Cupcakes are nothing but small cakes in cups. This is how chefs define dessert. Such baking is very common in Western countries. In our country, its popularity is not so great. And yet there are many fans of such a dessert.
Cupcake - what is it?
Cupcakes are mini cakes that are prepared and served in paper molds. They first appeared in America, and since then their popularity has not faded. Moreover, in Western countries they are treated with special trepidation, turning pastries into a real culinary masterpiece.
Cupcakes are made from biscuit or other dough with cream filling and using pastry decorations. Traditional pastries are made without layers, and only generously decorated with cream, mastic, glaze.
But with the growing popularity of mini cakes, many new recipes have appeared. In addition, chefs sometimes turn dessert into a real pastry masterpiece.
Cupcake baking is a ritual. In America, culinary specialists use only the best and freshest products to prepare their products. And there’s no need to talk about decorating desserts. Chocolate and marzipan figures, glaze, chocolate, cookies and much more are used. Cupcake tiered cakes are also an invention of modern confectioners. Such products look no worse than traditional cakes and are not inferior to them in taste. Let's talk about how to make a cupcake.
Dough and cooking
There are many cupcake dough recipes. In principle, it can be anything. You can make dough for muffins or for a biscuit. A lot of options. However, for the preparation of cupcakes you will need small aluminum molds. Now culinary experts are actively using silicone and paper. By the way, paper is the most convenient. In stores you can find very beautiful color options. Such molds themselves will already be a decoration of the confectionery. If you did not find paper, it is better to use silicone. Since baking in metal often burns. It is difficult for an inexperienced pastry chef to handle this.
Paper forms are not only more convenient and look more attractive, they also allow you to keep baking fresher longer. Moreover, such packaging is more hygienic. The forms are filled with dough for only 2/3, since during the preparation process it will increase in volume.
At first glance, it might seem that the recipes for the cupcake dough are not much different from the recipes for making cupcakes. But actually it is not. Muffins can be salty, fresh and, of course, sweet. As for cupcakes, this is an exceptionally sweet pastry. After all, cupcakes are miniature cakes, and that's it.
Types of Cupcakes
Mini cakes can be very different both in appearance and in internal content. Just do not count all types of cupcakes, here are just a few options:
- Chocolate Inside them can be any chocolate, caramel, as well as nuts, currants, raspberries and other additional components.
- Vanilla Cupcakes. Inside the cake may be whipped strawberries, nuts, bananas, mangoes, applesauce. The product is decorated with curd cream or whipped cream on top.
- Curd cupcakes.
- Walnut cakes inside contain nuts, and on the outside are decorated with cream or whipped cream.
- Pistachios are filled with the appropriate cream inside.
- Cupcakes with lemon zest (lemon cream is used).
- Fruit - raspberry, blueberry, strawberry cupcakes, tangerine, pineapple, cherry and others. These mini cakes contain inside and are decorated on the outside with fruit creams.
- Cupcakes using cream cheese.
- Truffle
- Tiramisu Cupcakes.
- Honey.
- Yogurt.
- Coffee Shops.
The list goes on and on, since variations on this subject simply cannot be counted. In our article, we will give only some cupcake recipes.
Classic recipe
Now confectioners are vying to offer a variety of cupcake recipes. But I want to start the conversation with the classic version. The dough for baking is prepared using a special technology.
Ingredients:
- butter (230 g),
- sugar (330 g)
- two eggs,
- flour (420 g),
- milk (235 ml),
- some salt.
Cooking basics
The classic cupcake recipe, as we have said, is based on the use of the butter whipping method. The essence of the process is that the butter, along with sugar, is whipped until a lush mass is obtained. Then salt and eggs are added to it. If you detail the procedure, the cooking process is as follows:
- Butter with sugar is thoroughly whipped.
- After salt and oil are added, the mass continues to whisk.
- Gradually introduced sifted flour, which must first be mixed with baking powder. Try to mix the dough thoroughly.
- Milk is introduced and the mass is again stirred.
As a result of such work, a homogeneous and tender dough should be obtained without any hint of lumps. If you have metal molds, then you need to put paper cups in them. Fill them with less than a third of the dough. Ideally, it should rise well. And the presence of hats, as in cupcakes, for cupcakes, is not at all welcomed. Therefore, it makes no sense to put more test. In the preheated oven, put the billet and bake for 30 minutes. After we allow the baking to cool, we ourselves begin to prepare the glaze or cream.
Cupcake Cream
You can decorate mini cakes with anything. However, it is worth recalling the basic recipe for cupcake cream. For decoration, we will certainly need a confectionery syringe. If you have already decided to cook a confectionery masterpiece, then by all means get it for yourself. Without this device, it is simply impossible to make beautiful roses.
The classic cupcake recipe is based on the use of butter cream.
Cream Products:
- cream or milk (85 ml),
- butter (230 g),
- vanilla,
- icing sugar (145 g).
In order for the cream to beat well and keep its shape perfectly, it is necessary to take oil with a high fat content. It is very important that there are no herbal supplements. We heat the milk a little - up to about 27-30 degrees.
