Once our Easter celebration with my in-laws was wrapped up on Saturday afternoon, I rolled up my sleeves and got started on some cupcakes for church on Sunday morning. In an effort to maximize the church’s modest hospitality budget, I’ve taken to 1) baking cupcakes and 2) baking them from scratch.
For the record, I’m definitely more a cook than a baker. Just sayin’.
The first week that I baked the yellow cake recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, I didn’t even get a chance to taste test one before they were all eagerly snatched up. The following week, I managed to hold one back for myself only to discover that the recipe stinks. And while I’m sure that children are eating the majority of the cupcakes and that they likely couldn’t care less, I found them to be way too dense. Cupcakes are supposed to be fluffy!
So I tried this and I tried that, tweaking the recipe in hopes of baking a fluffier cupcake. (Open to suggestions, please.) Nothing’s worked yet.
But Square Piece couldn’t risk hockey-puck cupcakes on Easter Sunday. Heavens no! Not with the larger, Easter Sunday crowd!
So I went back to my ol’ tried and true boxes of Betty Crocker. No one ever minds a Betty Crocker cupcake. Betty’s got it goin’ on! And the steps could not be easier.
- Dump contents of the box into a mixing bowl.
- Add eggs, water and oil.
- Bake.
- Pat yourself on the back for having such a servant’s heart.
Here’s a little advice. When you’re deciding between taking a nap and baking cupcakes (and you happen to have just enough time to do both), I highly advise taking the nap first.
I forgot the oil.
The oil!
I screwed up Betty CROCKER, folks! And there are only three – 3! – additional ingredients!
I had already filled four dozen cupcake liners with the batter and was about the fill the fifth when my oil blunder occurred to me. I shrieked. Brian suggested that I scrape each liner out, get the batter back into the bowl and then mix in the oil. Having neither the time nor energy, I decided against it and hoped for the best. I mean… the batter sure tasted good, so how bad could they be?
Pretty bad is the answer to that question.
1) They were ugly. 2) Ironically, they also were dense. And 3) they stuck to the paper cupcake liners!
For crying out loud! Betty Crocker was supposed to be fool-proof!
So I took all five dozen, sad little cupcakes (minus two – one for a taste test and the second to confirm the disappointment of the first taste test) and served them to the Easter Sunday crowd. Thank goodness I make the most incredible icing to offset my cupcake issues.
And, oh yeah, I forgot the Easter sprinkles, too.
If you were at Guilford Baptist Church on Sunday, my apologies! Perhaps I should start making pizza for Sunday mornings instead! Or cheese! Or soup!
Next time just nudge the person next to you and say, “Bless the persons heart who made these cupcakes. They may not be the best, but I’m sure she/he worked very hard on them.” Word of mouth will have everyone there thinking good thoughts about the maker. OR just put a cute sign out in front that says “Made with love by the 3rd-4th grade Sunday School class.”
This made me laugh out loud. Good one.
LOL … I’m sure the littles didn’t mind, so long as they got something sweet. Check with Roxy on the fluffier, she made Charley’s bday cupcakes and they were awesome.
I made a new recipe for “maple carrot” cupcakes this weekend and they were easy, and very moist. And not as maple-y as I would have thought it yummy! Saw little Bennett in his bouncer when I dropped Caleb off this morning!
*happy heart*
Or Duncan Hines is good too!
I’ve never had a problem with boxed cake!
OK, Suzy, now I was there at church, and those cupcakes, even without the oil, were gone before the end of the service!! Sooooo, regardless of the forgotten ingredient, you still managed to fool all of our Guilford family members into thinking that those cupcakes were the best things in the world. You are too hard on yourself cuz… “if you bake it, they will come…” (to eat and eat some more). Your blogs always manage to make me smile. š
Glad I had ’em fooled! Surprisingly, what bothers me the most wasn’t serving sub-par cupcakes; it’s my fried brain!
LOL, Suzy-do you see the crowd of kids hovering around the snack table after church?! You could probably put birdseed in a liner (esp. with frosting!), and they’d be thrilled to get it! Any crumb is a prize!
Definitely take a nap next time. lol. I have totally forgotten things in recipes before. Some had to be tossed, some were salvageable. Eh, oh well. Good thing is, I never make the same mistake twice. š