Why do cupcakes fall apart

How do you make cupcakes flat on top? Why do cupcakes crack on top? What to do with cupcakes that fell apart? Do you spray cupcake liners? What are the most popular cupcakes? Should you double line cupcakes? What to do with brownies that fall apart? How do you ice a cake without it falling apart?

Why does my cake crack on top? Why is my cake breaking apart? Should I remove cake from oven immediately? Previous Article What can you do in a rural area? Next Article What does fear prevent you from doing? Back To Top. Wait, Stop! More often than not, the reason is too much baking powder or bicarbonate of soda. Especially with bicarbonate of soda. I always weigh my baking powder and baking soda while sifting the dry ingredients together.

Seriously 1 little gram does make a difference! Think about how dangerous measuring is. Some folks scoop out a compacted teaspoon of baking powder, while others pour it out of a refill pack.

There is just too much room for error. Write down on each recipe the exact weight of baking powder you use so that you will know for the next time you make that recipe and get consistent results. Also stick to one brand! All of them differ, even if it is just slightly. If you see there is a bit too much batter, rather bake half a cupcake extra. Rather have one little manky one which serves as your sneaky treat anyway and 11 perfect cupcakes as opposed to 11 overflown cupcakes.

Preheat your oven till the exact temperature before putting the cupcakes in the oven. Consider buying an additional thermometer to hang inside your oven. Oven thermostats are not always that accurate. An additional thermometer is a MUST for a gas oven. I once tried out a lemon cupcake recipe which called for lemon juice in the batter. I made a batch with lemon juice and one without.

The batch with lemon juice completely overflowed. Acidity can also act as a rising agent. Think of traditional Red Velvet Cake. The vinegar, along with the bicarbonate of soda, makes the cake rise. Image by maisoncupcake. If your oven temperature is too hot, the outer layer of batter will bake and harden too quickly.

The centre of the cupcake will still be liquid batter that needs to expand and go somewhere! It will find the weakest spot on the cupcake and force itself out in that direction. Always be careful of unevenly mixed cake batter when using a stand mixer. In fact, this can also occur when using a handheld electric beater. Gently go around the bowl with a rubber spatula to loosen any butter and sugar that might still be stuck from the creaming phase.

Be sure to do this on the bottom of the bowl as well. Gently keep folding the batter with a rubber spatula till there are no streaks of butter left.

This can cause total overflowing as discussed above or sporadic overflowing in selected areas around the edges. Image by Jessica Harris Cake Design. This tends to happen when I bake gluten free cupcakes. Whether you find them irresistible or not, the cupcake is here to stay, friends. Embrace it! Sometimes, this is totally true and you run into a cake recipe that works well both ways. Because cupcakes are fabulously in my opinion ubiquitous, there are so many recipes out there now that are written specifically to be made as cupcakes—seek those out for best results.

The cardinal rule of all baking is to make sure that your oven is baking your cupcakes at the right temperature and that the oven has thoroughly preheated.

Cupcakes are especially temperamental because of their wee size. Accurate and even heat for baking is super important for cupcakes. This goes for most baking recipes to ensure a well-mixed batter, but pockets of butter bits or streaks of unblended egg white show up a lot more easily in a cute little cupcake as decidedly not-cute tunnels.

Regular milk can be zapped in the microwave for a few seconds, but buttermilk cannot—it likes to curdle when heated. I tend to underbeat the batter just a touch less than I would for a layer cake during each stage of mixing.

Because cupcakes are smaller, I love it when the cake is a tad denser, when they yield to the tooth ever-so-slightly when bitten into and hold their shape throughout eating. This is not to say as dense as a pound cake, but more compact than, say, a cake mix might produce. That way you can adjust accordingly to ensure you're following the recipe to a T. A toothpick should come out clean when inserted, and the top of the cupcake should look slightly sunken, not peaked.

It's also important to pay attention to baking time if you're using a cake recipe to make cupcakes instead. While the temperature of the oven should still be whatever the original recipe calls for, the baking time will change.

You'll bake the cupcakes one-third to one-half less time than you would the cake. When in doubt though, go for the shorter amount of time. Perhaps just like the cupcakes themselves, when it comes to baking times for these little pods of heaven, less is more. Using the oven correctly can really make or break your baking efforts. A lot of people don't realize it but there is value in putting the raw cupcake batter into the oven as soon as you're done preparing it, and you'll want to preheat the oven before you start making the batter and make sure the cupcake pan with liners, obviously is primed for filling.

That's because when you add an ingredient like baking powder to the liquid mixture that makes up the batter, it immediately initiates the chemical reaction that creates tiny air bubbles, and it should go into the oven right away so the heat can set the air bubbles. You'll know the batter sat too long before going in the oven if the cupcakes come out with tons of little holes all over the top. You'll also want to go easy on opening the oven door while the cupcakes are baking. If you're not able to contain your excitement at the prospect of fresh cupcakes, or just want to check if they're done, wait until they have baked for at least three-fourths of the total time before opening the hatch.

And if you decide they need to go longer, don't crack it open again for at least another five minutes. You may be tempted to slap some icing on those beauties as soon as they're out of the oven, but for the love of God, have some restraint. First, cool the cupcakes out of the pan on a wire rack. This not only stops them from cooking so they don't dry out, but it also ensures the bottoms and sides of the cupcakes cool completely. If they're not fully cooled when you start to smear the icing, the frosting can melt , or the tops can "crumb up into the frosting" yes, that's a phrase we've coined as you spread.

Allow at least an hour from the time they've come out of the oven before you frost. And if you're not planning to serve them that day, store them in a zip-top bag or other airtight container in the freezer or on your counter until you're ready to serve, and then apply the icing. If they've been stored at room temp, they might have sticky tops when you try to frost them. Let them sit outside the bag or container for a little while to allow the tops to dry out before tackling the frosting again.

If you're tackling unfrosted frozen cupcakes, let them thaw about an hour from their freezer sesh before you apply the frosting. If you avoid jumping the gun on frosting, your cupcakes will have a much better shot at culinary perfection. If there is anything better than biting into a cupcake, it's biting into one that has a magical surprise filling.

Whether it's more of the frosting or a special pie-like filler that's complementary to the overall flavor, this extra step can put your cupcakes on another level. Want to give it a try?

When the cupcakes have cooled, you'll cut out the center of each cupcake about two-thirds of the way down, leaving a little cake at the bottom with a small round cutter, then carefully spoon or pipe the filling into the hole so that it's slightly less than flush with the top of the cupcake. Next, top the cupcake with frosting. Piping it either with an official bag or the corner of a sealed Ziplock snipped off into a swirl formation might be better than spreading it with a spatula in this case.

If there is too much of the filling in the hole, the frosting could catch it and spread some onto the top, thereby ruining the surprise awaiting someone's taste buds. Whether it's making sure the cupcakes you've made for the fam stay fresh for as long as possible, or guaranteeing the ones you want to make now and serve later at an event are at peak freshness, storing them the right way is clutch.