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322 M U F F I N S , C U P C A K E S , A N D L I T T L E C A K E S

Filling Cupcake Pans

athi Williams, of Powhatan, Virginia, • A 4-cup measuring cup: It has a pour
C was searching for a gizmo to help her spout for easy filling.
fill muffin cups neatly. Our readers came
• A ladle.
to the rescue with these great ideas:
• Or, don’t worry about different-size
• The ice cream scoop with lever: It pushes
cupcakes or muffins. Kids don’t care!
the cake batter out. You can use a smaller
cookie scoop for miniature muffins.

mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer dinner knife around the edges of the cup-
on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the cake liners, lift the cupcakes up from the
machine and scrape down the sides of the bottom of the pan using the end of the
bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the
mixer speed to medium and beat 2 min-
utes more, scraping the sides down again R
if needed. The batter should look thick
and well combined, with pieces of broken- the Cake Mix Doctor says
up cherries throughout. Fold in the
If you think kids will be squeamish
chocolate chips, making sure they are
about these cherries, don’t fret.The
well distributed throughout the batter.
cherries blend into the batter, making
Spoon the batter into the lined muffin
an incredibly moist cake with a faint
cups, filling each liner three quarters of cherry taste—and one that needs no
the way full. Place the pans in the oven. oil. If you want more cherry taste, fold
in ⁄2 cup chopped maraschino or fresh
1
3. Bake the cupcakes until they spring
cherries.These cupcakes are elegant
back when lightly pressed with your fin-
enough for dinner parties and are just
ger and a toothpick inserted in the center
right for Valentine’s Day or Presidents’
comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove
Day parties at school.
the pans from the oven and place them on
wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Run a