Looking a little seedy.

This burst of frugality was inspired by the theme ingredient: honey. I really love honey meringue frosting and since it would give me an opportunity to use up some extra egg whites, I figured I’d see how far I could take the concept of using only things I already had.

Seedy indeedy.

I thought about some things that go well with honey that I also happened to have. Lots of teas and flowers, obviously, but I wanted something different. Something special. Something that was just languishing in my kitchen cabinet.

It looks kind of fanciful.

A lone jar of tahini was my answer. Sesame and honey are awesome together! I boosted the intensely nutty sesame cake experience with a crunchy chewiness via some of the toasted sesame seeds that I always keep around.

A little monochromatic but look at that crumb!

Since the meringue frosting is so insanely sticky-sweet, I figured I’d tone it down by torching it a bit, but I wanted something else to cut through both the sweetness of the honey and the tender fatty richness of the cake itself.

Sunshiney!

I decided to go with  a nice sour lemon marmalade, with a little honey cooked into it to give it a nice floral note and tie the flavors together a bit. I think it does the trick quite nicely – though lemons were the only thing I didn’t have. Luckily they can be had cheaply in the store downstairs from my apartment, so it didn’t really matter.

Anyway, these cupcake are pretty crazy. The frosting is so light and billowy yet marshmallow-like in stickiness, and it completely collapses when you take a bite. The cake is just as insubstantial, due in part to the extreme fattiness of sesame seeds (also this recipe just makes crazy soft and tender nut or seed butter cake). This is why the directions call for repeatedly freezing the cupcakes during the decorating process. Altogether they’re a bit exotic and unusual, but definitely tasty. Don’t skip the torching step – even if you have to do it with a Bic lighter the toastedness is essential.

On a pedestal.

Burnt Honey Sesame Cupcakes with Sour Lemon Marmalade

First Make the Marmalade:

1. 1 lemon (weighing about 125g)
2. 250g water
3. 200g sugar (superfine if available)
4. 50g honey

Thoroughly wash the lemon. On a plate with a substantial rim (so you don’t lose any juice), use a sharp knife to slice the lemon very thinly, reserving the seeds. Chop the slices up further until you have very small pieces of outer skin attached to the flesh. Dump the lemon and juice into a small saucepan and cover with the water. Tie the seeds into a cheesecloth pouch and add to the pan. Bring to a simmer and cover, cooking gently until the rind is soft. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar and honey until the sugar is dissolved. Return to heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook on a low boil for about ten minutes, testing on chilled white plates to see if it’s set. Once it is, remove from heat and squeeze all the pectin you can out of the cheesecloth bag. Allow to cool fully before attempting to use.

Then Bake the Cakes:

1. 5 oz. (1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp) butter
2. 1 cup sugar
3. 1 egg
4. 2 tsp vanilla
5. 1 cup AP flour
6. 1/2 tsp baking soda
7. 1/4 tsp salt
8. 1/4 cup buttermilk (regular milk with a couple drops of lemon juice or white vinegar is fine)
9. 5 oz. (1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp) hot water
10. 1/2 cup tahini
11. 2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 350F. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, scraping down the bowl and making sure it is fully emulsified into the creamed mixture. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add it to the batter alternately with the buttermilk and hot water, scraping down the bowl often. Add the tahini and sesame seeds and beat on medium-high for a couple of minutes, until light and fluffy. Spoon into a lined muffin tin and bake 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Allow to cool fully before assembling.

Finally, Make the Frosting:

1. 1 cup honey
2. 2 egg whites, room temperature
3. Pinch salt

Place the honey in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. In the meantime, whip the egg whites and salt to medium-stiff but not dry peaks. Reduce the whipping speed to medium and pour in the boiling honey in one continuous stream. Return the speed to high and whip until stiff, glossy peaks form and the meringue is about room temperature or a little warmer.

