Chocolate mint cupcakes

I decided to begin selling cakes and cupcakes.



Been planning to experiment on the choco cupcakes and mint frosting. It's a challenge to accommodate all preferences of customers. XD

Baking temperature and time for 7-inch round cake

I have a recipe book whose 11 x 8 inch cake I wanted to try, but divided the ingredients by 4 to make a small round cake (7-inch).

I was worried about the temperature and time of baking. The ones written on the recipe are for the bigger rectangular cake, so that doesn't apply to my 7-inch cake.

So I search the web for recipes for 7-inch cakes, and found many Victorian Sponge Cake results. I based my baking on one of the web pages in the results, which said that the 7-inch round cake should bake 18-20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Only one egg was in the batter, by the way.

My carrot cake came out nice when I followed that. :) I hope it works on all sorts of cakes as long as it's on a 7-inch round pan.

Update:
This recipe says bake for 15-25 minutes. Maybe 15 minutes is good for a moister cake.

French vs. Italian vs. Swiss Meringue

I've been reading a cookbook that I just bought and I came accross a page where they give a brief explanation on the three types of meringue. Not making meringue often, I always wonder how they are different from one another. Maybe these can help:

Colorful Bread

My cute, colorful bread! :D I was even lucky that I noticed I could form a "heart" as I was taking photos.

I rarely end up with edible breads because they are usually too yeasty or rock-hard, but this one smells right, feels right... EXCEPT, I forgot to put in some salt! lolol. I always forget things. xD Anyways, I guess we should enjoy this bread with some spread or filling. :)

Dinner Rolls

I love these dinner rolls that I make. They're the breads I make best so far - soft, slightly sweet, and buttery.

I was told that they taste like the ones at The French Baker. :D

Pay no attention to how dark its browning is. It's not burnt. :)

Rich Chocolate Cake Recipe

Here's my favorite chocolate cake recipe so far. It is adapted from Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate cake.

It is rich and chocolatey, but is also dense so I'm still looking for a chocolate cake recipe that is lighter.

Ingredients for one 8-inch cake pan:

1 cup sugar
14 tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
6 tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup boiling water

Procedures:

Preheat oven to 177 degrees Celsius. Grease and flour a round 8-inch cake pan.
In a bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.
In another bowl, mix together all wet ingredients EXCEPT boiling water.
Add wet ingredients to the dry ones. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium speed, about 2 minutes.
Stir in boiling water. Mix until well combined.
Pour into the floured cake pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes.
Cool in pan for ten minutes before removing. When completely cooled, frost with frosting of your choice.

Best way to freeze and thaw baked cupcakes

I made a dozen of carrot cupcakes tonight, but don't want to frost them with cream cheese frosting until Friday or Saturday. I thought I should freeze them until then, because simply refrigerating might not preserve them well.