Summer 2009 Cupcake Crawl

Summer 2009 Cupcake Crawl

Good morning everyone! Today’s post is entirely dedicated to a cupcake crawl, held by Kitchen Rap. I’ve been asked to take part at this competition and, since I love cupcakes, I accept the challenge and here I am.

::::: MATCHA AND WHITE CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES :::::

Ingredients for 12 cupcakes:

• plain flour, 200gr
• milk, 125ml
• white chocolate, 100gr
• butter, 100gr
• caster sugar, 100gr
• eggs, 2
• baking powder, 1 teaspoon
• matcha tea powder, 2 teaspoons

Ingredients for the topping:

• white chocolate, 200gr
• cream, 100ml + 200ml
• butter, 70gr
• hazelnuts, 10
• caster sugar, 2 tablespoons

For the cupcakes

Preheat the oven at 160°C.

Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat them with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add eggs and beat well. Sift over flour and baking powder and beat until combined.

Melt 50gr of white chocolate with milk in a bain-marie and fold in into the mixture together with 2 teaspoons of matcha tea powder and the leftover white chocolate, reduced into small chuncks.

Spoon the mixture into 12 x 1/2 cup capacity muffin tins lined with paper patty cases. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool on a wire racks.

For the topping

Place white chocolate, cream (only 100ml) and butter in a bowl and cook in a bain-marie: stir until melted and smooth. Remove and set aside to cool completely. Add 200ml of cream and beat with electric beaters until thick and fluffy.

Toast hazelnuts in a non-stick pan, set aside too cool and peel them with your fingers to remove the outer bitter skin. Reduce into small chuncks with a knife and place in a non-stick pan with 2 tablespoons of caster sugar and 1 tablespoon of water. Let the sugar melt and move the pan until all the hazelnuts are coated with melted sugar. Sprinkle the hazelnuts on a greased baking foil and set aside to cool.

Cupcakes, at last

Spread white chocolate fudge icing over cupcakes and top with coated hazelnuts.

This is the result: smooth velvety sweet white chocolate fudge icing, then crunchy hazelnuts to enjoy your teeth, then you lost yourself in a soft and intense matcha tea muffin, with white chocolate nuggets to surprise you.

Related posts:

Black tea wafers with mascarpone filling Christmas Tea Tiramisu. Six steps to a memorable dessert. DB Challenge & Bday wishes: Swiss swirl ice cream cake Dobos Torte, the 127-year-old Hungarian dessert