Meet Katrina from In Katrina’s Kitchen

Cakes come in different shapes and sizes, but it’s the cupcake that has taken center stage! It’s gone from craze to complete craziness with the explosion of gourmet shops and bold bloggers that have taken the plain-Jane cupcake of our youth, to lusciously grand masterpieces that almost look too good to eat.

Because of our fascination with cupcakes, we wanted to feature some extraordinary blogger bakers who’ve made it their business to create delicious mini-masterpieces from flour, eggs, frosting and, of course, love. First up, is Katrina from  In Katrina’s Kitchen. 

Katrina’s Take on the Great Cupcake: Tips, Tricks and Tragedies

Set out your eggs and milk (if using) for 10-15 minutes. It makes for ingredients that combine more easily and thoroughly. Also, large-sized eggs yield a moist cupcake with more spring than medium-sized eggs. It is very important to measure accurately when baking cupcakes – no guessing amounts!

Do you prefer using cake mixes or making cupcakes from scratch? I enjoy cooking from scratch but I like the convenience of cake mixes. As a parent to small children, I don’t get much free time. I prefer to spend my time decorating cupcakes than actually baking them.

What’s the strangest filling you’ve ever seen in a cupcake? I once filled a cupcake with a marshmallow and piled it high with marshmallow frosting! Some may say it was strange – but it was tasty!

Any cupcake disasters? The first time I baked cupcakes without liners I sprayed so much nonstick cooking spray to the pan that the cupcakes had trouble climbing up the sides of the pan. They were the most pathetic, flat looking cupcakes in all the land! Lesson learned: a light mist of nonstick spray goes a long way!How many cupcakes do you make each year? I make cupcakes 15 to 18 times a year. So you can count me in for about 200 a year. Wow!

Katrina’s Delicious Decorating Tips   

• A sweet stack – put a mini cupcake on top of a cupcake!

• Use chocolate to add height – and fun!

• What’s better than a cupcake? A double-decker cupcake. The infusion of white chocolate doesn’t hurt either!

• Katrina’s go-to tip? Make canned frosting look fancy – FAST! Try two or three fun colors in a piping bag for a spiffy swirl.