I made cupcakes yesterday! Not just any cupcakes. Key Lime Cupcakes. I can almost hear the "ooh's" and the "ahh's" from the audience, clearly on the edge of their seats.
Not only did I make cupcakes that I had never made before, but I used a method of mixing that was also new to me. I believe it is called the "two-stage method" or something... let me just consult google for a moment.
...
Yes, the two-stage mixing method is what I used for these cupcakes. Usually, I use the trusty ol' creaming method. You know the one. Butter and sugar creamed together until light in color and fluffy in consistency. Add eggs. Add the combined dry ingredients alternately with the combined wet ingredients. There's a little more to it than that, but that's the gist.
Alas, I have lately been unhappy with the consistency of my cupcakes. They're always a little heavier than I would like. I want light, airy cupcakes. So, on a treasure hunt I went.
And found this, the two-stage mixing method. It is hailed for the tender and velvety cakes it produces. Here's how it works.
First, bring all ingredients to room temperature. Any butter, eggs, milk or what-have-you need to be at room temperature (about 68°F). Then, you combine all dry ingredients, including sugar. Mix thoroughly with a whisk to evenly distribute leavening agents and salt. Next, combine all liquid ingredients. Eggs, milk, flavorings, whatever. Mix 'em all up. Make sure to break up the eggs.
Okay, this is what you should have. Dry ingredients in your main bowl. Wet ingredients in a pourable bowl. And your fat, chopped into smaller pieces on the side.
Now, the fat goes into the dry ingredients. That's right, add it all in there. Mix on low for a little while. Just to kind of break apart the fat and coat it with the flour. Add a small amount of the wet ingredients to bring the dry ingredients together. I'd say no more than a quarter of the wet ingredients. Then, mix it on medium for about two minutes, maybe a little less, to aerate the batter. Make sure to scrape the bowl a lot. It will not get evenly mixed, otherwise.
Cool, here comes the namesake of the method! Add the rest of the liquid ingredients in two additions, mixing only slightly to combine. And that's it. Bake it!
But here's the science:
When you add water to flour, the glutens start to produce. Don't know what a gluten is? A gluten is a protein created from wheat. It is great when you're making bread. The more you work the dough, the more the glutens develop. It makes for that awesome chewy texture of bread. But in cakes, you don't want chewy. So you need something to inhibit the development of the glutens.
That's where the sugar and butter come in. Sugar steals away the moisture that would normally develop the gluten. That's why you only add a small amount of wet ingredients. Butter coats the flour to further prevent the gluten formation. You could even take this a step further by separating the eggs. Adding the yolks with the butter really helps suppress the gluten.
And there you have it. A more tender cake. Light. Airy. Moist. And oddly enough, less of a mess than usual.
There are some con's to this method. If you are making, say, a large castle out of cake, you probably want to use the creaming method. The two-stage mixing method makes for a more delicate cake, and, therefore, less structurally sound. Compared to the creaming method, it will not rise as much, either. But the texture is luscious.
Now that I've thoroughly bored you with the science of baking (for the first time, and certainly not the last. Science is cool!!!), here's the recipe.
Key Lime Cupcakes, makes 18 cupcakes
For the Cake:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
For the Filling:
1/3 cup key lime juice
14 ounce can of condensed milk
For the Meringue:
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon lime juice
1/3 cup sugar
Procedure:
For the cake, use the two-stage mixing method. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes, until tops are golden. Cool 5 minutes in the pan. Remove to rack to finish cooling. Core cupcakes. Reserve cores.
For the filling, mix the lime juice and condensed milk together. The mixture will thicken and become oh-my-gosh amazing. Fill cupcakes. Cap cupcakes with the top third of the core.
For the meringue, whip whites and lime juice to soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar while whipping. Whip to stiff peaks. Spoon or pipe onto cupcakes (if you pipe, use a round tip with no obstructions; they will deflate the meringue). Bake at 450°F for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown.
