Thursday, January 30, 2003

In the scheme of things, with the nation poised on the edge of war, the fact that one dozen of the supposedly perfect cupcakes are sitting in my garbage can, does not seem like monumental news. But this blog is what it is.  And the sad news is the supposedly perfect cupcakes from Cooks Illustrated January February 2003 edition were absolutely wretched.  What goes on in that test kitchen?  The writers must start to go loopy after having to make 23 batches or 86 versions of the same thing.  The tasters must lose their buds.  At least in this cupcake instance. And how a batter can go from so good to so terrible after 20 minutes in the oven (which was the low end of the suggested baking time), I don't know.  I read and re-read the recipe to see if I had done anything wrong, if I had missed an ingredient or screwed up somehow.  Nope.  I suppose it's a matter of taste.  I guess I don't like dense, crumbly, muffin-like cupcakes.  I like cake-like cupcakes.  Thus the cake in cupcake.  They're not called cupmuffs.  I should've trusted Nigella; she hasn't steered me wrong yet.  Evidently she and I have similar buds. comment []3:40:19 PM     I'm sitting here simultaneously typing and licking a spatula.  Today is my little boy's birthday.  Four years ago today, in the dead of winter, he came into the world.  Four years is an education.  Though the main party is Saturday, tonight the grandparents are coming over and I'm using this opportunity to test "The Perfect Cupcake" from the January & February 2003 issue of Cook's Illustrated. I can only say that if these sour-cream and butter-laden cupcakes are as good as this batter, I had better only make them once a year.  I'm seriously afraid of things this good.  And I don't even have the whipped ganache on top yet. (Note:  On the television show Fear Factor, instead of making the contestants eat low-fat bugs & whatnot, they should plop some of these cupcakes down.  I bet some people are so afraid of the word "fat" they'd bail out of the competition before eating them.) I have little fear of dietary fat in moderation these days, as I've said before.  Especially after reading, again, The Diary of Anne Frank, and noticing how she yearned for just a little bit of fat in her meager daily meals. There goes the timer. comment []2:09:38 PM

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