To Assemble:

Freeze the cupcakes solid and trim any excess cake overhang with kitchen shears. Using a small circle cutter, cut the center out of each cupcake, reserving the plugs of cake and trimming them down to 1/4″ thick lids. Fill each cupcake with marmalade and top with lids. Freeze again until solid. Using a small spatula or a butter knife, spread the frosting on the cupcakes, leaving the sides thick and the top fairly flat. Using a kitchen torch or just a high powered gas burner, brulee the outer edge of the frosting on each cupcake, then sprinkle more toasted sesame seeds in the middle. Makes 12.

Can you guess what it is?

A definite favorite color combination of mine.

You’d probably guess that’s chocolate cake, but you’d be wrong. There’s not a bit of chocolate anywhere in that cupcake. Think fragrant, roasted, strong, caffeinated…

Yes, these are raspberry coffee cupcakes. And they are ridiculously delicious.

You’ve never had coffee and raspberry before? You’re missing out. Ever had a cup of espresso with a particularly fruity finish? Imagine if that finish kept going into full berry flavor territory…

Like the foam on a very special cappuccino.

Early on I decided that I HAD to make the cake itself coffee flavored. I luckily came upon a great recipe fairly quickly in my search. It results in soft, fragrant little cakes that are sturdy enough for even thick fillings…we’ll get to that in a minute.

Happy yummy dust makes it all that much better.

In keeping with the coffee theme I decided to top the cupcakes with a simple raspberry foam frosting and a dusting of instant espresso powder. It’s almost marshmallowy and smells incredible. I figured a buttercream would be too rich and I really love the cloudlike, organic swirls of simple meringues.

Raspberries, distilled into pure jellied awesomeness.

Now back to that filling. It’s stupid easy. All you need is a heaping cup of really nice raspberries (preferably from a farmer’s market, or even wild if you can find them) and a cup of sugar. Simple small-batch jam is one of my favorite summer cupcake fillings and this one REALLY delivers. The best part is, there’s no pitting, cutting or pureeing involved, since raspberries are so naturally delicate. In fact these cupcakes are shockingly easy and simple to make – the hardest part is making sure you have the aforementioned tasty berries and some nice instant espresso.

Does indeed go very well with a nice cup of coffee.

Raspberry Coffee Cupcakes

First, Make the Filling:

1. 1 heaping cup fresh or frozen raspberries
2. 1 cup sugar

Place the berries in a tall-sided medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Once the berries start getting juicy and bubbling slightly, mix in the sugar, mashing up the berries roughly, and bring up to a low boil. Keep boiling for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally with a silicone spatula or other heatproof instrument. Meanwhile, place a small white plate in the freezer. Once the 5 minutes of boiling have elapsed, place a small blob of the jam on the chilled plate. Once the jam on the plate is cool, poke it to see if it’s jelled or if it’s still liquidy. Repeat the cold plate test once every couple of minutes until the jam is sufficiently jelled. (If you happen to overcook it and make it too thick, you can always thin it out with a little hot water.) Remove the hot jam from the saucepan to a heatproof container and chill in a small ice bath to room temperature or cooler, then keep chilled in the refrigerator until needed.

Next, Make the Cakes:

1. 1/2 cup milk
2. 1/3 cup instant espresso (use something reasonably ok, not like instant Folger’s or something; I used some freshly-bought Medaglio D’Oro)
3. 8 oz butter
4. 1 1/2 cups sugar
5. 4 eggs
6. 1 tsp vanilla
7. 2 cups AP flour
8. 2 tsp baking powder
9. 1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 375F. Place the milk and espresso in a small saucepan and heat until just steaming, stirring to dissolve the espresso. Set aside to cool. Cream together the butter and sugar in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. Gradually add the eggs and vanilla, scraping down the bowl between additions. Sift together the dry ingredients and add to the batter alternately with the espresso milk, in 3 additions each, scraping down the bowl often and being careful not to overmix. Once everything is incorporated, bake in lined muffin tins for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into any of the cakes comes out clean. Cool completely before filling and frosting.

