Confession Nook: Cupcakes

The cupcake mania is taking over me. I've always wanted to try a few different cupcake recipes though but never a chocolate one since I'm "allergic" to chocolate. It triggers my migraine and I tell you, migraine headache is very painful that I have vowed not to eat anything with chocolate for a month, then I thought I might go an extra mile and make it two months however today while browsing at Gourmetgirlmag, I stumbled upon a cupcake recipe that didn't use lots of chocolate chips. I thought, well, I might just get away with it, hopefully. =P

The original recipe didn't include coffee but since I am also a coffee addict, so there. =) plus when I have migraine attacks, I drink a very strong coffee to ease tension headache. Talk about making a cupcake that triggers and at the same time eases migraine headache!

Chocolate and Coffee Fudge Cupcakes
(Adapted: Gourmetgirlmag Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes)

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup drinking chocolate *
2 tsp instant coffee
2 T chocolate pieces
2 eggs
1/2 cup granulated brown sugar*
¾ cup flour
1tsp baking powder
Cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray cupcake pans (or line with paper liners)

Sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside.

In a 2 quart saucepan, melt the butter, drinking chocolate, instant coffee and chocolate pieces. I used the microwave method instead and set on high for 35 seconds. Stir the mixture until well blended and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the eggs and sugar. Add the chocolate mixture and sifted dry ingredients, stirring until completely blended.

Fill the cups 3/4 full and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand to cool. Remove cupcakes to cooling rack.

*Note: I used Cadbury Instant Chocolate. Another recommendation from GourmatGirlMag is to use chocolate powders with higher quality such as Valrhona, Ghiradelli or Bensdorp. I usually use Bensdorp when baking back in PH and it always worked well. The recipe called for loosely packed light brown sugar but I only have granulated brown sugar.

Makes: ½ doz medium cupcakes

Chocolate and Coffee Buttercream Frosting

¾ cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup Cadbury Instant Chocolate
1 tsp coffee
pinch of salt
1 c icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup double cream

Whisk butter, cocoa powder, coffee and salt until it forms a thick cream. Turn off mixer, scrape sides of the bowl. On low speed add in icing sugar. When all sugar has been incorporated, add double cream and vanilla extract. Increase speed to medium until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.

Makes: Approx. 1.5 cups of medium consistency frosting

I remember when I go to birthday parties back home I always noticed everyo

ne seemed to be so excited about the cake. In weddings, everyone is looking forward to have a slice of the wedding cake. I see guests’ faces checking the cake out and they would seem to light up when served with a slice of it. I, on the other hand, was thinking, please for God’s sake, get that cake out of my face! But of course, I would pretend to be delighted when given a piece, and then I would give it to my friends. It would seem be rude but rather than throwing it down the bin, might as well give it to someone who really enjoys eating cakes.

You see, I grew up in a family where cakes were a constant sight. We have a small intimate family cake business. We bake cakes for birthdays, weddings, Christmas, New Year and every big or little occasion. Everyone in the family has a role in cake-making. Mom and Dad have 5 girls, 4 of us know how to bake cakes well, our youngest sister Alex doesn’t know anything about cakes because she wasn’t born yet at that time. My mom, the expert, would separate the egg yolks from the whites, the crucial part, since you have to make sure that no trace of yolk or eggshell present in the whites, and it has to be free from any liquid, no water nor oil. My father had the most tedious part of mixing the batter using a wooden spatula by hand. After which, it is then passed on to me, where I get to fold the batter in the stiffly-beaten whites which was prepared well by our elder sister Nog-nog. My sister Cyde did the washing, making sure that the tube pans, mixing bowls, mixing forks, measuring cups and spoons were completely free from cake crumbs and grease and were super dry and ready for use. Ida, our youngest sister then was assigned to wrap the cakes with white cellophane ready to be delivered to customers. Our kitchen was so busy starting on the 23 of December and up until midnight on the 24th, and would oftentimes extend up to 3 in the morning. The orders would just keep on pouring that we don’t really have the chance to sit down and celebrate Christmas Eve.

That wonderful scent of cake baking in the oven was all over our home, but I dreaded it that sometimes I would cover my nose up.

I do enjoy making cakes, but to make it a living, baking up to almost 200 cakes non-stop -4 cakes in one batch, I thought, it really was too much. At a young age, it was tiring and I wasn’t enjoying it at all.

We stopped making cakes when my mom went abroad. However, at times, some customers would go to our house and order, which I would usually accept. That time I was really enjoying it. It wasn’t too much to handle at all. I get orders once a week, no bulk orders hard to handle, no deadlines. I bake cakes for weddings even if my mom wasn’t there. I enjoyed decorating the cak

e, which was my most favorite part. I am no artist though but despite that, I had the drive to bake and play with the frosting.

It has been a year since I haven’t baked a cake. I missed it. My mom visited us and brought her electric mixer and willingly gave it to us. She knows very well that I enjoy baking and cooking.

So today, I am making some fairy cakes. The scent brings back fond memories with my family. It makes me feel so much closer to home, and now that I have my own family, I am so excited to share it with our son, Orlov, when I come home soon.

Coconut and Greek Honey Yogurt Fairy Cakes

3 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ lb butter
2 cups sugar
5 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract
1c *Buttermilk
¾ c Greek honey yogurt
Sweetened/Candied young coconut (Dulce de Coco)

Buttercream Frosting

8 tbsp of unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup of sifted icing sugar
1 egg yolk
1tsp almond extract
Range of food colorings

Directions

Sift together dry ingredients- flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. Turn on low speed; add the eggs one a time. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix to incorporate well. Alternately add the sifted dry ingredients and the *buttermilk and Greek honey yogurt to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined.

Line a muffin pan with muffin cups. Fill each cup with 1/3 of the batter, add in a teaspoon of sweetened young coconut/dulce de coco then fill 1/3 more of the batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

Buttercream Frosting

Whip butter until light and fluffy, add sifted icing sugar little by little until well-incorporated. Beat in the yolk. Add almond extract to mix.

Decorate your fairy cakes the way you like it! I also used desiccated coconut tinged with green coloring to make “grasses”. =)

This is a very soft and moist fairy cake. Absolutely worth a try! =) I assure you it will be worth your time and effort!

This is an entry to GourmetGirl Magazine’s Summer 2009 Cupcake Crawl Entry.

Don’t forget to vote for my entry starting on July 20, 2009 at Gourmetgirl Magazine official Blogsite: Kitchen Rap

Thank you and enjoy your fairy cakes!

*Add one tablespoon of cream of tartar to one cup of skimmed milk. Stir and stand for 15 minutes. Stir the curled buttermilk.