Cupcake Hero - Raspberry Sherry Trifle Cupcakes

Don't you just love it when things come together!!

I had some girlfriends coming around for a bit of a natter and a catch up. The obvious thing to make was cupcakes. Serious grown up cup cakes.

I do not drink alcohol in any form ever. Not for any moral or religious reasons. I just find the flavours are way too harsh. And yet, I find it hard to resist boozy desserts, red wine sauces, guinness pies. I am an enigma even to myself.



So anyway, in thinking about these cupcakes I remembered a recipe I had seen in an old Donna Hay magazine for a raspberry sherry trifle version. It was perfect. I love trifle. My mum makes the best trifle in the world. Subjective, I know. But my whole family will agree with me, and we can't all be wrong. Right????

She only makes one a year, for Christmas Day. It must be the most anticipated and relished trifle ever. My uncles ring at least a couple of times in the lead up to make sure that it will be making an appearance.



Not long after my trifle cupcakes made their appearance, the theme for this month's Cupcake Hero was announced by Slush at Quirky Cupcake. None other than liquor. See what I mean about things coming together.

Okay, I might have had an inkling that it was at least an option. But still, it was great, no!

For these I decided not to use the Donna Hay cupcake recipe. It is far too dense and heavy I find. Instead, I used the Vanilla Vanilla cupcake recipe I first discovered on Stephanie's lovely blog A Whisk and a Spoon. They are so lovely and light. They have become my standard cupcake recipe.

They went down a real treat. We all agreed that you could actually serve them quite nicely as a dessert by removing the paper and turning them upside down in a nice bowl, like so. What do you think?



Raspberry Sherry Trifle Cupcakes
(adapted from Donna Hay Magazine May/June 2006)

1 quantity of Vanilla Vanilla Cupcakes. Add in some raspberries (thawed frozen raspberries are fine) as you spoon the batter into the cupcake papers.

Poke some holes in the warm cupcakes with a skewer and drizzle over some sweet sherry. You can make them as boozy as you wish. Leave to cool completely.

Spoon the whipped custard onto the cupcakes and serve.


Whipped Custard Icing

1 1/2 cup single cream
1 vanilla bean (split) or 1 tspn vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 tspn cornflour
1/2 cup thick cream

Place single cream and vanilla over a low heat until it just comes to the boil. Remove from the heat and discard the vanilla bean if using.

Place yolks, sugar and cornflour in a bowl and whisk until thick and pale. Slowly pour in hot cream, whisking continuously.

Return to a low heat and stir continuously until the mixture thickens, about 8-10 minutes. The mixture should coat the back of the spoon. Refrigerate until cold.

Add the thick cream to the custard and whisk until the mixture is stiff or will hold its shape.

Raspberry-Iced Cupcakes

Is there anything more beautiful than the luscious red of a perfectly ripe raspberry? I think not. Is there anything more horrifying than the cost of said raspberries in the depths of winter? I think not!

Thank goodness for the wonders of the supermarket freezer section. Life is so much better with raspberries in it.



These cupcakes are so easy and so spectacular. Just look at that gorgeous colour. They are a delight in every way.

The cake batter is mixed in a food processor in just a few minutes. They are incredibly light and airy and buttery. If I had any criticism they are a wee bit crumbly. Next time I will also cut back on the baking powder a bit, as I found there was a very slight kinda alkaline after taste.



As for the raspberry icing, a minute or two max and you are done. Just delicious. And did I mention gorgeous!!



Raspberry Iced Cupcakes
(from Sun Herald Newspaper)

250gm unsalted butter, softened
200gm caster sugar
4 eggs
250gm self raising flour
2 tspn baking powder
1 tspn vanilla
5 tbspn milk*
160gm icing sugar
40gm frozen raspberries, defrosted
cachous
extra raspberries for decorating

Place butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and vanilla in a food processor and process until smooth. Gradually add milk until smooth and combined.

Spoon the mixture into cupcake papers to two thirds full. Bake for 15 minutes in a 200C oven or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Turn out and cool on a wire rack.