Before cooking the cream, the oil must be removed from the refrigerator. It should warm up at room temperature. Forcing it to heat is undesirable.
After that we add powdered sugar into the butter and beat the mass for about 15 minutes, adding milk in small portions.
Syrup cream
The basic recipe for cupcake cream can be slightly modified if you want to bring something new to your taste or change color. You can use not synthetic, but natural dyes - vegetable or fruit juices. In this case, it is better to prepare the cream not in milk, but in sugar syrup, since the addition of juice in its pure form can lead to curtailing of the cream mass.
For a cream based on sugar syrup, you will need:
- butter (230 g),
- powder (160 g),
- water (110 ml).
Add the powder to boiling water and mix it in the most thorough way. We are waiting for the boiling of the syrup again. And then turn off the fire. Sugar mass should cool. In another bowl, beat the butter, gradually introduce the cooled syrup in small portions.
The finished cream has a greasy and dense texture. If you want to get colored mass, you can add the juice of beets, spinach or other berries, fruits or vegetables.
Chocolate ganache
Chocolate cupcakes are one of the most popular types of mini cakes. There are different recipes for their preparation. However, we want to offer a classic recipe for chocolate ganache. This is not an ordinary cream: since it is liquid, baking decorations are not made from it. It is used to water baking.
Ingredients:
- dark chocolate (a quality product is required in which the cocoa content is at least 62%, 180 g);
- Art. l Sahara;
- fat cream (190 ml).
All the ingredients - sugar, cream and chocolate - are placed in a container, which is sent to a water bath. We heat the products until completely dissolved. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the mass does not boil. Pour the cupcakes on top with plenty of ganache, and then send them to the refrigerator for several hours. The cream should freeze.
Chocolate Mini Cakes
We offer a recipe for a real chocolate cupcake. Such cakes will amaze real sweet tooth. The dough for baking is tender and chocolate. Red wine piquant to the biscuit.
Ingredients:
- brown sugar (190 g),
- butter (75 g),
- egg,
- sugar (70 g)
- yolk,
- a glass of flour,
- tsp vanilla essence
- red wine (170 ml),
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- some soda
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- cinnamon.
Before cooking, all ingredients must have room temperature. In a container, mix two varieties of sugar, add oil, and then beat for several minutes with a mixer. Next, we introduce the yolk and the egg, beat again until the components mix well.
In a separate bowl, mix the products - cocoa, flour, salt, baking powder. All together the ingredients are sifted through a sieve directly into our dough. Stir the mass with a spatula. We add wine and essence here. We fill the molds with the finished mass by about 2/3. Bake cupcakes for no more than 15 minutes. Readiness of baking, as usual, check with a wooden toothpick. If it remains dry, then the cupcakes are ready. It is necessary to allow the finished baking to stand for several minutes in molds and only then transfer to the wire rack. Such cupcakes are tasty and without cream decoration. Nevertheless, they can be supplemented with mascarpone cream, chocolate ganache or cream cheese cream.
Banana dessert
Banana cupcakes are a delicious dessert. By the way, any pastry with bananas always turns out to be tasty and fragrant.
Ingredients:
- sugar (140 g),
- tsp baking powder
- some salt
- flour (125 g),
- egg,
- soda (1/2 tsp),
- milk (120 ml),
- bananas (110 g),
- vanilla essence
- butter (60 g).
We take two containers. In one mix soda, salt, flour and baking powder, and in the second, knead the banana pulp with a fork, add milk, ghee, egg, vanilla. Beat the resulting mass with a mixer.
Next, add to it a dry mixture from the first container. Knead the dough until smooth. Next, take the molds and fill them with a mass of a third. Bake cupcakes in the oven for 20-25 minutes. We check readiness with a toothpick.
You can make banana cupcakes with chocolate cream. This combination is also very successful.
Curd Products
Cheese cupcakes are prepared using cottage cheese for the dough. Mini cakes can also be decorated with cheese cream.
Ingredients:
- Art. Sahara,
- as much flour
- cottage cheese (210 g),
- three eggs,
- butter (140 g),
- baking powder package.
For cream:
- powdered sugar (at your discretion),
- cream cheese (230 g),
- cocoa for color.
Before starting to cook, cottage cheese should be wiped through a sieve. In a bowl, beat the powder with the eggs, then add the cottage cheese, ghee and baking powder with flour. Stir the dough until smooth with a spatula, and then lay it out in molds. Bake cupcakes for 15-20 minutes.
After complete cooling, decorate them with butter cream. For its preparation, beat cream cheese with powdered sugar. To get a chocolate shade, add a little cocoa to the cream. Cream cheese for cupcakes should be of good quality.
Cream meringue
Making cupcakes is a real art in which confectioners compete. Very often, meringue is used to make cream for mini-cakes. Not very sweet and dense cream is prepared on the basis of egg whites, sugar, butter and vanilla extract. It is the most versatile option, since you can add nuts, zest, chocolate and other components to it.
Ingredients:
- three squirrels,
- Art. Sahara,
- 1/4 Art. water,
- a pinch of citric acid
- oil (175 g)
- vanilla essence.
