Wednesday 21 March 2018

Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes

The final piece of the wedding cupcake jigsaw. I had to have a chocolate option, however I struggled to come up with a "classic" cake to base it on. Chocolate tends to be iconic in it's own right, rather than part of another concept (it's all very high brow). Notably, there are no "british" chocolate cakes, it does seem America own chocolate cake recipes.

So, after some deliberation, I decided to try a "brownie" cupcake instead. Everyone knows what to expect with a brownie...basically a gooey mess! This may ned some more trial, as I do need it to be slightly cake-like, and as it's being iced, it will be very rich. The main change to a normal brownie is the use of a raising agent (self-raising flour).

The core recipe is a simple brownie mix...nothing overly rich, as (again) it will be iced.At the same time, I wanted it to be un-ashamedly chocolate...one benefit of offering a selection of cakes it that I don't have to compromise on any particular one to accomodate people. The icing is again loaded with chocolate, and I've finished it off by drizzling a little white chocolate over the top.

Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes - Recipe

  • Pre-heat oven to 160'C

Cake Ingredients

  • 120g dark (50%) chocolate
  • 120g butter
  • 150g soft dark brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 80g self-raising flour
1) Place the butter and chocolate in a large saucepan

2) melt over a low heat while stirring, until smooth and combined

3) Add the sugar and whisk in until smooth and combined

4) Add in the eggs, and whisk until fully combined (mixture should be glossy)

5) Remove from the heat, and fold in the flour with a spatula

6) Transfer to a large heatproof jug (this makes filling the cake cases easier)

7) Pour 45-50g of mixture into each of 12 muffin cases, in a 12-hole muffin tin

8) Bake in the oven for 15 minutes (this may need some trial to get the right gooey mixture inside)
Note - initial testing indicates that 15 minutes it a bit too long, and it's more "cake" than "brownie". Next time I'll try 10 minutes, and go from there...

9) Remove from the oven, but leave in the tin for 10 minutes

10) Remove to a wire rack to cool completely

Chocolate Frosting Ingredients

  • 150g dark (50%) chocolate
  • 150g room-temperature butter
  • 150g icing sugar
1) Place the chocolate in a small bowl

2) Melt the chocolate in a microwave (10 second bursts and stir)

3) Leave to cool slightly (but remain liquid...you don't want it melting butter)

4) Put the butter and sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment

5) Beat the sugar and butter thoroughly until very light and smooth

6) using a spatula, fold in the cooled white chocolate

7) Trasfer to a piping bag with a semi-closed star nozzle

8) Pipe a generous swirl onto each cooled cake

9) (optional) drizzle a little melted white chocolate on top, or grate some white chocolate on top.


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Strawberry Shortbread Cupcakes

In a wedding cake double-header, I bashed out the final 2 receipes last night. Provisionally, that's all the recipes sorted. This was the one I was least worried about, as I've done most of it before. It's the simplest sponge, and the decoration is also simple (if effective). The icing is new, however I've done varieties of it before.

For the final run, the biscuits will be prepared ahead of time (a day or two, and stored in an airtight container), and then I'll probably do the decoration on the day, to keep the biscuits as crisp as possible.

Strawberry Shortbread Cupcakes - Recipe

Shortbread Ingredients

  • 100g plain flour
  • 66g fridge-cold butter
  • 33g caster sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • White chocolate
1) Place the flour, sugar and salt into a medium-sized bowl

2) Rub the butter into the dry ingredients, until you have a mixture resombling breadcrumbs. You can also do this in a food processor with a blade attachment.

3) Press the mixture into a dough (work it as little as possible), and roll to 5mm thickness on a lightly floured surface.

4) Using a circular cutter approximately 8-10cm in diameter, cut out 2 circles

5) Chop these into 8 pizza wedges each, and prick with a fork

(you can re-roll and cut the rest as "cooks snacks"!)

6) Place on a baking tray, and place in the fridge for 20 mintues.

7) Preheat the oven to 150-160'C

8) bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden

9) Remove to a wire rack to cool

10) Melt the white chocolate in a  small bowl in the microwave (I do it in 10 second bursts, stirring after each burst)

11) Dip the point of each biscuit in the chocolate, then place on greaseproof paper, and allow to set completely

Note - the biscuits are chocolate-dipped to keep them from any moisture from the cake, so they stay crisp.

Sponge Ingredients

  • 3 large eggs
  • 175g self-raising flour
  • 175g caster sugar
  • 175g room-temperature butter
  • 1tsp vanilla extract
1) Pre-heat oven to 150'C

2) Place all the ingredients in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment

3) Mix until mixture is just smooth (I often do everything but the flour first, then add the flour once the other ingredients are mixed. As a rule of thumb you want to work flour as little as possible, unless you're making bread!)

4) Place 45g of mixture into 12 muffin cases in a 12-hole muffin tin (you will have some left-over mixture...you may want to trial with adding a little more, however I find 45g of mixture is about right for filling the cases I use)

5) Bake in the oven for 20 minutes

6) Remove to a wire rack to cool

White Chocolate Frosting Ingredients

  • 150g room-temperature butter
  • 150g icing sugar
  • 150g white chocolate
1) Place the white chocolate in a small bowl

2) Melt the chocolate in a microwave (again, 10 second bursts and stir)

3) Leave to cool slightly (but remain liquid...you don't want it melting butter)

4) Put the butter and sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment

5) Beat the sugar and butter thoroughly until very light and smooth

6) using a spatula, fold in the cooled white chocolate

7) Trasfer to a piping bag with a semi-closed star nozzle

Assembly

  • Strawberry Jam (homemade or shop bought)
  • 6 medium-sized strawberries, chopped into quarters
1) Using a cupcake corer,  take about 2cm out of the middle of each cake

2) Place a teaspoon of jam into each cake. replace the plug of sponge

3) Pipe a generous swirl of icing onto each cake

4) Decorate with 2 pieces of strawberry, and a biscuit wedge poking out
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