Dear Sis,

With only a week to go until the wedding, I finally found a day for mass cupcake testing. Making single recipes over the course of weeks hasn’t yielding a winning recipe. I realized I was going to have to declare a baking day, find some taste testers, and hit it with everything I’ve got, if I was going to “Beat the Box Mix!”

It was easy to “Beat the Box Mix!” for our Chocolate and Spice Cake options. Today I focused on Vanilla and Funfetti!

The Recipe Line Up

I began by printing three recipes from Pinterest that promised “Best” vanilla cupcakes. My test subjects:

Recipe One: Best Ever Moist Vanilla Cupcakes by House of Nash Eats

Recipe Two: Moist Vanilla Cupcakes by Life, Love, and Sugar

Recipe Three: Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes by Glorious Treats

Since funfetti is just a vanilla with sprinkles mixed in, I tested both with each recipe except the control… that was just a Pillsbury Funfetti box mix made with 3 whole eggs, 1/2 c vegetable oil, and 1 c buttermilk. The frosting used for all testing is my go to Swiss Buttercream.

Baking and Re-batching

RECIPE ONE: When recipe one was complete, I noted that it had robust flavor and worked well with the sprinkles! However, it was denser and dryer than I was hoping. I also had trouble nailing down the exact baking time. Sixteen minutes was undone and collapsed. Nineteen minutes was over baked! I decided the best course of action was probably just to drop the baking temperature to 325 and try again, but continued with recipes two and three before circling back.

RECIPE TWO: The three teaspoons of baking powder and complete lack of baking soda was a bit was a bit of a head turner for me. Typically a balanced recipe, matching cups of flour for teaspoons of flour, but this one was deliberately pushing the recommendation by a 1/2 teaspoon. However, I was drawn to the use of milk, oil, and water. I have noticed that wetter batters often create a more moist and shelf-stable result. Knowing I can’t bake all 200 cupcakes and two tiered cakes in four flavors all in one day. I need recipes that can sit a few days without affecting taste and texture negatively! I also know that finding a shelf stable vanilla cake is much more challenging than one with other moisture yielding ingredients, like cocoa powder, spices, fruit or vegetable purees, etc. I used a half batch for the test since the recipe has such a large yield.

RECIPE THREE: Like recipe two, I hoped this wetter batter would lend to moisture and shelf-stability. The use of cake flour and more balanced approach to leavening seemed like a winner too.

RECIPE ONE TAKE TWO: After making the other recipes, I decided to alter the fundamental of recipe one to create a lighter and moister result. I swapped all-purpose flour for cake flour and dropped the cornstarch entirely. I increased the baking powder from one to one and a half teaspoons to balance with the flour ratio and create additional lightness. I also melted the butter before creaming it with the sugar and swapped the three egg whites for two whole eggs. After all those changes, the new baking time was just twelve minutes.

RECIPE TWO TAKE TWO: Half batching again, I added two tablespoons of cornstarch hoping that would help keep the texture light while I made additional changes to balance the leavening. I dropped the baking powder quantity to one and a quarter teaspoons and added a half teaspoon of almond extract for additional flavor complexity. 

Taste Testing

Next I loaded all the kids, cupcakes, and frosting into the car so we could go to a friends house to borrow their neutral, I-haven’t-eaten-a-cupcake-all-day taste buds. It’s nice to have friends you can call on a whim and say, hey, can I feed your whole family cupcakes for dinner? LOL! Mama Jenn is always game for my crazy ideas:)

My taste-testing team was unaware of which recipe was which and which recipe was the control. Their eyes were open, but they were blind of any information beyond their own taste buds:)

FUNFETTI RESULTS

RECIPE ONE: dense, a bit dry, great flavor!

RECIPE ONE TAKE TWO: they noticed that same great flavor, but moister and lighter! 

RECIPE TWO: light, moist, and good, but lacking the flavor profile of recipe one take two.

RECIPE TWO TAKE TWO: got similar marks as it’s first batch.

RECIPE THREE: was reported good, but not a contender.

CONTROL: raised eyebrows again after the previous three taste subjects. Recipe one take two and control were taste tested again back to back to see who would win! 

I BEAT THE BOX MIX! I was jumping around my friend’s kitchen, shouting with joy while all our kids coated themselves in frosting and the floor with crumbs:) 

VANILLA RESULTS

RECIPE ONE: dry, but flavorful

RECIPE ONE TAKE TWO: flavorful and moister

RECIPE TWO: sweet and moist, rolled out recipe one, takes one and two

RECIPE TWO TAKE TWO: not as sweet, but same level of moisture

The show down was between the two versions of recipe two. Again the two were re-taste tested back to back. Jenn liked recipe two better and Brandon liked recipe two take two better. I let them know they were disagreeing over 1/4 t baking powder and 1/2 t almond extract. We laughed about it, but Jenn said that makes sense, he likes almond flavoring better than I do. 

RECIPE THREE: good, but not as good as recipe two or recipe two take two

I’ve decided to use recipe two, with only some of my re-batching changes. There is already almond flavoring in my Swiss Buttercream, so I will be omitting it from the cupcake itself. It is supposed to be a vanilla cupcake after all! Also, for the big day I will use vanilla paste instead of exact for the visual effect and additional aroma. 

Meeting the Winners!

Now all that remains is shopping and baking the real deal! I aim to please! 

Love,

b