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Welcome to Tasty Tip Tuesdays! OK, I know, the name is a little cheesy but hey, I like alliteration! Anyway, since I’m always being asked about my cupcakes, from how I get them so moist to exactly how I make my addictive cream cheese frosting, I thought I would start sharing some tips, tricks, and tools I’ve learned along the way (although I will never ever reveal that frosting recipe – sorry!).

First tip, and this is an easy one, is how to get your cupcakes nice and moist. Two words: canola oil. Yep, it’s that simple. Every cake recipe needs some fat (well, a good-tasting recipe, that is. We don’t do health food here at LoveCakes), and most cake recipes call for butter.

Who you calling "fat"?

If you are just baking a cake to be eaten the same day, butter is generally fine. But as I’ve learned, many people buy a dozen cupcakes but don’t always consume all of them ASAP. So they often place the cupcakes in the refrigerator overnight. Well think about this: butter starts out as a solid fat (in stick form), then turns into a liquid fat when it bakes. So when you cool it in the fridge, that melted butter hardens back into a solid fat, sucking any trace of moisture out of the cake along with it. The beauty of canola oil is that it starts out and stays a liquid! Now, let me clarify that I am not a food scientist, nor have I had any formal culinary or pastry school training. Everything I know about baking and cooking is compliments of my savvy mom (Mama LoveCakes), lots of recipe books, and the wonderful Internet. So there may be some inaccuracies in the science behind my butter/oil theory, but in practice, this is what works for me. And yes, I know there is plenty of debate over which is healthier, and to that I say: eat your veggies, move your butt, and enjoy delicious treats like LoveCakes in moderation, and all will be good.

Death-cage match, anyone?

A final note: if you do store your LoveCakes (and you are only buying your cupcakes from LoveCakes, right??!) in the fridge, please please please take them out about an hour before you plan to enjoy them so the frosting comes to room temperature. Just like butter will harden back into a solid, that deliciously soft frosting you are addicted to will firm back up like a block of cream cheese. When it comes to frosting, soft and creamy is good, cold and blocky, not so much. Enjoy!