Who You Callin' Cupcake - Michelle Garcia [10]
Cupcakes
1 recipe Chocolate Sponge Cupcakes
Ganache
1 recipe Ganache
½ cup whiskey
Frosting
1 recipe Chocolate American Buttercream
(page 27)
1 cup Irish cream
Put It All Together
1 recipe Simple Syrup
1 cup whiskey
HOW TO MAKE IT
Ganache Start the day before—Prepare the ganache according to the recipe directions, but only use ½ cup cream. Add the heated cream to the chocolate, then stir in the whiskey. Let the ganache set up overnight according to the recipe directions.
Cupcakes Prepare and bake the Chocolate Sponge Cupcakes according to the recipe directions.
Frosting Prepare the Chocolate American Buttercream according to the recipe directions, and when it’s almost whipped together, slowly add the Irish cream and whip it until it’s combined.
Put It All Together Add the whiskey to the simple syrup. Heavily soak the cooled cupcakes with the syrup. With your index finger, poke a hole in each cupcake and fill them with the whiskey ganache. Chill the cupcakes for about 5 minutes in the fridge and then dip their tops into the remaining whiskey ganache. Using a piping bag with a star tip, swirl on the Irish cream buttercream. I top these cupcakes with a little atom bomb made out of fondant, but they could also get a drizzle of ganache or even melted chocolate.
STRAWBERRY DAIQUIRI
I designed this cupcake for a Hawaiian-themed party, and even though I’m not a coconut fan, it turned out better than I ever expected. I also though the finished look was really cute, which is part of the reason they became a shop staple the whole summer.
Cupcakes
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup coconut cream
6 egg whites (no little yolk bits), at room
temperature
2 tablespoons triple sec
1 cup rum
½ cup lime juice
1 recipe Simple Syrup (page 44)
Put It All Together
2 cups strawberry jam or compote
Frosting
1 recipe Vanilla American Buttercream
(page 27)
¼ cup coconut milk (canned is fine, but fresh
is best)
12 White Chocolate Cigarettes
HOW TO MAKE IT
Cupcakes Preheat the oven to 350°F and line the cupcake pan with cupcake liners. In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 10 to 15 minutes, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together. In a separate medium bowl, mix the coconut milk and coconut cream together. Slowly alternate adding the dry ingredients with the coconut liquids to the standing mixer. Stop a few times to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Once all the ingredients have been placed in the bowl, turn the mixer on high for just a few seconds to wake up the batter a little, but not so much as to overmix it. Set the batter aside in the large mixing bowl and wash the bowl from the standing mixer well (fat breaks down egg whites—they really hate each other— so if any butter fat is left in the bowl, the next step won’t work). In the standing mixer with the whip attachment, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes. Egg whites really like to whip when they are at least at room temperature, if not warmer, and the colder they are the longer they will take to whip. If you’re in a hurry, you can always warm them in a bowl over simmering water while keeping them moving with a spatula. If you choose this method, you have to stand there and actually pay attention to them or you will end up with a bowl of cooked egg whites. Soft peaks should form fast under the right conditions. If you are scared, whipping them too little is fine, but overwhipped egg whites won’t work well. So when in doubt, slightly underwhip. You’ll get better at it, I promise. Once you have the egg whites whipped and the batter made, slowly fold the whites into the batter, a little bit at the time, with a rubber spatula. Don’t go crazy with this. If you deflate the egg whites, they won’t help give the cupcakes structure and they will sink in the middle. Scoop the batter into the cupcake pan with the ice