The curious case of the cupcake

It was Finn’s birthday last weekend (Happy Birthday, 11-year-old!)

We celebrated by making fudgy bon bons 

A red velvet cake

and faux Hostess cupcakes (sorry about the weak photo.  All I had with me was my camera phone.)

 I love all three dearly, but I must admit that my heart has long belonged to the Hostess oeuvre.  Sadly, the cupcakes never quite live up to my expectations but last month’s issue of Cook’s Country magazine featured a from-scratch version of my old favorite (or maybe Ho Hos were my favorite. I did love Ding Dongs too.  And don’t even get me started on Little Debbies.  Nutty Bars make me swoon.)

I decided to do a little experiment with the cupcakes. I wanted to make them without paper liners since Hostess doesn’t use them (I’m all about authenticity!)  But I hate to scrub out the muffin tin, so I prefer using liners.  I wondered if it would make a difference in how they baked so I placed cupcake wrappers in half of the pan and simply greased the other half.  I was quite shocked at the outcome:

Same batter, same pan.  Let that be a lesson to you: cupcake liners are not just a silly little extra. Use them!

(by the way, the cupcakes were so good I almost passed out. I couldn’t find them on the Cook’s Country website, though. Bummer for you since I’m not about to type out the whole complicated recipe.)

| Filed under Baking, Good Things

17 thoughts on “The curious case of the cupcake

  1. I also really hate to clean out the cupcake tins. Well maybe that is because it falls into the dishes category and I don't like any of that.

    Looks like you had quite a cake feast, I think that is a pretty great way to celebrate a birthday.

  2. Jack's been begging me to make those. It looks awfully labor intensive, are they as difficult as they look?

    Happy b-day Finn!

  3. Holy cow, you are the best mom EVER! Please post that recipe!

    By the way, the cupcake lining experiment is fascinating!

  4. Can we make them again when I come to visit? Did they have cream inside? How did you get it in there?

    What a nice Mommy! (What a rotten Grandma, who forgot to phone. But I did phone the day before to wish H.B.)

  5. All your baked goods look awesome, Jennie. I bought an expensive silicone cupcake pan from DeMarle (I think that's the name of the direct sales company) and you don't need liners for them and they come out perfectly and fluff up well too. Those faux Hostess cupcakes you did were so cute! The red velvet cake looks delightful..love the candles. 🙂

  6. This post made me want to eat cake—-I LOVE cake—my favorite!

    Sorry I haven't been around lately—can't seem to deal with my stress-ful life lately….

    Miss you!

  7. Wow.

    I have been wanting to try Red Velvet cake forever – your cake made me want it more!

    When I hit the US I'm totally going the Hostess sample train =)

    And speaking of baking, it's hilarious that my anti-spam word is comakin. Yay for sugarcomas!

  8. Jennie, that's what I want for my birthday. Those cupcakes. You have to come up here and make them, though.

  9. Hi! I found your blog through Emme-lew, were friends. LOVE the blog! And I have found the silicone muffin liners to be the best, no stick, no peeling papers, and they wash out real quick. Now I have to go make a red cake cause there my fav!

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