TamsinCakes

Iron Cupcake: San Francisco – PEPPER! Spicy Orange Szechuan Pepper Cupcakes

TamsinCakes — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:20:44 +0000

Yesterday I participated in my first Iron Cupcake: San Francisco Challenge! It was super fun, and the cupcakes were awesome! I totally got my ass kicked on the presentation front. I’m already looking forward to the next month.

The secret ingredient this month was Pepper. I immediately thought of the Szechuan Peppercorns I’ve had sitting in my cupboard for… well, a really long time. Somehow, my mind immediately went: “orange!” I got this notion in my mind that since Orange goes well with cloves, cardamom, and other similar spices it would probably go well with Szechuan Pepper as well. I didn’t want the cupcake to be too peppery, so I made plain orange cupcakes, and then made an orange frosting spiked with the pepper. It turned out really really well. I ended up adding a little white pepper and a pinch of red chili pepper to add a little extra kick!

The orange flavor in these is really luscious. If you want, you can leave out the pepper and get some kick-ass orange cupcakes!

Orange Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes or about 24 mini cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Sugar
1 cup Butter, at room temperature (1 stick)
2 Large Eggs
3/4 tsp Orange Oil
Zest of 1/4 Orange
1/2 cup minus 1 Tbsp Whole Milk
1 Tbsp Orange Juice

Preheat oven to 375F
Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners

1) In a medium bowl, sift & whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
2) In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium, cream butter and sugar.
2) Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low until fully combined and smooth, then beat in orange zest and orange oil.
4) Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk, beating until just combined after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
5) Add orange juice and beat until just combined and no stray flour remains.
6) Divide batter among prepared cupcake liners. Bake until golden and a toothpick comes out clean, about 18-19 minutes for regular sized cupcakes or about 15 minutes for minis. When done, cool on a wire rack for about an hour. Cool completely before frosting!

You can frost these with my Spicy Orange-Szechuan Pepper Buttercream, below (or omit the pepper to get plain Orange Cupcakes). Or use the frosting of your choice! I imagine a chocolate frosting such as my Chocolate Creme Fraiche Frosting would go really nicely with these. You could even add some orange oil to your favorite chocolate frosting to up the orange-flavor ante!

Spicy Orange-Szechuan Pepper Buttercream
Makes enough to frost 1 batch of cupcakes (I usually have a little left over)

Ingredients:
2 cups Butter (4 sticks), at room temperature
1 cup Powdered Sugar
Zest of 1/4 Orange
3/4 tsp Orange Oil
2 Tbsp freshly ground Szechuan Peppercorns
1 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp red chili (cayenne) pepper

In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar. With an electric mixer, cream together until smooth and fully combined. Add orange zest & orange oil and mix until fully incorporated. Add all 3 peppers, then mix until just combined. Voila! You’re ready to frost.

Something Fun But Not Cupcake-Related: The Omnivore’s 100

TamsinCakes — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:09:51 +0000

I was browsing through the blogosphere and came upon one of those “100 foods” list that have been floating around. This one was dreamt up by Very Good Taste and has some really awesome (and weird) foods so I thought I’d give it a go this time! I also love interacting with other bloggers. So without further ado, here’s my list, with VGT’s instructions for completing it:

Instructions:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding (just ate this for the first time 2 days ago! delicious)
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut (Homemade sauerkraut is so tasty. My dad used to make it)
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (although I have had Scotch with a fat cigar)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail (regular French ones and super-enormous Northern Thai ones grilled in a campfire)
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Oh man!! Only 53. I’ve got some serious eating to do!!

How many have you tried? Do the list yourself and let me know in the comments!

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes: The Recipe

TamsinCakes — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:37:54 +0000

TamsinCakes’ Hot Cocoa Cupcakes are moist, dark & chocolatey with a lightly sweetened, stabilized whipped cream frosting. I like to decorate them with chocolate curls & a piece of Cadbury’s Flake, ’cause that’s what I think of when I think “hot cocoa”. Brings back warm childhood memories.

I’ve written about them before, and some of you may have tasted them, but I haven’t shared the recipe yet. I wanted to make sure they were perfect, and I think I’ve got them pretty close. These cupcakes have been such a hit with tasters & customers that I know there are probably a lot of people who would like the recipe!

I’ve already posted the recipe for the delicious Whipped Cream Frosting, so I’ve just linked to it here. These would also be delicious topped with some Chocolate Creme Fraiche Frosting for some double chocolate action – yum!

