Today at work, a coworker of mine said she had a question she needed to ask me - something that had been on her mind for some time. Her question was a common one- What's the trick to baking cupcakes- why did her's sometimes rise but mostly fall.  Here's what I said I told her and I hope it helps you as well...

• Use only fresh ingredients and the best quality possible.
• Check expiration dates on baking powder, etc. If expired don't use it!
• Before mixing your batter, have all the ingredients at room temperature. The cake will have better volume if the eggs are at room temperature. Eggs can stand at room temperature up to 30 minutes before using -though Ina Garten leaves eggs out of the refrigerator overnight. Butter at room temperature is easier to mix with other ingredients and disperses evenly through the batter.
• Don't over beat the batter. Mix until all of the ingredients are blended together.
• Fill baking cups 2/3 full of batter. I use a trigger handle scoop- don't overfill!
•  If you have just one cupcake pan, cover and refrigerate remaining batter while baking the first batch of cupcakes. Room temperature batter can cause falling cupcakes.
• Preheat oven and set timer. Opening the oven door to check on the progress can cause a draft and falling cupcakes.
• If you have just one cupcake pan, cool pan before baking the rest of the cupcakes. Putting batter in a hot pan can cause falling cupcakes.

These cupcakes were made using the instructions above. I finished them off  with some tri-color butter cream frosting.

For the Love of Baking ~ Terri~