little “Gugelhupfe”

I really like when friends are coming over. I like having them around, catching up, laughing, discuss whatever is bothering and I like that every time they come visit, I have a reason to try a new recipe or new idea. Last week I had another occasion to do just that.
I bought this silicone pan for those little cakes called “Mini-Gugelhupf”. I thought they are really cute and would sure be nice to serve to guests. They could say “I ate a whole cake” afterwards 😉 I wanted to have small lemon cakes and so I tried my favorite lemon cupcake recipe. My idea was that the size of these mini cakes is the same as cupcakes, so it should work. But no.. they came out really strange. The inner part was still raw.. at least so it seemed. “Ok” I thought “I will just leave them in the oven for a little longer and extend the baking time” They became little stones! The only guest who got these cakes to eat was my garbage can! It wouldn’t be me if I would give up THAT easily. I tried it a second time.. I stayed in the kitchen while they were baking and wouldn’t leave until I could get them out. They seemed fine, so I let them cool. I was happy that I found the right temperature and the right time.. but.. but then I took the first bite.. hmm.. well… I created rubber lemon cakes. If that is your goal let me know.. I will be happy to pass the recipe to you. Anyway, my garbage can guest got them all (I think I spoiled him a little during that time).
My result: NOT the right recipe for these cakes. The weird thing is that it always works with normal cupcake pans.. so what exactly is the matter? I am still using this recipe whenever I want lemon cupcakes, but for this pan (whatever the reason) I needed to find something else.
Since my family and friends know my passion, it is not very surprising that I do own a bunch of baking books. One of them, a very slim one, was hiding between those big ones and this book includes just a few recipes for a silicon pan. It’s worth a try, right?
So, I decided to give it another shot and last week.. yey!! It worked! You see on the photo that it worked.. and it worked well enough to even put as much effort into them to decorate them a little 😉
And because a friend of mine seems to be facing a similar problem with that pan, I am posting the recipe here. I hope it works for you too :

140g flour
1 Tsp baking powder
140g butter
140g sugar
2 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C / 375°F
2. In a large bowl mix flour and baking powder
3. Add butter, sugar and eggs
4. Mix until well blended
5. Bake 15-20 minutes and let cool completely
6. Decorate if you like
7. Look at them how cute they are and eat them

The dough is enough for the six “Gugelhupfs” that are usually in these pans.
Like I said, I couldn’t figure out why the other recipe didn’t work. I will keep you posted on this topic and will try a few more recipes (from the same book as well).
The surface of the cakes is also a little more shiny then the surface of cakes made in “normal” pans.. I am sure there is an explanation for this too. I guess it is a matter of taste what you like more. I still prefer the usual old-fashioned baking pans, but that is just me.

However, I hope you will enjoy the cakes and your trash can will remain hungry for today 😉