To fill the cakes as neatly as possible (tutorial coming soon!), freeze them solid once they are cool. Use a small circle cutter to remove the center of each and trim the “lid” of each cupcake to 1/2″ thick, reserving each alongside its cupcake. Fill the holes with the raspberry jam almost up to the top, then replace the lids and keep chilled until ready to frost.

When Your Filling is In, You Can Make the Frosting!:

1. 4 egg whites
2. 1 cup sugar
3. 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
4. 3 Tbsp raspberry juice (extracted from about 1/3 cup raspberries, strained of any seeds or chunks of fruit)
5. 1 tsp instant espresso

Place the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl over simmering water (make sure that the bowl doesn’t actually tough the water) and whisk often. Once the bowl’s contents are hot to the touch, begin whipping to soft peaks, then turn the mixer to medium speed and drizzle in the raspberry juice. Continue whipping to stiff peaks. Dollop onto filled cupcakes, sprinkling with instant espresso. Keep chilled. Makes 20.

Roly poly lemons rolled into a cupcake.

Until I had some free time and went poking around to try and catch up with Cupcake Hero. Once I discovered this month’s theme, I knew I had my perfect excuse.

What could possibly be going on here?

Olive oil? Ohh yes, this would be wonderful! Sunny and fruity and creamy and salty…wait, what?

And you though BUTTERCREAM was fattening!

Yes, I decided that since Meyer lemons and cream go oh so very well together, these cupcakes wouldn’t need a real frosting, just a nice dollop of freshly whipped Chantilly cream. And then I thought of olive oil gelato, and of the lemon salt my mom had recently given me (yes another salt)…

A Serious Cupcake.

I ultimately decided that a little extra virgin olive oil plus the lemon salt would be the only proper way to top off these cupcakes, keeping in mind the simple garnishes usually given to frozen olive oil-flavored dairy-based treats.

Surprisingly complementary elements.

The first one I assembled and ate…eh, I was not that impressed. Oh, the elements were good, but the balance was off on top. So when I went to eat another one the next day (ok, the next MORNING, for BREAKFAST), I neglected to add the olive oil and salt. But after the first bite I realized the cupcake was missing exactly those elements of fruity savoriness and salty finish. So I adjusted the balance to add just the slightest bit of olive oil…and it totally and completely worked.

Maybe it needed a little more of this?

A cupcake with Meyer lemon just isn’t complete without a blob of wonderful, citrusy curd in the middle…perhaps a little more than these actually had. I used my smallest round cutter to cut out the middle and had contemplated using the next-biggest size, but feared that the cupcakes might not have the structural integrity to hold together. I probably should have gone with the bigger size – these cupcakes are fairly sturdy, and much stronger than my standard, fluffy recipe.

Meyer lemon curd = basically tangy spoonable crack.

I made half the recipe of cupcakes you see here, but the full amount of curd. This is not the Meyer lemon curd recipe I’ve used before. While totally awesome, that recipe used whole eggs only, and I needed one that used yolks – four yolks, to be precise. Because I still had yolks leftover from the crazy awesome meringue topping on these babies. Because I made the full curd recipe, I have a lot left over. Um, significantly less left over today than the day I made them…mmm, curd.

Very elegant.

Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Sunshine Cupcakes

First, Make the Curd (adapted from Martha Stewart):

1. 2 whole eggs
2. 4 egg yolks
3. 1 cup (200g) sugar
4. Zest of 1 Meyer lemon
5. 1/2 cup Meyer lemon juice, strained
6. 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut in small cubes

Place the eggs, yolks, sugar and zest in a medium bowl over simmering water. Whisk often until somewhat thickened, then add the juice and whisk until thick. Remove from heat and gradually whisk in the butter. Strain and cool in the refrigerator or over an ice bath with plastic wrap pressed into the surface.