For the icing, place icing sugar and defrosted raspberries in bowl and whisk together. Push through a sieve to remove seeds. Spread the cupcakes with icing and decorate with cachous and extra raspberries.

* This is an Australian recipe. 1 Australian tablespoon (20ml)= 4 teaspoons. 1 US tablespoon (15ml) = 3 teaspoons.

Lime Curd Butterfly Cakes

A little while ago I stumbled across the cupcake hero event being hosted by Laurie at Quirky Cupcake . I have a happy history with cupcakes and I just knew I had to participate.

When I was growing up, one of my weekly chores was to make a cake for lunchboxes, afternoon tea and so on. When I was about ten I discovered food colouring. This led to an outpouring of rainbow creations. Then I realised that by making cupcakes instead of a large single cake, I could multiply my canvass and give full vent to my colouring creativity.

The side benefits of this little scheme soon became obvious. It was easy for my Mum to identify the rate at which slices were disappearing out of a single cake. Much, much harder to keep track of a whole stack of cupcakes.

Then things got even better. I hit on the idea of adding sultanas. My sister hates them. Even more cakes for me then. Eventually, my Mum made me relent on the sultanas. So then I add jam, my sister hates that too. Haaaaa!! I was a mean child.

Anyway, the first step to being a cupcake hero was to find a recipe. I remembered that Donna Hay magazine had a cupcake special last year, so I decided to go with their base recipe. Having made them I have to say that, while they were good, I don't think it is the best recipe ever. A bit too dense and heavy for my taste. I prefer something lighter and more sponge like.

The theme for this month's event is lime. I had pretty much decided that I wanted to make butterfly cakes. They were always a feature of birthday parties when I was little. I loved them, I thought they were just so pretty.

The obvious thing seemed to be to make some lime curd for the filling of the cakes. I regularly make lemon curd based on a fantastic Delia Smith recipe, and it's not much of a stretch from lemon to lime. It turned out rather well.

In the end I was quite pleased with the cakes. They looked pretty and they tasted great. They didn't stick around for long. What more can you ask for.



Cupcakes
(adapted from Donna Hay Magazine, May/June 2006)

Cream 250gm of softened butter, 1 1/4 cup caster sugar and a dash of vanilla extract. Gradually add 4 eggs and beat well. Sift over 2 1/4 cups of plain flour and 2 1/4 tspns of baking powder. Beat until combined. Fold through 1 cup of milk.

Spoon the mixture into a 12 hole half cup cupcake tin. Holes should be lined with patty cases.

Bake for 15-20 minutes in a 160C oven.

Lime Curd
(adapted from a Delia Smith Recipe)

Place 75gm of caster sugar, grated zest of 2 limes (or 1 lemon), 3-4 tbspn of lime juice or to taste (or juice of 1 lemon) and 2 eggs in the top of a double boiler. Whisk together. Add 50 gm of diced unsalted butter.

Bring the water in the bottom of the double boiler to a bare simmer.

Stir frequently till thickened. This should take 15-20 minutes. There is no need to stand and stir the whole time. Just give it a good stir every now and then.

Challenge Book #27 - Strawberry Cream Butterfly Cakes

I'm not sure how to approach this other than to just say - that right now I am dealing with some substantial health issues. All I really want to say is that it is not life threatenening, but it is hard and while the end is far away it will all be over eventually. I just have to get through it.

When this all began I blithely thought that my baking and cooking and blogging could just continue on - it would be a refuge and a solace. It hasn't quite worked out that way. It's been harder and harder to get into the kitchen, both physically and mentally. In a way, it's been one of the worst things about this whole ordeal - slowly losing something you love - your normal life just slipping away.

So anyway, I will continue to post what I can, when I can. But it may not be often and it may not always be great. I have also resigned from the Daring Bakers for now. I just can't commit to a regular baking schedule and it wouldn't be fair for the group. I still try to visit my favourite blogs. Even if I don't comment often I'm still blown away by all the great food that is being posted.

