CUPCAKES! They worked! Never believe the hype! After the rather unfortunate results from version 1.0, SuperNick (Nick) and I decided it was time to revisit the recipe and see whether we could make something that didn’t taste like an omelette. Good news, everybody. We actually managed it!

The biggest changes were using self-raising flour, reducing the number of eggs and cutting back on the milk. We’d also abandoned the additional baking powder and introduced a pinch of salt. Nothing particularly revolutionary, but the previous attempt had been so eggy that almost any change was worth investigating.

SuperNick (Nick) joined me for another spectacular cooking production, complete with ice cream, questionable commentary and rather more enthusiasm than a bowl of cake mixture probably deserves. At least we had a plan this time, even if following it precisely remained something of an optional extra.

We began with the self-raising flour and caster sugar, followed by the butter, eggs, milk and vanilla. The butter needed to be measured out properly, so I used the scales to get somewhere around 125 g. I did manage to get close enough this time, which is practically a triumph compared with some of the previous measurements.

Then came the mixing. We didn’t have an electric mixer available, so everything had to be stirred by hand. That takes a little longer, particularly when the butter isn’t completely cooperative, but the resulting mixture was considerably thicker than our first effort. Already a promising sign!

The little toaster oven was set to around 180 degrees Celsius, and we carefully distributed the mixture between the cupcake cases. Well, carefully might be overstating it slightly. We still managed to get batter in places where batter probably shouldn’t go, and SuperNick (Nick) was doing a magnificent job of ensuring the entire process remained entertaining.

After some experimenting with the oven’s elements and the cooking time, we finally had something worth eating. They’d risen much more nicely, the centres were properly cake-like and there was none of the horrible omelette experience from version 1.0. Fantastic!

The revised recipe makes approximately 24 small cupcakes or 12 larger ones, depending on the size of the cases and how generously you fill them. Here’s what we ended up using.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups self-raising flour
  • 1 cup caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup (125 mL) milk, perhaps up to 3/4 cup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 125 g butter
  • A pinch of salt

Method

Put the ingredients into a large bowl and mix until reasonably combined. Divide the mixture between cupcake cases, leaving enough room for them to rise. Bake in a preheated oven at approximately 180 degrees Celsius until cooked through, checking the centres rather than relying entirely on the clock.

If you’re using a small toaster oven like mine, keep a close eye on the elements because the tops and bottoms can brown unevenly. Different ovens behave differently, so use the temperature as a starting point and make sure the cakes are cooked before serving.

The finished cupcakes were much better than the first batch, and SuperNick seemed rather pleased with the batter too. I think we can safely call version 2.0 a success. No more omelette cakes, thank you very much!

Victory will be yours, my friend. Just remember that measuring things properly is apparently quite useful when cooking.

Cooking with McRetro