The world of Blog (and cupcakes)

Up until a few weeks ago the idea of 'blogging' had never even entered my mind... yet here I am!

I have been on an accidental cupcake crusade since returning from a work trip to London, in November last year, and I think that I can now quite safely say that it has become an obsession! Seriously... if you are compelled to 'blog' about the little fella's, it's definately gone beyond being just a passing interest! (I was inspired to give it a go after reading all of the other blogs that have been dedicated to the humble cake-in-a-cup... so thank-you fellow cupcake bloggers... I hope I can give something back to the cause!)

My current quest is to find the perfect recipe (or more precisely... recipes). I am a firm beliver that looks are NOT everything (although they certainly help)... so before I get down to any serious decorating I must first perfect taste, texture, moisture content, density and what I like to call 'keep ability' (any cupcake worth his salt must be able to last 3 days)!

To assist me in this endevour I have recruited a gun group of cupcake testers - Monkey One and Monkey Two (my children), My Mother (mother's always tell the truth) and 7 hungry workmates (although I think they're starting to lie to me just so I'll keep baking... they have a vested interest' in me continuing to 'practice').

To date we've gone through 7 vanilla recipes (including one that 'bounced' when dropped... no I'm not kidding) 3 chocolate, a lemon, a carrot and 6 different icing options. The lemon and the carrot had both been tried and tested in the past and did not require any further refinement, much to the dismay of the Hungry workmates, but I am still on the hunt for the perfect vanilla and the perfect chocolate.

Needless to say the recipe below did not made the shortlist...

Yes... baking is a science... and mesing with the 'method' DOES have a significant impact!

As Monkey One kindly pointed out... "Mum, it's all part of your cupcake learning curve!"

But just to prove that it hasn't been all bad so far, here is one from the following batch...

Tonight I think we'll explore Chocolate a little further!