Pour the egg whites into a deep bowl. In a small saucepan, mix sugar with water and cook over low heat, stirring until crystals are completely dissolved. Next, leave the syrup to cool. Beat the whites, and then add the syrup. The mass is ready when stable peaks form. Then gradually introduce softened oil. The mixture may settle, but then in the process of whipping it rises again. Be sure to add vanilla essence and dye to the cream. We transfer the finished mass to a pastry bag and decorate cakes.
Tiramisu
For filling cupcakes, you can use tiramisu cream.
Ingredients:
- mascarpone (270 g),
- fat cream (170 ml),
- sugar (40 g).
To prepare the cream, it is better to use powdered sugar. Mix it with cream cheese and beat with a mixer. Without interrupting the process, we introduce the cream. Add them in a spoon. Ready cream sent to the pastry bag. To make dessert even more like tiramisu, cupcakes should be soaked with coffee liquor.
Cherry filling
The peculiarity of cupcakes is that they are not only decorated on top, but also use a creamy mass for the filling. Fillers must certainly have a creamy texture, so they can be placed in a cupcake using a pastry bag.
The filling is made with the addition of fruits, berries and other products. It is necessary to fill the cupcakes with cream while they are still warm. It is at this moment that they are still malleable. If you used the filling for a mini-cake, then on top of the product you need to decorate with cream or mastic to mask the hole. By the way, the creams themselves can also be fillings. However, as a rule, confectioners use completely different masses as the last and for decoration. This makes small cakes even more delicious.
We offer a caramel-banana filling recipe .
Ingredients:
- water (45 ml)
- cherry (frozen or fresh, 230 g),
- starch,
- sugar (65 g).
For cooking, you can take both fresh and frozen berries. We sort through them, removing the bones. Pour sugar on top and leave for a while, so that the berries let juice. If you want a uniform filling, then you can chop the cherries with a blender. We breed a little starch with water. We send the saucepan with cherry puree to the stove and bring to a boil over low heat.
Then pour the starch, mix thoroughly and boil until the mass thickens. Cooled to a warm state, the filling is placed in a pastry bag and used as intended.
But if you want to use the filling with whole berries, then you need to lay it with a spoon before baking.
Caramel Filling
No less delicious is the caramel filling with the addition of banana. Such a combination may not seem quite ordinary. But cupcakes with such a cream are delicious.
Ingredients:
- banana (230 g),
- brown sugar (170 g),
- cream (140 g).
Remove the banana skin, and knead the pulp with a fork. We send it to the dishes and turn it with a blender in mashed potatoes.
In a dry and clean frying pan, heat the sugar for about five minutes. Then add the cream and, stirring, warm up for another five minutes. Add the caramelized mass to the banana puree. Beat the filling with a mixer. Cream with caramel and banana is ready for use.
Apple filling
This filling is quite popular. By the way, completely different fruits and berries can be used for its preparation.
Ingredients:
- sugar (120 g)
- apples (350 g),
- butter (60 g).
Wash apples, dry and peel. Next, remove the seeds, and cut the flesh into small cubes. In a frying pan we heat butter, after we put apples in it and add sugar. Fry the pulp until it becomes caramel color. The filling is heterogeneous. It can be used in this form. And you can turn it into a puree with a blender. Here it’s a matter of taste, which filling do you prefer.
Condensed Milk Filling
Condensed milk is actively used by confectioners. It found its application in the preparation of cupcakes. For cream, you can use both boiled condensed milk, and simple, however, you will have to follow different recipes.
Ingredients:
- boiled condensed milk (270 g),
- oil (120 g).
Beat condensed milk with a mixer. The oil should be at room temperature. Gradually add it to the condensed milk. As a result, we should get a creamy mass of caramel color. Knowing how to make a simple cupcake, you can prepare a treat yourself.
Wedding Cupcakes
As you know, a mandatory attribute of a wedding is a cake. However, modern pastry creations are sometimes more like masterpieces. Cupcake fashion got to weddings. Modern culinary specialists make them real masterpieces for such holidays.
Of course, cupcakes have a number of advantages at special occasions. Firstly, they are incredibly beautiful, and secondly, practical. Each guest will receive their portion portion from the general composition. And the bride does not need to cut a big cake. For cupcakes you don’t even need to serve clean dishes.
Famous masters prepare stunning wedding compositions that are not inferior in beauty to ordinary cakes. The most amazing and luxurious compositions can be obtained when using mastic to decorate.
Cupcakes are also in great demand at more modest events. Today, no celebration or corporate event is complete without such a treat. True, in these cases it is recommended to serve cupcakes with cream.
Cupcake Decoration
Conducting a conversation about beautiful mini-cakes, it’s worth a few words to say about the possibilities of decoration. Cream roses are not the only option to decorate a cupcake. The growing popularity of dessert has led to the fact that confectioners began to come up with not only new recipes, but also decor options.
We mentioned that mastic is used to decorate mini-cakes. However, this applies not only to weddings. The fact is that from such a "confectionery clay" you can build any composition - flowers, figures, animals and much more. Mastic is actively used to create desserts for children. After all, with its help, you can stylize cupcakes for any holiday. Children will appreciate it. After all, what could be better and tastier than a bright treat!