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WHITE CHOCOLATE WASABI

A lot of my cupcakes seem to be somewhat controversial, but this one really made people ask a lot of questions. My answer is, “yes, it works.” White chocolate and wasabi go incredibly well together. You just have to get over the initial “I don’t get it.”

Cupcakes

1 recipe Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

(page 16)

1 cup white chocolate pieces

Wasabi White Chocolate

2 cups chopped white chocolate

¼ cup wasabi powder (not wasabi paste—it

will make the chocolate seize up)

Frosting

1 recipe Vanilla American Buttercream

(page 27)

1 cup Wasabi White Chocolate (see below)

HOW TO MAKE IT

Cupcakes Prepare the Vanilla Bean Cupcake batter according to the recipe directions. Stir in the white chocolate pieces. Bake the cupcakes according to the recipe directions.

Wasabi White Chocolate Over a double boiler, melt the white chocolate pieces. Once the white chocolate is melted, mix in the wasabi powder. Allow the chocolate to cool.

Frosting Prepare the Vanilla American Buttercream according to the recipe directions. Stir the cooled wasabi white chocolate into the buttercream with a rubber spatula.

Put It All Together Dip the cupcakes into the remaining wasabi white chocolate and allow the chocolate to cool. Frost the cupcakes with the wasabi buttercream. Usually I top these with a white chocolate shaving, which you can make easily by shaving the side of a small block or bar of white chocolate with a vegetable peeler.

TANDOORI

Originally, this cupcake was made to mimic flavors we saw on a television cooking competition. Every week, we had a goal to use the top flavor components of that episode’s winning dish and create a cupcake from them, no matter what. The Tandoori became the most popular one and was recently requested for a wedding cake!

Cupcakes

1 recipe Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

1 mango, peeled and diced small

¼ cup diced fresh pineapple

4 tablespoons yellow curry

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon cayenne

1 teaspoon asafoetida (available in Indian

markets)

¼ teaspoon ground mustard

Cardamom Raisins

6 cardamom pods

1 cup golden raisins

2 cups water

Frosting

1 recipe Vanilla American Buttercream

(page 27)

2 tablespoons yellow curry

1 cup plain Greek yogurt (if you don’t use

Greek, strain the yogurt to thicken it)

¼ teaspoon cayenne

HOW TO MAKE IT

Cardamom Raisins 1 In a saucepan, cover the cardamom pods and golden raisins with the water. Bring the water to a boil and then turn off the heat. 2 Set aside for at least one hour so the raisins can capture the essence of the cardamom. 3 Strain the raisins and toss out the cardamom pods.

Cupcakes 1 Prepare the Vanilla Bean Cupcake batter according to the recipe directions. 2 Fold the cardamom raisins into the batter along with the mango, pineapple, curry, ginger, cayenne, asafoetida, and ground mustard. 3 Bake the cupcakes according to the recipe directions.

Frosting 1 Prepare the Vanilla American Buttercream according to the recipe directions. 2 Fold the curry, yogurt, and cayenne to the buttercream with a rubber spatula.

Put It All Together 1 Frost the cooled cupcakes with the curried buttercream. 2 Usually I top these with some whole mustard seeds, but you can use a little cayenne or a candied ginger slice as well, or a cardamom pod for decoration.

HIBISCUS

My love for hibiscus flavor came from making hibiscus marshmallows at a candy business I owned a long time ago. I progressed from marshmallows to making hibiscus pancakes, and once we opened our bakery, the hibiscus cupcake came to life. Hibiscus has a floral cherry flavor, and once you get past the fact that it’s a flower, it’s really awesome and sort of playful.

Cupcakes

1 recipe Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

hibiscus extract (see note)

2 to 3 drops pink food coloring (or a small

amount of red food coloring)

Frosting

1 recipe Vanilla American Buttercream

(page 27)

hibiscus extract (see note)

Put It All Together

1 recipe Lemon Curd (page 39)

12 strawberries