Cupcake AIBU

[AprilMayJuneJuly]

I’m taking part in a bake-off at work, and have been asked to make cupcakes.

I’m keen to make chocolate cupcakes, but maybe with another complementary flavour - for example, chocolate with orange or chocolate with caramel. I’d prefer not to use nuts as some of my colleagues are allergic.

I’d also like to try and make a filling for each of the cakes, like a sort of gooey, molten centre. What do you all think? I was thinking of either making a gooey caramel centre, a chocolate ganache centre or maybe an orange centre (with marmalade or something, but I’m a bit less convinced that it’ll be tasty).

Apart from my shameless pleas for asking you what flavour you’d go for and if you’d go for a soft centre, please can I ask how I can make the cupcakes moist and worthy of a Paul Hollywood handshake on the real Bake Off? How do you get a really tasty, more-ish cake? I’ll definitely do a few practice bakes as I haven’t made cupcakes in years!

Coconut 😍

Also what sort of cupcake cases do you recommend I buy?

Whenever I’ve made cupcakes in the past, the cases have always been really flimsy to the point of collapsing when I pour cake mixture into them.

The baby Cadbury foil (un)wrapped Easter eggs in the middle OR maltesers

I love these

i always put a dollop or two of natural yoghurt in my cake mix to help keep it moist. with regards to a gooey centre, it might be quite difficult to perfect the sponge but still leave a gooey inside so could you bake the cupcakes and then use a syringe/piping bag type thing to squirt the filling in a bit like how they make doughnuts?

www.chocolatemoosey.com/2012/04/25/award-winning-chocolate-coconut-cupcakes/

I like the cake cases from aldi - they stay looking nice when the cakes are baked (they don't go all oily looking) and they don't peel away from the cakes as they cool, which has happened when I've bought more expensive papers.

Chocolate orange is always a winner in my experience at every village fair I have done! I would do chocolate orange cake with chcolate buttercream and a terry chcolate orange slice on top 😋

I just use cup cake cases from Sainsbury’s (own brand ) and they have always been good for me

In terms of a.moist and tasty cupcake, i like the american recipes that use a little buttermilk in the mix.

I think a salted caramel centre with a rich chocolate ganache or a cho colate ganache inner with mint flavoured buttercream would be lovely.

Not convinced on a marmalade centre but cherry with cho colate works brilliantly. You could do black forest cupcakes with a cherry centre, blob of whipped cream on top and a cherry.

Is it just a peanut allergy or all nuts? I make Bakewell cupcakes, they are really soft and almondy, at the end you scoop a bit of the sponge out fill with raspberry jam pop the top back on then ice like you would a Bakewell with a cherry on top. I believe it was originally from bakeoff a few years ago.

If it makes your worry any better, I am finishing off my cake tonight for tomorrow's work charity bake off.
And the judge is one of this year's GBBO contestants. To say I'm under pressure is an understatement !

However, as a tip, if you are making chocolate cupcakes, use oil instead of butter. They will be more moist!

Buttermilk. Makes for a softer cake.

www.bbc.com/food/recipes/cherry_bakewell_cupcakes_24953 I tweak this recipe, you get a smoother top of you replace the sponge on top it's a bit fiddly but worth it

Oh and add either almond butter in place of some of the marge or a good splash of natural almond extract for a better Bakewell flavour

Don’t try and keep the centre molten, it’s really easy once the cakes and baked and cooled, just use a sharp knife to cut a hole in the centre, slice the very top of the bit you cut out, off then fill and replace the ‘lid’ back over the filled hole. Rindless marmalade is lovely in a chocolate cake, add chocolate ganache on top... mmmmm

I made these red wine and chocolate cupcakes for a bake off at work a couple of years ago. This was my first round recipe. Subsequent ones included a mojito cake and a sloe gin cake. There may be a theme to my baking , but I did win overall in the end.

www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/baking-and-desserts/blackberry-and-chocolate-cupcakes/

I accidentally found out that using golden syrup instead of eggs makes a beautifully moist sponge

Chocolate and orange have no place together.

Chocolate with marmite and marmalade filling - with reference to liz smith character in vicar of dibley

Cherry filling, make Black Forest Cupcakes.

I made some lovely chocolate cupcakes and put a square of galaxy caramel chocolate in the middle of each cake prior to cooking. There was a delicious chocolatey caramel surprise when they bit into the cakes. I think it did a caramel frosting too.

My favourite chocolate cupcakes have a raspberry jam centre (Bonne Maman is the best) with a chocolate ganache topping.

Look at Cupcake Jemma on youtube, her cupcakes recipes are amazing work everytime, the Oreo cookie ones are immense.

Mudcake cupcakes with raspberry flavour swirled through. You can pipe whipped ganache into the centre of each one before icing.

haha @nbee84 great minds think alike. I use raspberry jam as the swirl through mine.