Then, Make the Cupcakes (adapted from Matt Bites):

1. 4 eggs
2. 1 cup (200g) sugar
3. Zest of 2 Meyer lemons
4. 3 cups (380g) AP flour
5. 3/4 cup (160g) extra virgin olive oil
6. 2/3 cup (160g) milk
7. 4 Tbsp Amaretto liqueur
8. 1 Tbsp baking powder
9. Large pinch of Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 325.

Beat the eggs and sugar together until pale yellow. Beat in the zest. Combine the liquids together; do the same with the remaining dry ingredients. Alternately add in three additions, beating until smooth. Immediately pour into lined muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from the tins to cool completely.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, use a small round cutter to punch deep holes almost all the way to the bottom (but not quite). Fill the holes with curd, trim the middles from the removed cylinders of cake and replace the remaining circular lids of cake onto the curd. Enjoy your little trimmings.

You Gotta Whip Some Cream:

Note: If you’re not serving the cupcakes all at once, it’s a good idea to make this in smaller batches. I know it can be a hassle to whip a tiny amount of cream, but once you get hand-whipping down it’s really no big deal. If you try to whip all the cream ahead of time or top the cupcakes all at once in advance, the cream will separate and get runny. You want it STIFF. Stabilizing it with gelatin is also an option but I didn’t have any.

1. 1 cup (240mL) heavy cream
2. 1 Tbsp sugar (I used vanilla sugar)

Chill your bowl and whip/whisk before whipping and make sure the cream is kept cold as well. Add the sugar to the cream and whip to stiff peaks (but not until it gets grainy).

And Then You’re Gonna Serve Them:

1. Filled cupcakes
2. Chantilly cream
3. Extra virgin olive oil
4. Lemon salt

Using a teaspoon, dollop the whipped cream onto the cakes, smoothing and flattening slightly. Drop a few dots of extra virgin olive oil on the whipped cream with the back of a spoon:

You only need a little...

Using a toothpick, swirl the olive oil into the cream, then sprinkle with a small pinch of salt. Eat as soon as possible!

Makes 24 slightly-smaller-than-average cupcakes (18-20 normal?)

These cupcakes are, as usual for me, a little odd, but overall really tasty. I imagine if you are a fan of preserved lemons you’d dig these. At first you taste the dense, not-too-sweet cake, the tangy curd, a hint of almond; then sweet cream, slick oil and a fun little acidic, salty finish. These easily brighten up even the coldest, snowiest Northeastern winter day.

Hello again!

Yeah, my pumpkin cupcakes are back. And with a purpose!

What pumpkin shortage?

This month’s Cupcake Hero theme is pumpkin! Since I couldn’t get it together in time to enter last month’s banana contest, I’m totally bringin’ it with my favorite fall treats.

I take back what I said last year. Mellocreme pumpkins NOT optional.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!

Just shifting into focus to say hello...

Since I finally figured out the perfect frosting for these spicy lovelies last year (and greatly improved upon it by way of some gorgeous chocolate and cocoa powder that I got at a Scharffen Berger event), I decided it was high time I created a filling for them. And what a filling it is…

Ladies and gentlemen, pumpkin cupcake nirvana has been achieved.

A little browned butter caramel with your pumpkin and chocolate?

Sittin' on some pumpkins.

Oh yes…I think that about does it as far as pumpkin-y awesomeness is concerned.

Oh artificial pumpkin goodness. Why you got to be so awesome?

I brought these to class. They were appreciated pretty thoroughly, especially the filling. Many of my classmates had only recently (like last week) been introduced to the wonder of brown butter so it went over very well.

Quick! Eat it!

I definitely recommend you make these this fall. And then eat them. Eat them fast.

...before it turns into a pumpkin.

