Do you ever struggle with getting something simple right? I do all the time! It always seems to be something silly that the rest of the human race has figured out, but I cannot seem to grasp. Recently in my kitchen that problem has presented itself in the small delicate yet delightfully delicious form of a cupcake. For the life of me, I have struggled to make that perfectly baked, not to high yet not to low cupcake that melts in your mouth. It has not helped that my homemake cake recipes result in cakes that rise very differently and some batters look like they fill the pan more than others. It's been a pickle! I have chosen to avoid making customers cupcakes like the plague just to stay away from all the trouble they cause me!
God is good and after allowing me to fail for a while He finally let me experience what I have waited months for: the perfect cupcake! (it is a humbling experience that in the end I am glad for and rejoice even more in the victory He gives me, even over a silly cupcake!) It turns out the answer was simpler than I thought and surprisingly consistent with each of my homemade cake batters. Allow me to share with you my problem solver: a very handly large ice cream scoop!
I have three different sizes of ice cream scoops to use for baking. I've typically only used them for cookies, but it turns out the largest of the sizes is the perfect solution to my cupcake problems! This large scoop measures two inches wide.
The process is quite simple. Fill the two inch scopper with cake batter and drop into one lined cupcake cup. How easy is that?!
The baked result is a cupcake that just barely pops up over the top of the cupcake liner and has a slight done offering a perfect base for a dollop of frosting and a few fun decorations!
This struggle with getting the perfect cupcake reminds me of our walk as Christians. You don't accept Jesus as your Saviour and then have a ticket to perfection. It's an ongoing, constant change and continual growth toward perfection though we can never reach that goal until we're in Heaven.
I'm encouraged by the apostle Paul who I consider to be an amazing man living for Christ! If anyone could be considered as reaching perfection, it would be him, but as he so humbly points out many times in his letters, he too is still striving toward the goal and failing to reach it, though still striving. In Philippians 3:12 Paul writes, "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own." Jesus has loved me as a sinner. He chose to die for me while I still lived in sin. He made me His own. Because of what Jesus did for me and the love He has shown me, I press on working toward perfection, sometimes missing the goal completely, sometimes getting close, but not quite reaching it yet. I want to make Jesus proud of me, so I press on.
I could have given up on my cupcakes, called it quites and just refused to make them for any occasion. But I didn't. I strove to take something that looked horrible and was far to dry to be considered sellable and strove toward perfection. It's all part of the process of reaching a higher goal as a baker just as I strive to be more like Christ everyday growing as a mature Christian woman who loves and fears the Lord.
Always striving toward perfction,
Shannon