HOT COCOA CUPCAKES
(1 dozen)

Ingredients:
3/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder (I use E. Guittard Cocoa Rouge)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C granulated sugar (I like the superfine “Bakers’ Sugar”)
1/2 C dark brown sugar, firmly packed
4 Tbsp unsalted butter (1/2 stick), room temperature
1 large egg (room temperature)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C lukewarm water
1/4 C heavy cream (room temperature)
Optional:
1 Recipe Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting
Block of good quality dark chocolate (needs to be a block, not a bar, so you can shave off curls with a vegetable peeler or your favorite chocolate-curling device)
2 Cadbury’s Flakes, cut into 12 pieces

Steps:
1) Preheat your oven to 375F, and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2) In a small bowl, sift together cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and salt.
3) In a large bowl, cream the butter & sugars together using an electric mixer on medium speed. Make sure the sugar is free of clumps, as any clumps left in the batter will explode in the oven, causing some or all of the affected cupcake to spill over and turn burnt & crunchy. (This happened to me the first couple of times.)
4) Add the egg & vanilla to the creamed butter/sugar, mixing on medium speed until everything is fully combined & smooth.
5) Add the cocoa mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the lukewarm water & cream. Beat on medium-low speed after each addition, until everything is just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed, and do not overmix.
6) Bake for 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out completely clean.
7) Cool on a wire rack, making sure the cupcakes are fully cooled before frosting. This is especially important with the whipped cream frosting, as it may melt & all the effects of the stabilization will be lost!

Top the cupcakes TamsinCakes style, with Whipped Cream Frosting, dark chocolate curls, and a piece of Flake – or however you like them!

TamsinCakes Fans Page!

TamsinCakes — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:00:33 +0000

Hello! *ahem, ahem* I have an announcement to make. The awesome Ryan Singer has created a new TamsinCakes Fan Page !!

Anyone can be added to the Fan blog, so if you have something to share, a question to ask, or want to say anything at all about TamsinCakes, just reply to any of the posts on Fans of TamsinCakes saying that you’d like to be added to the blog. We’ll set you up with posting capabilities ASAP!

I’ve decided that I’d like to coordinate with my Beta Testers via Fans of TamsinCakes from now on, so please go there for news on flavors currently in Beta, to announce your interest in being a Beta Tester, and to leave feedback on any flavors you try!

Happy Blogging!

TamsinCakes at Facebook Meetup Group

TamsinCakes — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:50:50 +0000

On Monday, I had the pleasure of providing cupcakes for a Meetup for Facebook Application Developers. I just wanted to say thanks to the organizers, Sudha Jamthe & Perrine Crampton, for having me – and to everyone who tried the cupcakes & gave feedback! I got some very useful feedback on my comment cards. On the whole, the responses were pretty positive! I made 90 mini cupcakes in total, 30 each of my 3 signature flavors (so far!) – Ginger Lemongrass, Hot Cocoa, and Red Chai Chocolate. They all disappeared! It was a lot of fun being there and I hope to be able to do it again.

The only thing missing is pictures – I forgot to bring my camera. If anyone else has pictures from the Meetup, let me know!

Red Chai Chocolate Cupcakes – with Recipe!

TamsinCakes — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:14:19 +0000

I love chai, and I really wanted to make a delicious, new spin on chai cupcakes. I’ve also recently gotten into Rooibos (Red) tea. The idea of somehow combining the two was in the back of my mind when I was passing the tea aisle in the store and noticed that Yogi Tea makes a Rooibos Chai – perfect! I decided to use that in my cupcakes. Now to figure out how to incorporate it into the batter! I toyed with a few ideas, including grinding the tea leaves and adding them straight in, but settled on making a tea concentrate – basically a really concentrated cup of tea. If you decide to make these cupcakes yourself, you can do the tea concentrate with any chai you like, or even perhaps use one of those boxed chai mixes (although if you do that, you should probably decrease the sugar and/or honey in the recipe, as those mixes are usually sweetened).

As for the frosting, I was stuck for a while, wanting to do something a little unusual that wouldn’t be too sweet and would balance nicely with the chai. At first I was thinking of doing a cream cheese frosting, but I thought that wasn’t quite exciting enough… I also wanted to incorporate chocolate somehow, and wanted the frosting to have a slight tang to contrast with the sweetness of the honey in the cupcakes. Then it hit me – creme fraiche! I added a tub of creme fraiche to my usual buttercream recipe, and decreased the amount of egg whites, butter and sugar. For the chocolate flavor, I added a small amount of melted milk chocolate chips mixed with unsweetened cocoa. I usually use dark chocolate in my baking, but I went with milk this time because I wanted the chocolate flavor to be really light and subtle.

