Dissecting the Cupcake!

You really can't go wrong with cupcakes... cupcakes are the best food porn. Plus they are pre-portioned bites of cake! From this little cake fetish, I've concluded that there are 4 key parts of a cupcake that makes them flawless in presentation and taste. They are as follow:

1. Cake
2. "Frosting"
3. The Decoration
4. The Cup

Although there are many variations, I decided to highlight my favorites....






#1. THE CAKE: Generally, any normal cake batter (cheesecake, layered cake, etc) can be used for cupcake, after all cupcakes are only bite sized cakes. The easiest to make is cake mix cupcakes. But the best tasting is Butter Cake Batter. This is also known as FATTY, but is so good. I despise Chiffon (foam) or Angel food batter, that's only because I like denser cakes.






#2 THE FROSTING: My favorite frosting of all time is heavy whipping cream made from scratch. I do not have too heavy of a sugar tooth and am not fond of frosting that tastes like another form of sugar. I also like Butter Cream frosting & Cream Cheese Frosting. The key thing for me is a rich frosting that isn't too sweet, but it's light and it's like eating butter without the associated fatty shame.

#3. THE DECORATION: Sprinkles are the classic cupcake decoration, but when you think about it they are pretty chalky on their own. Personally, my favorites are as follows: dark chocolate shavings, powdered chocolate, and thin slices of almonds. At this point it's really a matter of preference. Whole fruit scene or the colorful sprinkles are lovely to look at though.

#4. THE CUP: I like my cupcake made to peel, no mug or tea cup . At that point it's no longer a cupcake (even though that's what they originally were), it's a cupcake soup. At that point I say NO!