And So the Cupcake Adventure Begins

A cake box, a tub of icing, one excited college student, and her mentor. The secret ingredients to the perfect thesis have just been revealed.

So today starts my cupcake journey. I've made cupcakes before, of course, but this time is different. These aren't just any cupcakes—these are thesis cupcakes. With this being said,
 let the baking begin!

Lesson #1: Preheat your oven.

     We followed the directions on the back of our cupcake box, quickly mixing up the vanilla batter. After evenly scooping batter into the cupcake liners, I realized my first beginner's mistake—preheating the oven before making the batter would save quite some time!!!

     However, it wasn't too long before my first batch of cupcakes was out of the oven and cooled. Now it was time for the fun part! Decorating cupcakes to make them look like fancy professional cupcakes could be compared to decorating canvases, right??? If so, then I knew I had this handled.

Lesson #2: Let your cupcakes cool before icing.

      What’s a girl supposed to do when the cake is too soft and ends up crumbling as you try to spread on the icing? My first suggestion would be to let the cupcakes cool completely so they don't crumble as easily. If you absolutely can’t wait, just add a few more globs of icing, some mound of sprinkles, and surely no one will notice!!!

 Lesson #3: You can never have too much icing.

      How much icing is too much icing? I would say that's a personal preference. Some bakeries pipe icing on high, while others have less of a tower on top of their tasty treats. My opinion? There's no such thing as too much.

Lesson #4: It's easier to darken icing than to lighten it.

     Our last little adventure of the day led me to add pink food coloring to our icing to give it a little more flair. I found out the hard way—it's way easier to darken the color of the icing than it is to make it lighter. 

One baking session down, many more to go. I am a girl on a mission—a mission to bake the best cupcakes in my town… 
or at my college, at least.