After I added the creme fraiche, I was mixing it in, waiting for it to become smooth & take on a nice sheen, when – oh horror – it started to clump! Then, rather than getting better, it started to separate and a huge puddle of liquid started to form, splattering me all over. I turned the mixer up to high, and kept mixing, just hoping it would eventually come together again. But no! It just kept getting worse. I was about to give up (and cry a little). Then finally, just a little, I saw the clumps start to smooth out, and the puddle start to dissipate – Yes!! I kept going, and it took a while, but finally it all came together and eventually even looked beautiful. And the frosting and the cupcakes lived happily ever after. The End.

Seriously though… The chocolate creme fraich frosting turned out even better than I was hoping. It’s lightly sweet, lightly chocolatey, with a richness and subtle tang from the creme fraiche. Totally delicious by itself (ahem) and with the chai cupcakes!

Deliciously moist inside!

RED CHAI CUPCAKES

Inspired by the Chai & Honey Cupcakes in Shelly Kaldunski’s Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Tea Concentrate (Remove tea leaves from 5 bags Yogi Tea Rooibos Chai [or your tea of choice] into a small bowl, cover with 1/2 cup boiling water, steep 5 minutes, strain + cool)

1 1/4 cups All-purpose flour

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt (I just use a dash & don’t measure)

1/4 cup honey

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup whole milk (room temp)

1 large egg (room temp)

1) Preheat oven to 375F, and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

2) Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl

3) With an electric mixer on low speed, mix together honey, melted butter, milk, and egg in a large bowl until smooth & fully blended.

4) Add flour mixture to wet ingredients, mixing with an electric mixer on medium speed just until fully combined & smooth. (Do not overmix.)

5) Add cooled tea concentrate and mix until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.

6) Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 17 minutes, or until reddish-golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before frosting.

CHOCOLATE CREME FRAICHE FROSTING

Ingredients:

2 large egg whites (room temp)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp, cut into 4 pieces

7.5 oz creme fraiche

3 oz milk chocolate chips, melted + 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (combined & slightly cooled)

1) In a heatproof bowl (or the top part of a double boiler) combine egg whites and both sugars. Set over a pan (or bottom of double boiler) of simmering water. Whisk until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. (The mixture should have a slightly thick, syrupy consitency.)

2) Remove sugar mixture from heat and scrape into a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on high speed until mixture is white and glossy and holds stiff peaks, about 5 minutes.

3) Add butter, piece by piece, beating constantly on medium speed until combined.

4) Add creme fraiche, and continue to beat on medium speed until the mixture looks thick, smooth and slightly glossy, about 2 minutes. If the mixture separates & looks lumpy or wet (this happens to me every time), increase speed to high and continue to beat until the mixture has come together and is smooth, thick & slightly glossy (this can take a while, but don’t get discouraged – it will happen).

5) Finally, scrape in the slightly cooled chocolate and mix, on medium speed, until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary (about 1 minute).

Spread the frosting thickly onto the cooled cupcakes with a butter knife or a small spatula. If you like, top with a small piece of bittersweet chocolate.

TamsinCakes on Flickr + Adventures in Stabilized Whipped Cream

TamsinCakes — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:50:17 +0000

Want to see more cupcake photos? Now you can! TamsinCakes is now on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tamsincakes/

There is also now a Flickr “widget” on the right-hand column of the blog (beneath the Twitter feed); check there to see if I’ve added new photos, and then click through to see more!

Adventures in Stabilized Whipped Cream

Light & fluffy Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting!

It’s been an exciting week here at TamsinCakes, as I’ve been fiddling and tweaking to perfect my whipped cream frosting. I quickly learned that just using sweetened whipped cream was not going to cut it; after even 30 minutes, the whipped cream would start to deflate and sag. I want my cupcakes to look pretty for longer than that, so I decided I had to find a proper way of stabilizing the whipped cream so it would stay put and not deflate at room temperature.

After doing some research, I discovered (with the help of this recipe) that the key was adding just a touch of gelatine at the end when whipping the cream. This worked wonderfully. The whipped cream came out light and fluffy and without any difference in taste, and it held its shape remarkably well without looking at all stiff.

