Ajaran songsang...so to speak :)

I've never made cupcakes ever in my whole life. Never. Ever.

Errr, MAYBE once during SRT lesson during my secondary school lah, kot? But, I seriously can't recall making them. So, maybe memang never ever, kot? (Hmmmm...It's so damn obvious that I was never paying attention during SRT classes, huh? Hehehe...)

And I had never ever had the urge, or even any intention of making cupcakes. Baking and me - we just don't gel that well. So, I never knew what actually goes in a cupcake mix. But, I do love looking at those lovely pics of cuppies, cakes, and the likes - posted in blogs and also on FB by all my kitchen diva friends. It is just amazing to see how creative and how patient they are to have been able to come up with all those works of art! And looking at their masterpieces, lagilah rasa macam tak payahlah I even try making them. You know what I mean?

But, today - the IMPULSIVE me did another impulsive thing.

I had planned to just make some Spaghetti Bolognaise for dinner tonight. I was just going through my kitchen larder to see if I had everything that I might need for the dish when I realized that we had run out of canned button mushrooms (I normally put these AND also some aubergines in the sauce to make a wholesome campak-campak all-in-one meal for the family).

Anyway, as I had already mentioned to Hilman this morning that I was making Spaghetti Bolognaise for tonight, I decided to ask Zaidi to divert to Grand Union - the local mini (or more like 'midi') market before heading back home after work. And it was JUST to get the canned button mushroom. And I promised the kids, "Yes, I only have ONE item to buy, while you guys can go and choose one DVD each upstairs".

But like all women out there who get rambang mata when they shop, my mata also got rambang....(Pretty bad, huh? Kat mini/midi markat also can tak hengat dunia...)


Just as I was reaching out to get the canned mushrooms, my eyes lingered alsewhere and kapaaawww!!! There they were - all the baking ingredients arranged so neatly and nicely on the opposite shelves.

And I just didn't know what got over me, and suddenly I had this brilliant (NOT! More like "CRAZY"!) idea of making cupcakes with the kids this weekend! And I started taking some of the items which I THINK I MIGHT need to make cuppies, off the shelves.

And my shopping basket which started off with just a can of button mushrooms, ended up with -

2 packets of Anchor Butter
1 box of Blue Key Superfine-Superwhite Flour
1 packet of Tepung Gandum Cap Wau (I also bought this, just in case that THAT was the only flour I need and not that fancy Blue Key stuff)
1 box of Van Houten Pure Soluble Cocoa (you can never go wrong with Van Houten, right? I grew up WATCHING my Mom used it in most of her baking anyway!)
1 box of Silver Bird Chocolate Chips
1 box of Bunga Raya brand White Chocolate Chips
1 bar of Van Houten Baking Chocolate
1 small can of Royal Baking Powder
1 small container of that colourful thingies you just sprinkle on biscuits and cuppies tu? (God... I don't even know what people call it!) Oh...I just went down to check. They're called "colour strands" :)
2 packets of castor sugar
1 packet of icing sugar
1 packet of soft brown sugar
1 dozen eggs
1 packet of those paper cupcake mould
1 cupcake aluminium tray

I think the kids got pretty excited jugak with the idea. But, I could see it clearly on Hanna's face when I told her my weekend plan. Her face just screamed out "Biar betul mak aku ni..." HAHAHAHA!

Anyway, with all the stuff kept in the boot, and as Zaidi started driving us home, it suddenly dawned on me that I didn't have a mixer at home! I mean, I THINK I might still have the hand mixer which I used 14 years ago to mash up the potatoes and carrots to feed Hanna when she first started on solids. But, for the life of me, I really didn't have any idea where exactly I've stored that damn thing.

And it also dawned on me there and then that I also didn't have a proper oven at home to BAKE the cuppies. Crazy tak? I mean I do have my Microwave Oven which I normally use to defrost and reheat stuff, and also to cook my Honeyed Chicken Casserole, but, I'm not sure if the microwave actually has a specific mode/function for baking cookies! (Or do I just use the Convection Oven + Grill function to bake the cuppies? And before anyone asks - Nope, I don't know where the manual for the Microwave is. Someone, please help!!!)

And it also dawned on me that I didn't even know how to START making the cuppies. Aiyaiyai!!!

Ajaran songsang betul.

Normal people would normally find the recipes first, and then would make sure they have the oven AND the mixer at home first before getting the ingredients and attempting to bake, right? NOT the other way round?

I guess I'm NOT normal then.

Anyway, small matter. So, the first thing that I did when we reached home was to google up "Cupcakes Recipes" and of course, the one that caught my eyes were "EASY Cupcakes" - which, after reading the recipes, didn't seem "EASY" to make at all! Well, at least for my standard lah, kan?

And God!!! I learnt something new today, too. I didn't know that "Baking Powder" was NOT the same as "Baking Soda"! Did you guys know this?!

And for crying out loud, what exactly IS "Shortening", people???!!

I was just reading the recipes, and had not even started baking any cuppies, and I was already having palpitations. So, after 10 minutes, I started googling up recipes for Brownies instead.

Brownies seem easier and simpler to make. But, then again - with me doing the baking, anything can happen...(OR CAN'T happen).

Anyway, one thing for sure - IF I actually go ahead with this baking plan of mine this weekend, please do not expect any pictures of our experiment, okay?

I takut nanti ada yang put off langsung from eating cupcakes untuk selama-lamanya ;)

Wish me luck, y'all!! ;)

AN UPDATE - After reading a comment from my friend Azlina on Facebook advising me to follow the recipe to a 'T' and use the exact measurements given, AND that even if I didn't have a mixer, I could still do it using my hand, I've since, come to realize that I also don't have any measuring cups, spoons or kitchen scales at home. OR a proper mixing bowl for that matter...Hahaha!