Although I certainly got my fill of sugar over the holidays, I was still craving something sweet this past week. This past summer when I visited Anisha in Chicago, we went to a cupcake shop called Sugar Bliss ( http://www.sugarblisscakes.com/ ). This place was AWESOME!!! A cupcake lovers ultimate dream! Not too long ago, I found out that there was another specialty cupcake shop here in Minneapolis called Coco and Fig ( http://www.cocoaandfig.com/ ). I went there this past week to try out the cupcakes, but instead got their flour-less tort... It is a must have! Afterwards, I decided that my project of the week was to attempt to make some filled cupcakes.
Project 1: Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes:
The Cupcake:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
5 large eggs, separated
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 cup plus scant 1/3 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
Lemon Curd
Sanding sugar
Raspberry vanilla butter cream
24 Raspberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla; beat to combine. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Sift together both flours, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. With the mixer on low, add flour mixture; mix until well combined. Add sour cream; mix until well combined.
In a clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter.
Fill each muffin cup half full with batter. Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until a skewer inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Let cupcakes cool completely.
Using an apple corer, make a hole in the top of each cupcake, taking care not to push the corer through the bottom; remove cake from hole. Fill a squirt bottle with lemon curd and squeeze curd into holes.
Fit a pastry bag with a 3/8-inch plain round tip and fill with buttercream. Pipe buttercream in a circular motion on top of each cupcake; sprinkle with sanding sugar. Pipe a dollop of buttercream in the center of each cupcake and top with a raspberry.
Lemon Curd
Makes enough for 2 dozen cupcakes
1 cup sugar
Zest of 3 lemons
3 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
1 cup Meyer lemon juice
5 ounces unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
Directions
Prepare and ice-water bath. Set a medium bowl in ice-water bath and set aside.
Place sugar and lemon zest in a mortar and grind with a pestle to combine and release the oils. Transfer sugar mixture to a medium heatproof bowl along with eggs and egg yolks; whisk to combine. Place over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until sugar has dissolved. Add lemon juice and continue whisking until mixture is thick and reaches 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Add butter and whisk until well combined.
Strain lemon mixture through a fine mesh sieve set over prepared bowl. Cover lemon curd with plastic wrap, pressing plastic wrap directly onto surface. Transfer to refrigerator until completely chilled.
Buttercream:
Makes enough for 2 dozen cupcakes
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
Pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1-2 teaspoons Raspberry liqueur
Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until creamy. Slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat to combine, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.
Add vanilla bean seeds, vanilla extract and Raspberry liqueur, and beat to combine. Slowly add milk and continue beating on medium-low speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes.
Project #2: Chocolate Filled Cupcakes
For these sinfully delicious cupcakes, I used a standard chocolate cake recipe. Like the cupcakes above, the centers were cored and filled with Nutella. I used the same buttercream recipe as listed above, but omitted the raspberry liqueur. For a garnish, I put on some chocolate shavings on top.
These cupcakes will be gone in no time guaranteed. I have already had quite a few, and am happy to say that my cupcake craving has been taken care of (for now that is).
