I've been drooling over Cupcake Kit by Elinor Klivans (official title: Cupcake Kit: Recipes, Liners, and Decorating Tools for Making the Best Cupcakes!) since I saw it listed on Amazon. It's based on her book Cupcakes! and Epicurious has now reviewed it. (Hi, Chronicle Books! Please send me a copy. thanks, Rachel)
Here's Esther Sung's review (click through for photos of how her cupcakes turned out)
Some thoughts: Waiting for some of the ingredients such as the butter and cream cheese to reach room temperature was probably the most frustrating. I realize that letting them come to room temperature makes it easier for me to mix and helps create a light cake and frosting, but I was raring to go in the early afternoon and instead, had to wait what seemed like an eternity after taking them out of the fridge. But other than that, the recipes were pretty easy to follow. And perhaps because it was my first time using a pastry bag, my attempts at frosting the cupcakes were not pretty. In fact, it was an incredibly messy process, trying to get the frosting into the pastry bag. And avoiding air bubbles that would create hiccups during the actual frosting of the cupcakes was not easy for me. (I didn't have time to experiment with the other piping tips but when I have more time, I'll play around with them.) Ultimately, the cupcake-making experience was well-worth it because without the Cupcake Kit, the finished cupcakes would have never looked half as nice as they did had I been sans kit. And honestly, without the Cupcake Kit, I wouldn't have been inspired to make cupcakes at all.
The booklet includes 10 more cupcake recipes (with accompanying frosting recipes) such as Hummingbird Swirls, Spiderweb Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes, and Rose Petal Wedding Cupcakes.
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