Failure Tastes Like Burnt Coffee Grounds

Not every baking experience is a perfect one. Today's post is about failure...and what it tastes like.

I planned on making Black and White (Michael Jackson?) cupcakes for my godson's birthday yesterday. I bought these uber cute baking cups (so colorful!) and got to it. 

Black and White cupcakes can be made by either using white and chocolate batter, using cream to fill the chocolate cupcake, or, as I ventured, using cream cheese to fill the inside of the cupcake.



The recipe called for vinegar, water, and oil as the base - I should have known then that I was going to run into trouble. No butter? No eggs? No milk? Although I had my doubts, the batter did look surprisingly delicious. Doesn't it look rich? I was impressed.

The cream cheese center was divine, but I also added 1/2 tsp. cocoa powder to it for a little extra kick. It was creamy, a bit tangy and a bit sweet. I distributed them into their little colorful cups and baked them until the cream cheese didn't jiggle. I let them cool, took them out of the tins and then...tasted one.

Yuck! the cupcake tasted like burnt coffee grounds; bitter, earthy, and left a terrible aftertaste in my mouth. The cream cheese center was delicious but the cupcake taste was so overbearing that the cream cheese center couldn't make up for it. Epic fail!

That's the way the cookie, er, cupcake crumbles I guess.