But enough of that. Onto a brighter note, I did make these strawberry cream butterfly cakes a few weeks back. I didn't make them for any particular reason. I just wanted to make something pretty to cheer myself up. I picked lots of bright cheerful flowers to decorate the plate. Then I poured a big glass of milk, sat myself down in a nice sunny spot and ate away. Life became a much better place.



Generally, when I make cupcakes I use the excellent Vanilla Vanilla cupcake recipe I first discovered on Stephanie's lovely blog A Whisk and a Spoon. But for these I decided to test another recipe from Marie Claire Kitchen for my KJ wants a Kitchen Aid Challenge.

I'm glad I did because this is a great cupcake recipe. I do not like dense, heavy cupcakes - especially for butterfly cakes. In my view, they should be light and fluffy. These fit the bill perfectly. They are as soft and airy as I think cake can get. And very basic to make. I was just delighted

Not having the energy for buttercream or anything too elaborate. I simply whipped some cream and mixed in some finely diced fresh strawberries to make the filling. A little drop of strawberry preserves at the based of the cake before piling on the cream also added a little extra taste sensation.

This is Challenge Book #27 in the KJ wants a Kitchen Aid Challenge. I have generally used this book for its great basic recipes. It also has some great drinks recipes - I can particularly recommend this cheesecake shake. It is scrumptious.

Vanilla Cupcakes
(adapted from Marie Claire Kitchen)

175 gm unsalted butter
175 gm caster sugar
3 eggs
125 ml milk
1 tspn vanilla extract
175 gm self raising flour

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, milk and vanilla extract. The mixture may look slightly curdled at this stage, but that's okay.

Sift the self raising flour and fold in.

Spoon the mixutre into patty cases and bake for 15-20 minutes in a 180C oven.

Daring Bakers

As you may have seen by the rather oddly placed (stubborn thing) logo on the sidebar I have joined the Daring Bakers. Who are they? Well ,they are a group of intrepid food bloggers who join together each month to tackle a specific recipe. The group was originally formed when Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice and Lis at La Mia Cucina made a pretzel recipe together. The group has now grown substantially.

Past efforts of the Daring Bakers include croissants, red velvet cake, Martha Stewart's Crepe Cake and St Honore Gateau.

The next challenge is due very shortly and I will be posting my very first attempt. I hope to see you back here then. In the meantime, I encourage you to check out some of my fellow member's terrific blogs. Here they are.

Peabody at Culinary Concoctions

Brilynn at Jumbo Empanadas

Helene at Tartelette

Quellia at All Things Edible

Veronica at Veronica's Test Kitchen

Mary at Alpineberry

Hester at Hester in Geneva

Tanna at My Kitchen in Half Cups

Elle at Feeding My Enthusiasm

Morven at Food Art and Random Thoughts

Jen at Canadian Baker

Breadchick Mary at The Sour Dough

Valentina at Trembom in English

Freya at Writing at the Kitchen Table

Dolores at Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity

Becke at Columbusfoodie

Anita at Dessert First

Mercedes at Desert Candy

Laura at Eat Drink Live

Claudia at Heal My life

Sara at I Like to Cook

Ilva at Lucullian Delights

Marce at Pip in the City

Devra at Puu Cooks

Patricia at Technicolor Kitchen

Jery at Food and Photo

Sher at What Did You Eat?

