Hot topic for discussion: cupcake liners

I don't know about you, but it's only been recently that I decided using pretty cupcake liners was worth spending the extra money for it. Maybe it coincides with taking cake decorating classes? But I have to REALLY like the paper to buy it in the first place.

Before, I would use whatever was available at the grocery store. I believe I've always gone the Reynolds route. The pastel variety because at least there was some color involved. I once used the foil variety when I wanted to dress it up a bit. I wanted to give you my background to let you know where I'm coming from. The Reynolds cupcake liners are dependable. I never had a problem with the liner sticking to the cupcake or muffin, except for this one time when I made vegan muffins.

Last year, because they were on sale or on clearance, I bought some Wilton cupcake liners. Looking at their site now, I see that they're no long available. They were a bright green version of the Celebration Baking Cups. I also bought plain white Wilton baking cups too. And just before I started the cake decorating classes, I bought Wall-E ones that were on clearance.

So far, using the Reynolds and Wilton brands have yielded comparable results.

The last day of cake decorating class, I decided to buy a bunch of cute cupcake liners. Some were Wilton brand and the others were...??? Specifically, I'm referring to these polka-dot cupcake liners. I did get them from a local store, but they were generically packaged and didn't have a manufacturing label attached. The other polka-dot cupcake liners on Bake It Pretty are described as "high-quality Swedish greaseproof paper" which I would say applies to these as well. They do feel like a heavier stock of paper and they are certainly greaseproof. The other side effect? If you're not using it with a sticky batter, the papers peel off on their own.

I noticed this with the last few batches of cupcakes and muffins I've made. If the cake/muffin is especially moist and kept in an air-tight container, if the cupcake liner stuck on through the first day, they most certainly didn't stay stuck by the second day. This isn't a huge deal except 1) It's not visually pleasing, and 2) I don't want people to think that the cupcake/muffin was almost eaten by someone else (hence, the peeling of the paper) and then returned to inventory. This is something I think I'll have to play around with to figure out.

Those polka-dot liners were a lifesaver for the mint-filled  brownie cupcakes that I made the other day. The first batch of liners I used were the normal variety. I didn't think the batter would be sticky, but removing the cupcake liners was horrible. I ended up just removing the liners for the whole batch to make serving them easier (especially at work!). With the remaining batter, I decided to use the polka-dot liners to put their peeling abilities to the test. Sure enough, they peeled off easily.

I'll have to do a test with the cupcake liners that Michelle gave me, just to make I know which ones to use for what baked good I'm preparing.

Strawberry Daiquiri Cupcakes

My attempt at it anyway. After finally learning the quintessential cupcake swirl method for decorating with frosting, I'm a little obsessed with cupcakes right now. Michelle had given me the Honors Club kit for my birthday (thank you, Michelle!), which gives me many, MANY opportunities to make cupcakes. I guess I can make some muffins too. ;)

Not sure how pronounced the taste will be in the cupcake as I only used 1/4 cup of strawberry daiquiri mix. I adapted the Martha Stewart recipe for Sprinkles' Strawberry Cupcakes. The batter tasted great. The cupcakes are baking as I type, so hopefully they'll turn out well.

What I Used
1 cup whole pureed fresh strawberries
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup skim milk, room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
4 tsp meringue powder
1/4 cup TGI Friday's On the Rocks strawberry daiquiri

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.

2. Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. Set aside.

[I hulled a 1-lb. container of strawberries and snacked on a few of them while hulling; the rest went into the food processor. I used this much since I had seen reviews stating that the strawberry taste wasn't very pronounced using the original recipe's amount, which is 1/3 cup.]

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until light and fluffy.

5. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy.

6. Add egg until just blended.

7. Add meringue powder until just blended.

8. Slowly add the puree and the strawberry daiquiri liquid until just blended.

9. Slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended.

10. Add the milk and the vanilla; mix until just blended.

11. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.



12. Fill each cup about 3/4 full.

[I broke my usual 2/3 cup full because I didn't want a lot of extra batter left. I had enough batter for 3.5 more cupcakes. Also, the cupcakes didn't dome at all, so it's all good.]

13. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes.

14. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.



Verdict: super moist and delicious. Yes, I ate one cupcake to make sure. Didn't taste very boozy, but it has a pronounced strawberry flavor like I wanted.

I didn't use the frosting that went with the recipe. I made frosting flavored using the strawberry daiquiri liquid.