Baking Mondays - N is for Nougat Cupcakes

Honey, orange and almond syrup cake topped with nougat cream and chunks of almond nougat.

We had a very clear winner this week, nougat absolutely smashed the nuts (no pun intended) and the neapolitan in the polls, and why wouldn't it? Nougat is delicious - sometimes chewy, sometimes crunchy, full of nuts and always good. But how do you incorporate nougat into a cupcake? Well first of all I thought of the nougat flavours that I particularly like - and I came up with almonds and honey. So of course it was only natural to make a lovely almond and honey syrup cake. Then what do you top said syrup cake with? I decided not to go down the SMBC (swiss meringue buttercream) route this week and instead went for a whipped cream topping instead, with just a taste of almond, orange and honey.

So shall we get started....

Honey and Orange Almond Cupcakes (taken from Chef 2 Chef, I halved the recipe)
Makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup sugar (I used caster sugar)
1 cup almond, ground (110g almond meal)
1 cup plain flour, sifted
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground all spice (I used mixed spice)
4 large eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tsp orange zest
1/3 cup orange juice
1/2 cup honey
1/6 cup icing sugar
1/8 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and line a 12-hole muffin tray with cupcake papers.
   
2. Combine the almond meal, flour, cinnamon and mixed spice in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl mix eggs with sugar until very thick, approximately 10 minutes.
4. Beat in the melted butter and orange zest and then fold in the almond mixture.
5. Divide the batter among the cupcake papers and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. To make the syrup combine the orange juice, icing sugar, honey and water in a saucepan and heat until sugar dissolves and the mixture is hot.
7. Once cupcakes are baked spoon over the syrup.
   

Nougat Cream

300ml thickened cream
3 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp orange essence
1/4 tsp almond essence

Beat all ingredients until you reach a piping consistency - don't overbeat the cream!!

Assembling the cupcakes

1. Pipe the nougat cream onto each cupcake.
2. Top each cupcake with some almond nougat. Go crazy - you know you want to!

The ratings?

Me - 9/10, this is cake is lovely - nice and light and I love the spices in the mix - tasty stuff! The cream is good for something different, but I don't think I would use the almond essence again.
Mat - 8/10, cake was dense but still awesome!

Baking Mondays - J is for Jube Cupcakes

Strawberry, lemon and orange cupcakes topped with strawberry, lemon and orange swiss meringue buttercream, then sprinkled with coloured sugar crystals and topped with a jube.

This week Jubes won the poll and at first I was having some trouble deciding what to bake. I decided upon three Jube flavours - strawberry, orange and lemon. I wanted the top of the cupcakes to look like a jube so I went a little big crazy with the coloured sugar crystals - they would of looked better if I didn't rush spreading on the swiss meringue buttercream. Oh well they still tasted good and that is the main thing. Okay time for the recipes...

Jube Cupcakes
Makes 36 cupcakes

270g unsalted butter, softened
270g cream cheese, softened
450g caster sugar
6 eggs
150g self-raising flour, sifted
225g plain flour, sifted
1 lemon
lemon essence
yellow food colouring
1 orange
orange essence
orange food colouring
strawberry essence
pink food colouring

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and line 3 12-hole muffin trays with cupcake liners.
2. Beat butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl between each addition.
4. Beat in flours on low speed.
5. Divide the batter into 3 equal portions.
6. To make the lemon cupcakes add the zest and juice of one lemon, a few drops of lemon essence and a little yellow food colouring to one of the bowls of batter and gently mix.
   
7. To make the orange cupcakes add the zest and juice of one orange, a few drops of orange essence and a little orange food colouring to one of the bowls of batter and gently mix.
8. To make the strawberry cupcakes add a few drops of strawberry essence and a little pink food colouring to one of the bowls of batter and gently mix.
9. Divide all three batters into cupcake liners and bake for 20 minutes.

Jube Swiss Meringue Buttercream

400g caster sugar
6 egg whites
375g unsalted butter
juice of one lemon
yellow food colouring
juice of one orange
orange food colouring
strawberry topping
pink food colouring

1. Combine the egg whites and sugar into a heatproof bowl and whisk over a saucepan of simmering water until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is as hot as you can get it without the egg whites cooking.
2. With the whisk attachment on your mixer whisk the egg white and sugar mixture on high speed until a stiff meringue is formed and the mix has cooled down to room temperature.
3. Now put the paddle attachment on your mixer and with the mixer on a low speed add a tablespoon or two of butter at a time. Once all the butter is incorporated turn the mixer up to medium speed and mix until the mixture is light and fluffy again.
4. Divide the buttercream between three bowls.
5. To make the lemon buttercream add the lemon juice and a little yellow food colouring and beat until incorporated.
6. To make the orange buttercream add the orange juice and a little orange food colouring and beat until incorporated.
7. To make the strawberry buttercream add strawberry topping to taste and a little pink food colouring.

Assembling the cupcakes

1. Pipe the orange buttercream on the orange cupcakes, lemon on lemon, strawberry on strawberry.
2. Sprinkle cupcakes with orange, yellow and pink sugar crystals.
3. Top with orange, lemon and strawberry jubes.

The ratings?

Me - 7/10 - these tasted good, had a good texture - but didn't have the major wow factor. Still good cupcakes though :)
Mat - 6/10 - more akin to a traditional cupcake, the bolder cupcake experiments tend to be much better.

Wednesday Etsy Picks - Orange and Blue

1. Pencil Case by alliebeans
2. Walrus Gocco Print by Happy Owl Glassworks
3. Linen Jumper Dress by all the numbers
4. Fabric Storage Bucket by How About Orange
5. Dab of Inspiration by Ola Design
6. Wool Felt Mix Tape Pouch by Brave Moonman
7. Orange Sherbet Journal by Art Kitten
8. Handmade Knitting Needles by Lush Yarn
9. Poppy Note Cards by Inkling Paper
10. Blue Swallowtail Dress by larimeloom
11. Carrot Cake Felt Food by BeckyM
12. Afrenzy Bobbies by in a frenzy

Baking Mondays - Orange Cupcakes

This week I decided to make some orange flavoured cupcakes to use up the few oranges that I have lying around. I used this recipe from CupcakeRecipes.com.

For once I actually followed the recipe exactly, so there are no notes to go with these cupcakes.

The verdict?

Me - 6/10, unfortunately the oranges that I did have were pretty tasteless and even a bit tart so the frosting was bitter. The cake itself isn't too bad, but it certainly isn't anything amazing either.
Mat - hasn't tried one yet, so I will update with his verdict later.