Pitiful looking cupcakes - what am I doing wrong?

[Belle0101]

I made Red Velvet cupcakes from a mix and they're lopsided. Truth be told, my cupcakes always turn out like this. I guess I get an "F" in cupcake baking.

Here's what I do -

All ingredients at room temp.
Beat eggs before adding other ingredients
Baker's Joy on the pans
Preheat oven
Oven thermometer to verify temp.
Set timer and mix exactly for time indicated on pkg
Use ice cream scoop to fill pans

And I get cupcakes that look like this -

There are 4 that actually look nice. The rest are deformed. Having said that, my family will still eat them. I just wanted them to be extra nice because I made them for my DH & Dad. Their birthdays are today.

 

[MM27]

Do you live in an area with high elevation? I have family in Colorado that need to alter baking recipes because of that.

Personally, when I make cakes/cupcakes from a box mix, I just throw everything into the bowl at once and turn the mixer on high. No need to get items to room temperature.

The other cause could be that your oven is lopsided.

 

[DMass]

They don't look all that bad. Just call 'em zombie cupcakes.

 

[PixieDustandEeyore]

Is your muffin tin balanced? We had one that wasnt balanced and would do that so we bought a new pan and it was better. I made red velvet cupcakes last night and they came out perfect...yay for new tins!

 

[Christine]

Interesting. I made cupcakes last night with similar results. In fact, it's happened a few times. I got a new oven last year with convection feature. I think that's what is doing it because if I use the "regular" oven, it is fine. I think the fan that is blowing air around is causing the cupcakes to be lopsided. The batter is even when I put it in, the oven is level but they all rise up and then "blob" over to the side.

 

[C.Ann]

Fill a glass halfway with water.. Set it on top of your stove.. Stand back and see if the water level is perfectly even.. If not, your stove is out of balance..

I had that problem here at the lake in the past (my place has "shifted" unevenly over the years).. That's why my cakes, muffins, and cupcakes were coming out lopsided.. Leveled the stove, and it's been fine ever since..

Also, are you cupcake tins bent? If so, that could cause a problem too..

I very much doubt it's your "baking skills"..

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Do you have a level? I would measure your oven to see if it off. That is an easy fix with adjusting the leg on the bottom.

If your oven is not off then get a new muffin pan.

 

[Christine]

Found this:

If you are using a Convection Oven, its becoming lopsided because of the blowing fan.

You may need to rotate your cupcakes during the baking process, or try lowering the temperature.

AND

Cupcakes are not really suitable for convection baking. Convection is great for cookies, roasted meats, and other things where the sides of the item are accessible. Certain things, need bottom heat - souffles, popovers, cupcakes, etc.

So is your oven convection?

 

[Belle0101]

Regular gas oven.

I got my DHs levels and wouldn't you know it, one of the pans is not level! I never noticed it before. It's bowed right in the middle of the pan.

I checked the oven too, all the shelves, the stovetop, and it's good.

Thanks so much for the suggestions! I was so quick to blame myself. I'm going to check all my cookie sheets now too. I see new pans in my future!

BTW - zombie cupcakes I'll have to make those for next Sunday when DS15 & I are watching "The Walking Dead".

 

[Imzadi]

I made Red Velvet cupcakes from a mix and they're lopsided.


All ingredients at room temp.
Beat eggs before adding other ingredients

Umm, that's not lopsided. That run over by a car.


Try turning the cupcake pans around halfway through baking. Your oven might be heating unevenly and one side is heating faster than the other side.

Why are you using ingredients at room temp? I always use eggs out of the fridge, and for pastries, you are supposed to use the coldest possible butter. The steam released from the butter as it heats up during baking is what causes the puffiness or flakiness.

Also, don't OVER-beat, over-mix the batter. You end up making gluten when over mixing and it ruins the texture of breads & pastries.

Last, send the leftovers to me. I need to inspect them in person, to give you a more thorough answer.

 

[luvflorida]

Last, send the leftovers to me. I need to inspect them in person, to give you a more thorough answer.

Um...no! They must be sent to me! I used to have the longest tag on the DIS and it was all about my love for cupcakes. Sadly, awhile back, I managed to accidentally erase all my tags.

Lopsided or not, there is no such thing as a pitiful cupcake!

 

[Ponygirl]

Is it possible that you are overfilling the muffin cups? Mine used to look almost the same way and then I started filling them just a little over half full. Now they aren't nearly as big, but the recipe makes more of them and I add a little extra frosting if needed. Mmm, extra frosting. Yum!

 

[ready123go]

If it was just that your oven is out of level, you would simply have wedge-shaped cupcakes, but yours have fallen as well.
1) I agree you could be over-filling the cups.
2) When it comes to tins, I find - the thinner the better. Too thick and the product doesn't bake evenly. I agree with turning the pans half way through baking. It helps.
3) Do you pre-heat your oven? A friend had odd results and always said she hated baking. I saw her throw a cake in the oven, then turn the oven on to pre-heat . Your results don't look like that, but I thought I'd mention it.
4) Cupcakes are basically a "quick" bread. Combine all wet ingredients together, then add wet to dry and begin mixing.
5) Are you testing them before you pull them from the oven, or are you just assuming that the cupcakes are done? Try using the toothpick method.
6) Let us know the results! I'll PM you my address. (DH hasn't had a homemade baked good since I found out I can't have starch - until then he had them every other week or so - poor thing )

 

[PixieDustandEeyore]

In university we had a gas stove and that always happened to our cakes, and we found they never cooked evenly, turned out there was an issue with heat distribution with our oven it was so weird you could make a pizza and half would cook well, and each year i lived in a different apartment with a different oven and it always happened ...i love gas stoves but not ovens much lol