Hello lovely humans!
Originally this post was meant to be for the awesome weekly @cookwithus contest, but life got in the way and I missed the deadline! (If you haven't entered yet, go check out their weekly themes and go have a bash in the kitchen, awesome people doing delicious things!)
So, I have a confession: I generally only bake cakes or cupcakes for birthdays or special occasions because I tend to be the type of person who looks at the pictures of a recipe and then wings things. While I get away with this when it comes to bread or pastries by knowing what things should look and feel like, cakes are never as forgiving.
So I dusted off the old measuring spoons and decided to follow a recipe like a good girl.
It lasted until about 20 seconds in and then I started tweaking things, because I can't help myself.
I managed to keep these tweaks to a minimum through, and the result was a stunning, moist cupcake just firm enough to withstand a liberal slathering of cream cheese glaze.
For the sake of success, I've posted links to the inspiration recipes as well as the changes I've made for comparison.
I figured this is also a great opportunity for a #myturn post! Shout out to @offbeatbroad for your lovely recipe!
What I'm most excited about is that I learned to make my own modelling chocolate. I love the look of delicately sculpted bits and bobs on a cake, but am yet to find a taste for fondant. The modelling chocolate worked a treat and actually tastes good! Winning everywhere!
Here's what I made:
The Cupcakes:
Here's the original recipe by fellow steemian @offbeatbroad
I've marked where I tweaked things, should you be so inclined!
- 3⅓ c. cake flour (not self-rising)
- ¾ c. (12 Tbl.) unsalted butter, room temperature (I creamed 1/2 Cup of butter and substituted 1/4 cup with vegetable oil, to ensure a moist cupcake)
- 2¼ c. sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 Tbl. liquid red food coloring (I substituted with 1 Tbsp beet powder dissolved in 1 Tbsp Vodka)
- 3 Tbl. unsweetened cocoa powder (I upped this to 4 Tbsp to compensate for the rose water)
- 1½ tsp. vanilla extract (I substituted this with 2 Tbsp Rose water)
- 1½ tsp. salt
- 1½ c. buttermilk (Had none at hand so added 2Tbsp white vinegar to 1 1/2 Cups whole milk)
- 1½ tsp. white vinegar
- 1½ tsp. baking soda
I had a box of chocolate truffles in the pantry, and couldn't resist popping one in the batter before I baked them off.
Method:
- PreheaT oven to 1810 C/ 360 F
- Sift flour, cocao powder, baking soda and salt into abowl.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time and beat thoroughly to incorporate
- Whisk in oil, buttermilk, rosewater, beetroot vodka mix and vinegar.
- Add half the dry mixture and whisk before carefully folding in the rest in a figure-8 motion until just incorporated.
- Line a cupcake pan with liners (I find adding foil liners outside the paper liners help retain moisture best, and make my own by cutting large squares of foil and pressing them into the cupcake pan with the butt of a glass)
- If using truffles, add a tablespoon of batter to the liner, place truffle in the middle and top with more batter until each liner is 3/4 full
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to sit in the cupcake pan for 5 minutes before removing and allowing to cool completely
Again I went a little AWOL with the cream cheese frosting as I wanted a drip effect, but check out @offbeatbroad's recipe for lush, fluffy frosting!
Cream Cheese Glaze:
- 100 grams salted butter, room temperature
- 100 grams cream cheese, room temperature
- Juice and zest of 1 orange
- 3 Cups Confectioner's sugar, sifted
- 1/4 Cup full fat Greek yoghurt
Method:
- Whip cream cheese, butter and sugar until soft and smooth, stir in yoghurt, juice and zest of the orange.
- It should be a runny custard consistency, if too thin- add a little confectioner's sugar. If too thick, a little more orange juice.
- Pour liberally over cooled cupcakes and refrigerate to set the glaze before decorating, about 30 minutes.
##Modelling chocolate
- 150 grams chocolate of choice (I used white)
- 2 Tbsp liquid glucose.
Method:
- Microwave chocolate on medium heat in 30 second intervals until just beginning to melt, remove and stir until smooth and glossy (the residual heat from the bowl will do the rest of the work)
- Spoon in liquid glucose and stir until chocolate just releases from the side of the bowl (like a roux when making béchamel!, do not over mix!)
- Wrap in clingfilm and allow to cool at room temperature before shaping (over working while it's warm will result in the cacao solids splitting)
- Feel free to dye it any colour, I added a little beetroot powder to half the mixture, and left the rest white, for black fondant, start by using dark or milk chocolate.
- Shape as you please! I followed a little youtube tutorial by the wildly talented Yeners to achieve roses, echoing the rosy aroma inside the cakes
Because I am terrible at repetition without getting bored, I used beetroot powder, fondant roses, raspberries and a beetroot dye mixture (1 part beetroot powder to 1 part vodka) to decorate each cupcake individually, maintaining coherence by using the same elements in all of them, rather than having 12 identical cupcakes.
So that's my take on @offbeatbroad 's luscious creation- thanks for the inspiration, lady! (They disappeared in 3 days, between 2 of us. The shame!)
