How to Create Your Own Recipe

I've always wondered where truly great recipes come from.  Who creates these things?  Do the authors of these culinary guides stay at home and strictly create recipes, and publish them in recipe books or broadcast them via social media on the internet for those of us who actually have a life?  A lot of recipes I use are recipes I've found and changed to cater to my taste and what I think that particular cupcake, frosting, or filling might need. However, I have always wanted to create something to call my own.  And so I did.

Creating your own cupcake recipe is actually not as daunting as it may seem.  Here are some tips to help you get started:

Start by establishing what flavors you would like to use, usually between one and four.  Keep in mind that your flavors need to compliment each other.  If you are making this recipe for a specific event or party, consider your audience.  Some adults are not very adventurous when it comes to food, and many times children haven't developed a taste for what you might be making.  Smaller, more intimate events are a great place to try new and edgy flavors.

Once you have decided on your flavors, establish how you would like to execute those flavors.
An easy way to do this is to remember:
Cake - This is where your most robust flavor should be.  Anything that is a spice, robust, or zesty flavor is best in the cake.  If you plan on using hard liquor or wine in your flavor array, bake it in your cake.
Frosting - Lighter flavors work great in the frosting.  Fruity and nutty flavors, along with any ingredient which may spoil or change flavor if baked, should be a part of the frosting.
Glazes and fillings - Fruits, liquor, and chocolate make some of the best fillings and glazes.
Exceptions to this guide are caramel and citrus fruits, which go great in any component of the cupcake.
Remember when using fruits which may have seeds to try and either use seedless options or remove the seeds yourself.  Your audience will appreciate it!

Next, decide how many cupcakes you want your recipe to yield.  Most recipes yield 12-24 regular sized cupcakes, less if you use Texas Royal or jumbo liners.

Now you are ready to start recording measurements you would like to use.  Understanding ratios will take the guess work out of all of it.
Staples for cake batter are: eggs, flour, sugar, butter/oil, and baking powder or baking soda.  Here's why:
Eggs and flour contain protein.  Protein molecules become tangled up to form the "skeleton" of the cake.
Sugars and butter/oil contain moisture, which soften the skeleton and make it pleasant to eat.
Baking powder and baking soda release gas, carbon dioxide, which rises in the batter while in the oven.  The gas lifts the skeleton up on the way out.
Too much skeleton and your cake will be dry and tough.  Too much moisture and your cake will be flat and mushy.
Your sugar should weigh about the same as your flour.  This means weight, not volume!  A cup of sugar weighs about 7 oz. while a cup of flour weighs about 4.5 oz.  So for example, if you are using a cup of sugar you will need about a cup and a half of flour.
Your eggs should weigh the same as your butter/oil plus or minus 20%.  An egg out of its shell weighs roughly 1 3/4 oz.  If your recipe calls for 6 oz. of butter/oil you will need four whole eggs.
Other liquid ingredients, including the eggs, should weigh as much as your sugar.  Weighing your total sugar and subtracting your eggs gives you the amount of liquid ingredient you have left to work with.
Finally, baking powder and baking soda ratios.  Use one teaspoon of baking powder per cup of flour.  Use 1/4 teaspoon baking soda per cup of flour.  Heavier recipes may require more to lift your protein structure. 
Bake your cupcakes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and allow to bake undisturbed for 10 minutes.  By this time the cakes should have risen and will need additional time to continue strengthening the structure the protein molecules have formed.  Bake in one to two minute increments, inserting a toothpick each time until it comes out clean.  Record the total time it took for the cupcakes to bake after removing them from the oven.  Remember that larger cupcakes will take longer to bake.

Frosting is kind of a free for all in my book.  I start with a cup of butter and add ingredients as I go.  If I'm using cream cheese I cut the butter in half.  Powdered sugar goes in a cup at a time to until the desired thickness is achieved.  If the frosting is too sweet, add a small amount of salt and vanilla extract.  If the frosting is too thick or grainy add whipping cream a tablespoon at a time and whisk on high until light and fluffy.  Other ingredients like caramel can be added a half of a cup at a time.  Always record what you do and taste after each addition. 

The most important thing to remember is that your first shot at your first recipe isn't going to be perfect.  If you are really serious about creating a great recipe, embrace trial and error because it is the best way to really see and taste what works and what doesn't.  Last and most importantly, don't give up!

A Graham Flour Substitute So Simple Your Head Will Spin!

Anyone who has had my S'mores cupcakes will tell you that all of the components are so close to the real thing that your taste buds won't be able to tell the difference between my cupcake and the campfire classic.  My S'mores cupcakes consist of three parts: a honey graham cake, a rich and smooth chocolate ganache, and a marshmallow buttercream to top it all off.  In my opinion the honey graham taste of the cake is one of the most important things.  If you can't get that flavor across right off the bat the whole idea of the S'more pretty much goes down the drain.

Most recipes call for graham flour, which is processed differently than other flours.  This is how many bakers achieve that graham cracker taste.  So what's the big deal?  Well, first of all graham flour isn't very easy to come across.  Some grocers will carry the graham flour in the heath food section.  Others don't carry it at all because it does not move on the shelf as much as your other flours do.  Graham flour can be purchased online, which means you'll have to plan ahead and allow time for shipping before you can use it.  Second, a package of graham flour is going to cost you. A 24 oz. bag of off brand, all purpose flour will cost you between $1.50 and $3.00.  Brands like King Arthur Flour will cost you between $3.00 and $5.00 for all purpose flour.  One 24 oz. (1.5 lb.) bag of graham flour will cost you between $7.00 and $10.00.  Personally I'm not too keen on spending that much on a bag of flour, especially since I bake for friends and family free of charge.  But if it's the only way to get that great graham cracker taste I'll do it.

-JUST KIDDING-

There's a better, more cost effective way to this and it is going to blow your mind.  All you need is:

1 package of graham crackers
Measuring cups
Food processor

See where I'm going with this?  The graham crackers can be ground down to a fine powder in the food processor and used just like you would graham flour.  You can use whichever brand you like to suit your flavor type or budget.  I can honestly tell you, I mainly use Aldi's graham crackers because they are dirt cheap and taste just as good as Honey Maid.  Sometimes I even use cinnamon flavored graham crackers.  There's something about the flavor of the graham cracker right out of the package that you just can't duplicate using honey and graham flour, or adding cinnamon into the mix.  One sleeve of graham crackers will yield about 3/4 of a cup of graham powder, which means you can do something else with the left over graham crackers instead of worrying about using up the remaining graham flour you would have purchased before it spoiled.  I've used this method in my recipe from day one and swear by it.  My cupcakes always come out moist and rise fully.

So remember: If you're in a pinch or are pinching your pennies, you can make your own graham flour substitute using a few simple steps.

Bake on!