It's tradition for me to make yummy cupcakes for my friends' yearly Grand Final BBQ. This year, I attempted to make the most complicated cupcakes yet. From VCTOTW, Orange Pudding Cupcakes with Orange Creamsicle Icing. My version of the cupcakes consisted of three elements - the cake, the pudding filling and the icing.
I made the cakes and the pudding the night before and made the icing in the morning. I iced the cupcakes after I got to the BBQ as I didn't want to risk them looking like crap by the time I walked the two blocks to my friends' house. (The forecast was for rain and hail!)
The cupcakes didn't end up being as difficult to make as I had feared. The only major obstacle I had was finding a suitable replacement for Crisco vegetable shortening. After searching for coconut oil, I finally found some at an Indian grocery. I made the icing with the coconut oil replacing the shortening, and it was absolutely foul. I'm not sure if the bottle I bought was off or if coconut oil always tastes that way, but I had to ditch it and start all over. In the new batch, I simply doubled the amount of Nuttelex and it worked fine!
I also found that with cupcakes where there some sort of filling, it is cleaner and easier to use some sort of test-tube-shaped object to poke the hole, rather than a finger. The holes I poked with my finger were more messy-looking and a lot of the cake ended up coming out of the hole.
My piping back skills have slightly improved from last time, but still have a long way to go. Oh, and I sprinkled some Tahitian Vanilla salt from the amazing Gewurzhaus on the top of each cupcake for a bit of something extra. Behold:
Those cupcakes look lovely!I am working on my piping skills as well. I bought some bags and tips this summer but just used them for the first time yesterday. Happy Mofo to you!
ReplyDeletethese look delicious!
ReplyDeleteI looked into using the coconut oil at my local Indian grocery stores in baking as it seemed really reasonably priced but when I googled the brand it said it wasn't suitable for cooking so that may be an explanation. The coconut oil from health food stores in the UK is really expensive so I tend to use the glaze from the rose and pistacio cupcakes in VCTOTW a lot as it makes a quick 'buttercream' icing.
ReplyDeleteHmm...yeah, that would make sense. That stuff was nasty. Although, the guy working there led me to it when I told him I was looking for coconut oil to cook with (as opposed to the tanning variety!). I will probably steer clear of any kind of coconut oil for awhile and will try your suggestion!
ReplyDelete