Page 268 - Cupcakes

green, and the right of the center red.

5. Spread 3 vertical stripes of frosting on each cupcake: first green, then white in
the center, then red. Use a short metal spatula or a spoon to spread it out
smoothly. Place a chocolate melt in the center of the white stripe. The cupcakes
are ready to serve.

Store these cupcakes, in a cake saver or under a glass dome, at room
temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze
them, wrapped in aluminum foil or in a cake saver, for up to 6 months. Thaw the
cupcakes overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Using Paper Baking Molds

Should you want to splurge, those brown and gold paper baking molds you
see wrapped around muffins and cupcakes at high-quality bakeries are
available for baking at home. They cost about 20 to 25 cents apiece, but for
special arrangements, especially a tiered stand of cupcakes for a birthday,
anniversary, or christening, they just might be worth it.

I tested baking molds that I ordered from Beryl’s Cake Decorating &
Pastry Supplies in Springfield, Virginia (800-488-2749, or on the Web at
www.beryls.com). They are also known as panettone molds and come in
two sizes—2¼-inch and 2¾-inch. I found that the smaller size is preferable
for cupcakes. (It was eye-opening to find that I had to fill the larger molds
with twice as much batter as I normally would use for a muffin or cupcake.
In other words, if you eat one of these larger cupcakes or muffins, you are
eating two servings!) The molds are freestanding and do not fit inside a
cupcake pan, so to bake, arrange them on a baking sheet and fill them no
more than halfway with batter. Cupcakes in the smaller molds baked at
350°F for 20 to 25 minutes, whereas the larger molds needed 28 to 32

minutes to reach doneness. To serve cupcakes in these molds, frost, then let
everyone peel off the paper mold and eat. In addition to their beautiful
appearance, an added plus is that the cupcakes bake up incredibly moist.
My children adored them with no frosting at all.