It's too bad cupcakes got so fashionable/passe, because they are sometimes just the thing. I grew up with them being a (not fashionable) bake sale item- four kinds- gold or white with white frosting, or chocolate frosting, or chocolate with white frosting, or chocolate frosting. They were cake-mix cakes, and nothing to snub- perfect texture, and now something more beguiling still- nostalgia. I don't know anyone who grew up eating cake made from scratch and we were none the worse for it. This recipe is the closest I have come to cake mix /bake sale/ un-chic cake.
My friend Janet works at a tech start - up: Goodvidio, and four of her colleagues were celebrating graduations today. A playful, light-hearted dessert that still also says "school" fit the the occasion.
My friend Janet works at a tech start - up: Goodvidio, and four of her colleagues were celebrating graduations today. A playful, light-hearted dessert that still also says "school" fit the the occasion.
For the cake, we will need:
210 g /1 3/4 C flour
270 g / 1 1/3 C sugar (half brown sugar is nice!)
90 g / 1 C cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
180 ml / 3/4 C oil
360 ml / 1 1/2 C buttermilk or a mix of milk and yogurt
some vanilla (homemade here)
Sift the dry ingredients and add the oil, then eggs and milk. Beat very well, and fill cupcake wrappers 3/4 full. Bake a little over 20 minutes at 170 C/ 350 F, until a toothpick stuck in them comes out clean. This will make 15 or 16 generous cakes.
That expression "the icing on the cake" is nonsense, like it is of course something great but extra, not essential.
Especially with cupcakes, and especially my mother's icing- it had a twist- she didn't make the classic powdered sugar buttercream but instead an old-fashioned "seven minute" frosting, probably from the dark green 1920's cookbook inherited from my great grandmother. Basically it is a butterless billowing cooked meringue marshmallow cream. It is sticky and dense, not at all heavy, melt-proof in the heat, and - best of all - there is lots of it. Seven minute frosting uses a bain marie- you beat egg whites and sugar for seven minutes, and there it is! The advantage is that you do not need a candy thermometer. The disadvantage is that the sugar crystals don't have quite enough time to melt- it has a (pleasant!) crunch, but gets hard over time. This recipe- same ingredients- comes together differently. We will need a candy thermometer, but the sugar will have plenty of time to melt and the frosting will have great and more lasting body, and sheen.
We will need:
3 egg whites
120 ml/ 1/2 C water
300 g/ 1 1/2 C sugar
a pinch of cream of tartar if you have it (and a small
dash of vinegar if you don't)
a pinch of salt
3 Tablespoons golden syrup (or corn syrup, but golden syrup is delicious)
vanilla
Pour the sugar into the middle of a pan and pour the water around it (so the sugar doesn't touch the sides of the pan- it helps make a crystal-free syrup). Add the salt and the golden syrup. Put the candy thermometer into a tall glass of very hot tap water (to temper it so it doesn't get a shock, and so it takes a reading fast). Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until fluffy:
And boil the syrup hard until it reaches 117 C/ 242 F (just over the soft ball stage).
While the beater is running, pour the hot syrup in, not down the side of the bowl but not on the beaters either. Keep beating until cooler and stiff. Add salt, and vanilla. Use at once. This is way too much frosting for this number of cupcakes, which is just fine. A couple flakes of sparkling sea salt give beautiful balance and bite, but if you want a taste of 1973, leave them out.
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
180 ml / 3/4 C oil
360 ml / 1 1/2 C buttermilk or a mix of milk and yogurt
some vanilla (homemade here)
Sift the dry ingredients and add the oil, then eggs and milk. Beat very well, and fill cupcake wrappers 3/4 full. Bake a little over 20 minutes at 170 C/ 350 F, until a toothpick stuck in them comes out clean. This will make 15 or 16 generous cakes.
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| If you make your own vanilla extract, you will have fragrant liquor and beautiful black specks. |
The icing is the cake.
Especially with cupcakes, and especially my mother's icing- it had a twist- she didn't make the classic powdered sugar buttercream but instead an old-fashioned "seven minute" frosting, probably from the dark green 1920's cookbook inherited from my great grandmother. Basically it is a butterless billowing cooked meringue marshmallow cream. It is sticky and dense, not at all heavy, melt-proof in the heat, and - best of all - there is lots of it. Seven minute frosting uses a bain marie- you beat egg whites and sugar for seven minutes, and there it is! The advantage is that you do not need a candy thermometer. The disadvantage is that the sugar crystals don't have quite enough time to melt- it has a (pleasant!) crunch, but gets hard over time. This recipe- same ingredients- comes together differently. We will need a candy thermometer, but the sugar will have plenty of time to melt and the frosting will have great and more lasting body, and sheen.
We will need:
3 egg whites
120 ml/ 1/2 C water
300 g/ 1 1/2 C sugar
a pinch of cream of tartar if you have it (and a small
dash of vinegar if you don't)
a pinch of salt
3 Tablespoons golden syrup (or corn syrup, but golden syrup is delicious)
vanilla
Pour the sugar into the middle of a pan and pour the water around it (so the sugar doesn't touch the sides of the pan- it helps make a crystal-free syrup). Add the salt and the golden syrup. Put the candy thermometer into a tall glass of very hot tap water (to temper it so it doesn't get a shock, and so it takes a reading fast). Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until fluffy:
And boil the syrup hard until it reaches 117 C/ 242 F (just over the soft ball stage).
While the beater is running, pour the hot syrup in, not down the side of the bowl but not on the beaters either. Keep beating until cooler and stiff. Add salt, and vanilla. Use at once. This is way too much frosting for this number of cupcakes, which is just fine. A couple flakes of sparkling sea salt give beautiful balance and bite, but if you want a taste of 1973, leave them out.
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