Happy with my results, I went on to use the stabilized whipped cream frosting (quite a mouthful to say! Let’s call it SWC frosting for short) on my next batch of Hot Cocoa cupcakes. In my eagerness, I just couldn’t wait to frost them, and didn’t cool the cupcakes as long as usual. I think you can guess what’s coming…

The cupcakes looked great. Beautiful, fluffy white whipped cream on top. And then I put them in their carrier to take them to some testers. And all SWC frosting hell broke loose!! The warmth from the cupcakes heated the cream, destroying the gelatine’s hard work and causing the frosting to ever… sooo… sloooowllllyyyyyy…… run down the sides of the cupcakes. I watched it happen, powerless to do anything, and cursing my earlier haste. They still tasted great, but the whipped cream never did set up again, remaining gloopy and messy. These were not fit for my lovely testers, so I kept them for the family (who wolfed them down).

This tragedy *sniff* reminded me that in baking, you simply must be patient no matter how excited you are!! (Not my strong suit, let me tell you.)

Sadly I didn’t get any photos of the SWC disaster (I was too ashamed).

I made a new batch of cupcakes and SWC frosting this morning, and waited long enough this time. The result was great!

Stays light and fluffy on the cupcake!

Stabilized Whipped Cream Recipe

Ingredients:
1 tsp Gelatine
1/4 cup Hot Water
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
3 Tbsp Confectioner’s Sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp Vanilla

Equipment:
Large mixing bowl (glass works well), Electric mixer, Small microwave-safe bowl

Steps:
1) Place mixing bowl & beaters from the electric mixer in the freezer for 15 minutes or so to chill. Chilling the bowl and beaters make the cream whip up faster and with more volume.

2) In the small bowl, combine the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until gelatine dissolves. If it’s not dissolving, pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds or so and then stir again. That should do the trick. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes.

3) Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla in the chilled mixing bowl. Whip with the electric mixer on low speed until cream starts to thicken, about a minute.

4) Gradually increase speed up to medium-high. Continue to whip cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly, beating continuously.

5) Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and holds soft peaks. Be careful not to over-beat it so the cream doesn’t become lumpy.

You’re done! The SWC should hold its shape and be easy to scoop with a spatula. It can be made a day ahead, and will get even more solid when refrigerated. The SWC can easily be piped onto cakes/cupcakes using a regular decorating bag.

Have fun!

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes!!

TamsinCakes — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:40:48 +0000

Decorated the English way... with a Flake!

An aerial view!

Yesterday I made my first batch of Hot Cocoa cupcakes! They came out exactly as I was hoping they would. I used more cocoa powder than flour, plenty of vanilla, and heavy cream instead of milk. This made them come out nice and moist, fluffy, with a silky texture and tasting a lot like a cup of cocoa! I topped them with a lightly sweetened whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and a piece of Cadbury’s Flake. They looked super cute, and tasted great. I’m not sure I’ll need to change the recipe on this one – tasters so far say I’ve got it right the first time! I’m super excited to share these with all my tasters.

Ginger Lemongrass Cupcakes V. 2.0!!

TamsinCakes — Sat, 23 May 2009 17:47:16 +0000

Like the little ginger slice on top?

Good morning, Cupcakes!

Naked cupcakes... avert your eyes!!

The second batch of Ginger Lemongrass cupcakes were a great improvement. Moist and lemongrassy, they were a hit with tasters. I baked them on a slightly higher temperature and for less time, ensuring they stayed nice and moist. I also added lemongrass paste to the batter as well as the lemongrass-infused milk. The frosting stayed the same, as I think it turned out just right the first time – nice ginger flavor, not too sweet. The cupcakes needed something to decorate them, so I stuck some cute little quartered candied ginger slices on top, which really gave them that extra “something” I was looking for! The little slice of ginger also added a nice taste/texture contrast to the frosting.

I’ll be making another batch tonight for a friend’s party! I think Ginger Lemongrass is pretty close to being released as an official flavor. I can’t wait to start working on the next Beta flavor… “Hot Chocolate”!!

First Batch of Cupcakes – Ginger Lemongrass!!!

TamsinCakes — Thu, 21 May 2009 05:24:58 +0000

Three little cupcakes...

Delicious cupcake just waiting to be eaten...

Please welcome the inaugural batch of Ginger Lemongrass cupcakes! These are lightly flavored lemongrass cupcakes with a ginger white chocolate buttercream. Beta Testers (12 of them) agreed that the frosting was spot on, while the cupcake could use a touch more lemongrass and needs to be lighter. Next batch will be baked and reviewed tomorrow!