Cupcakes? Cupcookies?: Quick and Easy Cupcakes

Quick and Easy Cupcakes
Mom and Me Cookbook 2005

2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup superfine sugar
1/2 cup soft butter
1 cup self-rising flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and beat together until the mixture is smooth and slightly lighter in color.
2. Line a muffin pan with muffin papers and half-fill each paper with the cupcake batter.
3. Bake the cakes for 18 to 20 minutes. You can tell they are done when they have risen up, are golden in color, and spring back into shape when pressed. Makes 12 cupcakes.
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This was definitely a quick and easy cupcake recipe.  However, they came out more like soft cookies.  I would expect a bit more liquid in a cake recipe.  From the reviews I am sensing the recipes in this cookbook can't be trusted 100%.  That annoys me in any cookbook but I especially dislike it in a children's cookbook.  I hate to see children disappointed.

I wouldn't call these cupcakes a disappointment (unlike one of Nick's previous kid's cookbook experiences).  They were a hit with the kids and I liked that the recipe only made 12 cupcakes.  These were on the small side which is nice since these were for around the house and small is good when it comes to sweet snacks for the boys.  Cookie, cupcake - doesn't really matter here - the flavor was good, the texture was just not what one would expect in a cupcake.

They have a copy of this cookbook in the kitchen play area at Dan's preschool and I thought it was cute so I bought a copy for our home. I have a soft spot for kid's cookbooks. Some are mainly for reading, looking at the pictures and education (healthy eating being the main thrust of most kid's cookbooks these days).  Others have more potential to actually make it into the kitchen (but, mostly we just look at them).

This particular recipe caught my eye due to using self-rising flour and I had picked up a bag of it off the clearance rack. I find a lot of cookbooks that were originally published overseas (specifically the UK where this book originates) tend to call for self-rising flour.  Yes, yes, I know you can always substitute but I too lazy to do that.

I am still searching for cupcake recipes, both yellow and chocolate, that satisfy me.  I probably never will - I am not an 'edge' cake eater and cupcakes are mostly edge.  But boxed mixes produce such lovely soft cupcakes, through and through. Why is that so hard to duplicate at home???