Cupcake Catastrophe!

[Alex]

I'll give you a little bit of a back story before I jump to the reason I am posting here.

I have been baking now for a couple of years but I have always baked the traditional fairy cupcakes, no added food colourings etc... I have never flunked a batch of these cakes - ever. My fiancée and I have recently been roped into baking all the cupcakes and the birthday cake for my niece's seventh birthday so I decided to try and be a little more adventurous with my baking and create some coloured, marbled cupcakes. This is where I hit the issue, I have baked two batches and they both flunked! I am in complete shock.

This is the recipe that I am using: (all room temp)
138g of S/R Flour
138g of Caster Sugar
138g of Unsalted Butter
3 Eggs
Dr. Oetker Gel Food Colouring (10g)

Method:
Cream Butter & Sugar
Add Eggs
Sift flour in, 1/3 at a time
Mix in food colouring (gel)

I have cooked them in the oven between 10-13 minutes at 160C (fan assisted). They look perfectly fine when in the oven but then as soon as I remove them they wrinkle and look saggy.

http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/ww187/Sqwhir/20140706_151554.jpg

Does anyone have any brilliant ideas on how to prevent this from happening? My niece's party is in the middle of August so I have a couple of weeks to prepare and practice.

 

[Beankeeper]

Are they hard or soft once they cool down? I'm wondering if it's a sugar issue. Also, have you tried using cake flour for cupcakes? That's what I use and maybe they'll give this new method a little oomph and turn out fluffy and raised.

 

[Alex]

Are they hard or soft once they cool down? I'm wondering if it's a sugar issue. Also, have you tried using cake flour for cupcakes? That's what I use and maybe they'll give this new method a little oomph and turn out fluffy and raised.

They're soft - just like all my other cakes have been. I have never actually heard of cake flour - I wonder if they stock it here in the UK? I will definitely have a look next time I am in the grocery store.
My fiancée is a better baker than me - I cannot deny him of that and he claims that I am using too much food colouring. I used 10g of gel food colouring in one batch of batter. I don't think that could be the problem? Could I be over mixing the batter?

 

[monkeyboots]

Hmmm...maybe they were overmixed, but it seems like there just wasn't enough leavener. Do you ever add extra baking powder when using self rising flour?
Is it the same recipe you always use with the addition of the food coloring?

 

[Alex]

Hmmm...maybe they were overmixed, but it seems like there just wasn't enough leavener. Do you ever add extra baking powder when using self rising flour?
Is it the same recipe you always use with the addition of the food coloring?

Hey Monkeyboots, thanks for the reply
Yep, the same recipe - it was one that I was given by my fiancée and is one that his whole family swear by - they all seem to be able to bake - except their dad. I never add baking powder. Would this help?

 

[monkeyboots]

I'm sorry to say that I am not experienced with self-rising flour (one doesn't really see it in the US). It seems like the extra leavening would help, but I would love someone else to chime it.
Are you going to try a practice run again soon? Maybe it was just a fluke--some days are just bad baking days.
I'm really curious about your results. Maybe cut the food coloring in half for the next trial?

 

[Alex]

Yes I will try again tonight after I finish work and of course I will let you know how I get on

 

[Alex]

I recently adjusted the variables in my cupcakes and they turned out pretty well this time! I'm not entirely sure with the recipe I was using but I will give that another bash this weekend when I have a little more time to fetch ingredients. The batch I made is pictured here:

The thing I changed most was my method:

- Cream Butter and Sugar
- Add Eggs (1 at a time) (mix well)
- Add Food Colouring (mix well)

- Add Flour and Baking Powder (fold in)

They turned out really well this time, they're all still attached to their cases and they have not deflated once removed. This now poses the question, how do I reduce peaking in my cakes? Stork is well known for less peaking because it's margarine but these are quite peaked.

 

[Becky]

I'm glad your second attempt turned out better! My initial thoughts were that they hadn't been baked for long enough - I'd expect closer to 18-20 mins - and if you take cake out of the oven before the structure has properly set (or even just open the oven during the baking time) then the cold air can cause them to slump.

Not sure about the peaking problem (I never see it as a problem because I put lots of frosting on mine!) but you could perhaps try reducing the amount of raising agent used?

 

[Alex]

I'm glad your second attempt turned out better! My initial thoughts were that they hadn't been baked for long enough - I'd expect closer to 18-20 mins - and if you take cake out of the oven before the structure has properly set (or even just open the oven during the baking time) then the cold air can cause them to slump.

Not sure about the peaking problem (I never see it as a problem because I put lots of frosting on mine!) but you could perhaps try reducing the amount of raising agent used?

Thanks, Becky. I will give this a go when I make my next batch on Saturday/Sunday depending when I have a little time as I have a busy weekend this weekend and see how that turns out. I was planning to put butter cream on them so I suppose having the slight peak doesn't really matter, it gives it that extra hold when decorating I never thought of it that way.