Everyone seems to LOVE cupcakes don't they? I'd much rather have a cupcake than a slice of cake simply because its just more convenient to pop one in your mouth that holding a frosted slice of cake in your hands which just turns into a big mess.
Cupcakes are dainty and pretty to look at after some piping work, and they don't require much working on either. They're also extremely versatile with regards to flavours/ colours/ whatnot and that makes a plain vanilla cupcake a piece of blank canvas. With the ability to tint and flavour frostings as well, the possibilities are mind-numbingly endless.
Having only recently discovered the wonders of Meringue Buttercreams, I was eager to get started with adding cupcakes to my menu! And with the King of Fruits - the Durian - in season, I decided that the best way to kick off the journey was to make some Durian cupcakes.
I wasn't too keen on baking the durian in the cake itself as I'm really not a fan of durian that has been baked/cooked. Somehow the heat changes the aroma and it becomes too pungent and just well, weird.
So I decided to mix the durian with some freshly whipped cream, just enough to loosen up the thick durian paste but not enough to mute the flavour, and pipe the mixture down the middle of each cupcake to give it sort of a "core of heaven". Sort of anyway.
That was done easily enough with an apple corer that was lying in the drawer having been forgotten about for a long long long time! Once the cupcakes were cored and filled, they were topped off with a luscious swirl of Swiss Meringue Buttercream that had been flavoured with just a hint of durian as I hate artificial durian flavours.
Anyway, having taken the first step in the cupcake journey, I was eager to carry on and make more. Lots more in fact!
I had the chance to make some chocolate ones when my mum said that she wanted to give dinner to my Malay neighbours during their fasting period some time back. After trawling through the Net for some ideas and rummaging through the cupboards in the kitchen, I decided to go with a Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcake and a Mocha one since hazelnuts and coffee seem to be chocolate's BFFs.
Having made a fresh batch of chocolate cupcakes, I decided to core the ones that were to be the Hazelnut ones and leave the Mocha ones alone. The hollowed out cupcakes were then filled with the heady concoction of Nutella, chocolate ganache and gently whipped cream and then topped with Swiss Meringue Buttercream flavoured with more gooey Nutella.
I found that the Buttercream couldn't hold much Nutella and tended to become a lot softer after adding it in. I wanted to pipe the cream on so I couldn't afford for the buttercream to soften beyond a pipable consistency. Had to add as much Nutella as the cream could hold and thought the flavour and richness would take a hit but in the end, they turned out fine!
For the Mocha ones, I dissolved a tablespoon of instant coffee granules in 2 tablespoons of hot water and set it aside to cool before adding it to some plain Swiss Meringue Buttercream and gave it a couple of swirl arounds with the paddle in the mixer. The concentrated coffee meant that I didn't need to add much to get the flavour I was looking for and also gave the Buttercream a lovely shade of brown - not to mention a great aroma too!
Can't wait to take the next step!
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