Meeta at What's For Luch Honey

Sara at Kitchen Pantry

Stephanie at Cup Cake My Love

Heather at The Domestic Diva's Recipe Rush

Karen at Baking Soda

Leslie at Definitely Not Martha

Minko at Couture Cupcakes

Swee at Self Proclaimed Foodaholic

Heather at Eating For One

Alice at Alice Q Foodie

Nazca at Food Is Good

Jenny at Jenny Bakes

Kelly-Jane at Cooking the Books

Erin at Chiles and Chocolate

Rose at 64 sq ft kitchen

Kelly at Sass and Veracity

Gattina at Kitchen Unplugged

Wendy at WMPEs Blog

Cheryl at Gruel Omelet

Anne at Simply Annes

Jenny at My Food Geek

Jasmine at Confessions of a Cardamom Addict

Tara at Should You Eat That

Amy at Nook and Pantry
Jes at Cupcake Punk

Jenn at Leftover Queen

Sarah at Corner of 94th

Amanda at Little Foodie

Pille at Nami Nami

Glenna at A Fridge Full of Food

Nicole at Sweet Tooth

Amanda at I Cook, Therefore I Run

Valerie at Val's Kitchen

Holly at The Glutton

Chris at Mele Cotte

Deb at Smitten Kitchen

Gilly at Humble Pie

Challenge Book #4 - Coconut Lemon Twinkies

I have never eaten a twinkie in my life. I have never even seen one in person. But I have always liked the idea of them. A tube of soft sponge cake with a creamy filling. And they're called twinkies. TWINKIES. What's not to enjoy!!

So when I came across a recipe for coconut lemon twinkies, I could not resist giving it a go.

I found the recipe in this book - The Sweet Spot: Asian Inspired Desserts. And this is Book #4 in the KJ wants a Kitchen Aid Challenge (see here). This is the last book I bought before my self-imposed ban on cook book purchases.

I stumbled onto this book in Oprah magazine. My dalliance with Mr Ong's fruit carpaccio recipe convinced me to buy it. I have bookmarked almost every page, it all sounds soooo good.

I think I'm doing really well with this challenge. I have gotten through one month and four books, with no new purchases whatsoever.

I decided the best idea was just to stay well away from temptation. Last week I was in a bookstore and absentmindedly wandered into the cookbook section. When I realised I reared back, much like a vampire confronted with a crucifix, and hightailed it to the safety of the crime section.

But back to my twinkies, I forwent(?) the lemon filling used in the recipe. Instead I made up some lemon curd (which I also needed for another project) and lightened it with some whipped cream.

Luckily, I have a silicon muffin tin with very deep and narrow cups. I thought that this allowed a much more twinkie like feel than I think you would get from a normal shaped muffin tin.



I was delighted with the end result. The lemon and coconut flavour was delicious. Dusting the cups with sugar provided a lovely sweet crust around the outside of the twinkie.

The only slight disappointment was with the cake. It was incredibly light and airy. But really, the texture was a bit on the tough side. I found leaving them for an hour or two after adding the filling allowed them to soften nicely.

They disappeared in a flash, so I guess that's a bit of a testament to how enjoyable they were.



Coconut Cupcakes *
(Adapted from The Sweet Spot)

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
3 large eggs, separated
1 large egg yolk
1 tbspn grated lemon zest
1/4 tspn salt
1 tspn vanilla extract

Generously grease and sugar a 12 cup muffin tin or preferably a tin with deep narrow cups.

Sift flour and stir in coconut.

Whisk the egg yolks and lemon zest until combined. Add the salt and 2 tbspn and 2 tspns of sugar. Continue whisking until the yolks are pale, thick and doubled in volume. This should take about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, whisk the egg whites until they are frothy. Keep whisking, and gradually add 1/3 cup of the sugar. Continue whisking until medium soft peaks form.

Add the vanilla to the yolk mixture. Stir in one-third of the whipped whites to the yolks to lighten the mixture. Then carefully and gently fold in the remainder of the egg whites. Carefully and gently fold in the flour mixture.

Divide the mixture among the muffin cups. Place in 175C oven. Bake for 4 minutes and then rotate the pan. Cook for a further 5 minutes. Cool the cakes in their tins for around 5 minutes before turning out. Leave until completely cold.

Filling

I used curd lightened with whipped cream. Any type of curd would be great - lime, passionfruit, orange or mango. Jam would be another option. The recipe suggests using marmalade topped with whipped cream.

Twinkies

Spoon the filling into a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip. Poke the tip of the piping bag into the cake and slowly pipe in the filling until it begins to squirt out of the opening.

Dust with icing sugar and serve.

* This is an American recipe so 1 tbspn = 3 tspn. An Australian 1 tbspn = 4 tspn.