Ultimate Pumpkin Cupcakes

First You Gotta Bake the Cakes…

1. 1 1/4 cup unsalted butter
2. 1 cup dark brown sugar
3. 1 1/4 cup sugar
4. 2 eggs
5. 1 15 oz. can pumpkin (plain pumpkin, no spices pre-mixed in there!)
6. 3 cups AP flour
7. 2 tsp baking soda
8. 1 tsp fine salt
9. 3 1/2 tsp cinnamon
10. 1 tsp nutmeg
11. 1/2 tsp ground cloves
12. 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 350. Cream the butter and sugars until they are light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, waiting until each is fully incorporated into the creamed mixture before adding more. Gradually add the pumpkin and beat until smooth. Whisk together the flour and other dry ingredients, then gradually add them to the batter until everything is homogenous. Plop into lined muffin tins (an ice cream scoop is great for this since it’s a very thick, almost dough-like batter) and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one comes out clean. Cool completely before filling and/or frosting. Makes about 28 cupcakes. (I usually make 24 and pour the rest of the batter into a buttered large ramekin or Pyrex dish as a little treat for myself.)

Then You Have to Make the Filling…

1. 4 oz./8 Tbsp unsalted butter (you can use salted if you like, just omit the added salt)
2. 1 cup sugar
3. 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp heavy cream, room temperature
4. Pinch of fine salt

Cut the butter into several pieces and melt them in a small saucepan. Continue cooking, gently swirling the pan, until the milk solids begin to burn – the butter will smell nutty and caramelly and there will be brown bits in the bottom of the pan. Don’t let the burnt bits get black though – remove the pan from the heat before it gets too dark. If you have a vessel that can handle it (like a Pyrex container) pour the browned butter into it immediately; otherwise, let it sit in the pan until it has cooled slightly, then move to a bowl or other container, being sure to scrape as much of the lovely brown part from the bottom of the pan as you can. Refrigerate the butter until it has solidified. Once you are ready to make the rest of the filling, cut it into small pieces.

Place the sugar in a saucepan with tall sides. Wet it with just enough water to make it the consistency of wet sand, then place over high heat. Brush down the sides of the pan with water to keep crystals from forming. Cook, swirling the saucepan gently, until it is a nice amber color and smells caramelly. You can make it as mild or dark as you like but a nice medium caramel is just about perfect for me. Add the butter and salt all at once and stir until melted, then remove the pan from the heat and gradually add the cream. Be careful – the caramel will bubble up angrily when you pour in the cream (this is why you want a tall pan). If any bits of caramel seize up, just place the pan over medium-low heat and stir gently until everything is dissolved and smooth. Allow to cool, then chill in the refrigerator to make it firmer and easier to scoop into the cakes.

And Of Course There’s the Frosting…

1. 2/3 cup whole milk
2. 6 oz. chopped dark chocolate
3. 2 tsp cocoa powder

Place the chocolate in a medium mixing bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the milk just to a boil, then immediately pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for about 30 seconds, then slowly begin stirring it with a whisk, from the middle out, until all the chocolate is melted and you have a smooth, creamy ganache. Sift in the cocoa powder and stir until it is fully incorporated. Chill until firm and spreadable.

Now for the Assembly!

1. Cooled Pumpkin Cupcakes
2. Chilled Brown Butter Caramel Filling
3. Chilled Double Chocolate Ganache
4. Mellocreme Pumpkins

Use a small round cutter to cut out the middles of the cupcakes. Be careful – they’re very soft! Spoon a glob of caramel into each, then trim the middle and place the “lid” of cake back on top of the caramel. Let the caramel set up a bit inside the cakes (chilling or even freezing if you’d like). Whisk the ganache slightly to get it tightened up, then spread a thin but opaque layer on top of each cupcake. Top each with a mellocreme pumpkin.

I’ve learned a lot of things over the past year on my own as well as more recently in class. For instance, the cocoa powder in the ganache is entirely unnecessary from a technical standpoint – the cocoa butter in the ganache is what makes it bind up. If you were to use cream, as is traditional, the cream itself would be thickening it as you beat it. I decided to stick to my original, slightly odd choice of milk (back when I was afraid of cream) because I think a perfectly smooth ganache would detract from the velvety soft cake, and left in the cocoa powder strictly for that extra bitter chocolate kick that goes so well with the almost too-sweetness in this cupcake.