have a muffin tray on hand, you can make your own cases. Use a glass to bend extra-strong aluminium foil into a mould shape. Or layer two muffin paper cases inside each other. In any case, muffin cases are practical. Line a muffin tray with paper cases and you avoid greasing the tray, plus it's easier releasing the cakes from the form. A wide choice of muffin forms is now available made from silicone. Depending on their size, you can even make extra muffins! However, remember to adjust the baking time.
Storing muffins
If you have any muffins left over, store them in an airtight container. This keeps the cakes fresh and moist for at least two to three days. You can also freeze the freshly baked muffins in plastic freezer bags and they will keep for up to three months. From frozen you should heat the muffins in the oven for about 10-15 minutes at 180 °C (Gas Mark 4).
What about your leftover dough? Fill some muffin cases and you can pre-freeze them on a muffin tray. Then, transfer to a freezer bag. If you're in the mood for a little baking, take out as many of the pre-made muffins as you wish, and bake them on a muffin w tray. The baking time should ideally be about 5 minutes longer.
Tips and tricks for decorating muffins
You can make miniature artworks as quickly as you mix the muffin dough!
You can have a go at any of these ideas:
Topping: sprinkle the muffins with cinnamon sugar or coarse sugar crystals. Scatter crumble mixture over them using 50 g brown sugar, 65 g butter, 70 g flour and a hint of cinnamon.
Glaze: melt light or dark coating chocolate and dip the muffins. Flavour basic icing glaze (125 icing sugar and 2 to 3 tablespoons water) with maple syrup, fruit juice, honey, cinnamon or cocoa powder. If you like garish colours, try food colouring to brighten up the icing! You can also sprinkle edible sugar pearls, coconut flakes, chocolate sprinkles, chopped nuts etc. over the icing before it sets.
For festive muffins: pipe a rosette of whipped cream or butter cream over the cakes and top with pretty sugar or marzipan decorations.
Kids will love this: dip the muffins in chocolate glaze and use white chocolate to decorate them afterwards or use a sugar pen to create a face or figures. Stick cocktail umbrellas or little party hats in the cakes! Let your creative fantasy run riot!
Cupcakes - the elegant relations
Cupcakes, fine mini-cakes with luscious toppings, are becoming increasingly popular in local cafés and American coffee shop chains. Unlike muffins, their more rustic cousins, which are not as sweet, cupcakes are delicate mini-cakes wich are usually made from a light sponge mixture.
The typical topping for cupcakes is also fairly sugary and lavish amounts of butter cream or cream cheese.
Generally, in comparison with muffin recipes, more egg and sugar go into the sponge to make the mixture especially light and fluffy. The other ingredients are also only added after the butter or oil, sugar and eggs have been beaten thoroughly using the hand mixer until they form a uniform mass.
Compulsory frosting is a if not the trademark of cupcakes. Sometimes, the icing is decoratively piped with a large nozzle or else smoothed over with a palette knife to create an uneven and thick topping layer for the cupcakes. There are a lot of possibilities for more decorative finishes that you can add if you wish.
Because they are very sweet with lashings of rich cream toppings, cupcakes are usually enjoyed at tea or coffee time where they can replace a piece of gateau without any difficulty. They also make excellent desserts.
However, you would rarely find cupcakes served for breakfast or as a snack - muffins are that much easier to eat.
Frosting and icing
Typical American cupcakes are decorated with imaginative frosting, often embellished with bright food colourings. In this book we deliberately avoid such additives and only colour our frosting with natural fruit sauces, cinnamon or chocolate.
Of course, if you prefer, you can still use vivid food colourings for parties or other special occasions. Add these colours to light your butter cream or cream cheese frosting or colour the sponge mixture with food colouring. For consistent results it's best to use liquid colourings and pastel shades. As for quantities, basically, less is often more! Start by adding tiny droplets of colour. You can always add extra, as required.
Rainbow sponge cake also makes a fun alternative - all you need a light sponge mixture divided into 4 portions. Colour each portion with a different colour. Then, simply fill teaspoons of the coloured sponge in layers into the paper cases and follow the recipe as normal. Your guests will be amazed when they bite into these surprising cupcakes later on!
There are simply no limits to creating imaginative cakes. You can try classic frosting using a flat knife or palette knife to smooth icing over cooled cupcakes. Alternatively, you can use a piping bag with a large nozzle to decorate the cakes. Various special nozzles are available that help you make beautiful rose leaves, dots or flowers of different shapes and sizes to create mini artworks. Your cupcakes will be real showstoppers! It's almost a shame to take a bite.
If you notice that the frosting becomes too soft, chill the cakes in the refrigerator for a few minutes to make the icing set and continue working afterwards.
Depending on your choice of frosting and method of decoration, you can also add tasty items such as brightly coloured hundreds and thousands, chocolate flakes, nuts, croquant, chocolate chips, fruit or marzipan decorations. Dream up any creative ideas you can think of!
Do you have a favourite recipe for butter cream, lemon dessert or chocolate mousse? Fantastic! Simply choose a cupcake recipe and decorate the mini-cakes just how you like them with a sweet butter cream and serve them as a special dessert.
Preparing and storing cupcakes
Cupcakes are also baked in special cake trays just like muffins. The standard tray has 12 moulds that can either be greased and dusted with flour or lined with brightly coloured paper cases. Extra small or tall cake forms are now also available and you can buy matching paper cases that emphasise the style of the cakes. If you don't have a tray like this, simply double up two paper cases and bake on a cake tray or make the cases yourself using a glass tumbler to shape extra-strong aluminium foil into the cupcake moulds.
You can freeze ready baked, but un-iced cupcakes and re-heat them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes at 180 °C (Gas Mark 4). If you have any leftover dough, simply fill paper cases and pre-freeze them directly on a tray, then transfer to a freezer bag. To bake the cakes without defrosting, place on an oven tray and follow the recipe as before. 5-10 minutes longer baking time is required.
Cupcakes which are already decorated with frosting should be stored in an airtight container. They will keep in the fridge for about one to two days. Remember to take them out of the fridge approx....
