*ahem* Yes, well that's enough of that. I somehow got myself involved in a bake off at work (somehow, in this case can be loosely translated to; I stupidly challenged him because I am an idiot). I decided I wanted to do a cupcake quartet, an idea which swiftly went out the window when I couldn't find buttermilk in my local tesco for the red velvet cupcakes. So the quartet became a trio and, stretching the music analogy just a tad, the melody was sweet. I did a remake of my ferrero rocher cupcakes, carrot cupcakes with a maple syrup cream icing and lemon meringue pie cupcakes. My personal favourite were the carrot cupcakes which were surprisingly moist and light, the icing worked but I would like to test other flavours of icing as I felt that mix of flavours could have worked better. The lemon meringue pie cupcakes seemed to be the favourite amongst those at the office, they did look rather impressive and I found that the cupcakes themselves were surprisingly fragrant. Most disappointing for me was the lack of feedback on the ferrero rocher cupcakes, Ax was unable to taste the new icing before I used it and the only feedback I received from those at the office was along the lines of "yes, they're very nice". Which is always nice to hear but entirely unhelpful when its a new recipe that one is unable to taste. I never thought a cupcake would make me miss my Newcastle boys quite so much. With quality of feedback as low as that, I suspect I may have to find a new testing ground for my recipes.
*a word on the photographs - the quality is surprisingly poor, even for me, as I forgot to photograph the one's I took to the office and was left only with the rejects which had a face only a mother could love. Please don't judge their prettier brothers and sisters by their unfortunate disfigurements.*
Ingredients
For the lemon curd
- 70ml (1/3 cup) fresh lemon juice
- 3 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 95g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
- 115g unsalted butter, cut into chunks
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated lemon zest
For the cupcake batter
- 200g (2 cups) Plain Flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated lemon zest (this worked out to be almost a whole lemon)
- 200g (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 85g (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 240ml (1 cup) milk
For the meringue
- 3 large egg whites
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 95g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
Directions
To make the lemon curd
In a heat-proof bowl, whisk lemon juice, eggs, egg yolk and sugar until smooth. Add butter and place bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisking gently, cook mixture until it thickens and leaves a ribbon when whisk is lifted - this can take anywhere from 8 to 20 minutes depending on how high the heat is set and how cold the ingredients were. Remove from heat and push through a fine mesh strainer. Fold in lemon zest, cover with plastic wrap and thoroughly chill before using.
To make the cupcakes
Preheat oven to 190°C. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, rub together the lemon zest and sugar with your fingers until the zest is evenly distributed and the sugar takes on a light yellow hue. Add butter and cream together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with the milk - beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Evenly divide batter between 24 paper-lined muffin cups - they should be roughly half full.
Bake until cake springs back when lightly touched in the centre and is just beginning to get a golden hue- about 16 to 20 minutes. Remove and place cupcakes on a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the meringue
In a large mixing bowl, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Slowly add sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and continue whipping until egg whites hold stiff peaks when beaters are lifted.
To assemble the cupcakes
Place cupcakes on a large baking sheet. Use a paring knife to cut out a small cone out of the centre of each cupcake. Pipe about 1 to 2 tablespoons of the lemon curd into each cupcake. Spoon dollops of meringue over the curd on each cupcake. Using a cooking blow torch, very carefully colour the cupcakes to lightly brown them. If you don't have a blow torch then pre-heat the oven to 220°C and bake until the tops of the meringues brown - about 4 to 6 minutes.Makes 24 cupcakes.
Ferrero Rocher Cupcake Recipe
(The cupcake recipe came from here and subsequently modified. It makes aprox 24 cupcakes, it not-surprisingly halves easily so I made 12.)
- 120ml (1/2 cup) boiling water
- 45g (6 tbsp) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 60ml (1/4 cup) milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp hazelnut extract
- 115g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 125g (10 tbsp) dark brown sugar
- 75g (6 tbsp) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 100g (1 cup) Plain flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Directions
In a bowl, whisk the boiling water into cocoa until smooth and whisk in milk, vanilla, and hazelnut extracts. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes, and beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Into another bowl, sift together flour, baking soda,
and salt and add to egg mixture in batches alternately with cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, and beating well after each addition. Fill each wrapper slightly more than 1/2 way. They will rise a lot. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for about 18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
The Gooey Chocolate Hazelnut Filling Recipe
- 240ml (1 cup) Thick double cream
- 180g (1 cup) milk chocolate, broken off
- 2 tsp hazelnut extract
- 3 tbsp toasted chopped hazelnuts
Bring heavy cream to a boil. Pour over chocolate chips to melt them. Add extract. Mix until fluffy. Put into the fridge to cool. When its solidified, mix in the chopped hazelnuts, making sure they're fully combined. Cut a cone in each cupcake and put a teaspoon or two of the filling in. Replace the cone.
The Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache Recipe
I modified the ganache recipe as I found last time I made it that the corn syrup it suggested was not sweet enough.
- 120ml (1/2 cup) Thick Double cream
- 230g (8 oz ) good quality milk chocolate chunks
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 t hazelnut extract
Heat the cream on the stove until it boils. Pour over the chocolate and stir to melt, adding the honey, maple syrup and hazelnut extract. When thoroughly mixed, use to ice the cupcakes.
Carrot Cupcake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting (from here)
- 100g (1 cup) plain flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 60g (1/3 Cup) granulated sugar
- 60g (1/3 Cup) packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 240ml (1/2 Cup) vegetable oil
- aprox. 230g (1 1/2 Cup) lightly packed finely shredded carrots (I used 2 carrots)
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- 115g (4 oz) cream cheese
- 115ml thick double cream
- 60ml (1/4 Cup) maple syrup
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Shred your carrots on a box grater (be careful, mind your knuckles) or in a food processor with a shredding disc, set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together. In a bowl, blend the granulated and brown sugar with the eggs until thoroughly combined. Whilst stir mixing, slowly pour in the oil and continue to mix until the mixture has lightened in colour and is somewhat thicker, about 30 seconds. Pour it into the dry ingredients, add the shredded carrots and mix until no streaks of flour remain. Divide the batter into 12 paper cups. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake in the centre of the cupcakes comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and cool on a rack to room temperature. As the cakes are cooling, take out the cream cheese and let it soften a little. To make the frosting, simply whisk the cream until stiff, then mix in with cream cheese and the maple syrup until smooth. Put the icing into the fridge to stiffen a little before use to make it easier. Frost the cupcakes when they have cooled. Makes 12 cupcakes
*I'm afraid the breakfast challenge has been put on hold for a few weeks whilst Ax jets around exotic places like Paris and south west England*
No comments:
Post a Comment