i've finally gotten to writing this recipe up! yay!
its been quite busy lately, what with school and stuff. i now have a five day weekend due to two public holidays in a row and an additional friday off courtesy of my school. not much to update you on right now so i'll just jump straight into the cupcakes.
this recipe was actually inspired by the cupcake my mom bought me for my birthday. (yes. way, waaaaaaaaaaaayyy back.) the coconut vanilla cupcake from sift was apparently one of their best sellers, but when we tried it, my parents and i all agreed that it didn't live up to its hype- and my dad challenged me to make a better one. so, of course, i set off to do so, which resulted in this recipe.
this recipe is actually my first original, self-developed cake recipe. researching this took quite a bit of brain power; some of the articles i looked at were very scientific in their terminology and it all just looked like a bit too much chemistry for my anti-science and math brain. (i'm a language and visual arts person through and through.) however, i was determined to understand the science behind developing cake recipes and adjusting everything to my liking, so i grit my teeth and reread every article somewhere around 3-5 times. (yes, that's how slow i am.) funny thing is, it all surprised me. i'd actually learned a bit more from chemistry last year than i thought i had. :O hmm. guess it's not completely useless after all.
its been quite busy lately, what with school and stuff. i now have a five day weekend due to two public holidays in a row and an additional friday off courtesy of my school. not much to update you on right now so i'll just jump straight into the cupcakes.
this recipe was actually inspired by the cupcake my mom bought me for my birthday. (yes. way, waaaaaaaaaaaayyy back.) the coconut vanilla cupcake from sift was apparently one of their best sellers, but when we tried it, my parents and i all agreed that it didn't live up to its hype- and my dad challenged me to make a better one. so, of course, i set off to do so, which resulted in this recipe.
this recipe is actually my first original, self-developed cake recipe. researching this took quite a bit of brain power; some of the articles i looked at were very scientific in their terminology and it all just looked like a bit too much chemistry for my anti-science and math brain. (i'm a language and visual arts person through and through.) however, i was determined to understand the science behind developing cake recipes and adjusting everything to my liking, so i grit my teeth and reread every article somewhere around 3-5 times. (yes, that's how slow i am.) funny thing is, it all surprised me. i'd actually learned a bit more from chemistry last year than i thought i had. :O hmm. guess it's not completely useless after all.
(apologies for the quality of the photos; i still haven't finished my stock pile of posts i have yet to clear out. 1 down (after this one), 4 to go!)
the recipe for this cupcake truly is the simplest of cupcake recipes. it's essentially equal amounts of egg, butter, sugar, and self raising flour. cream the butter thoroughly (that's the important step) and add the sugar. when that's combined, add the eggs, which you should beat first, and beat until the mixture returns to a structured form again. the egg is an emulsifier for the butter and helps it to form (chemical) links, while the sugar gives it links and sweetens the cake, the egg holds it all together. (CHEMISTRY!) sift in your flour and the seeds you've scraped from a vanilla pod (gently split the pod all the way vertically with the tip of a knife and scrape out all the black bits) and fold in figure 8 motions and divide into tins/cupcake liners, and bake at 180C for twenty minutes. Voila! cupcakes; tres simple, non?
i used a wilton recipe for the topping, but substituted the water in the frosting with coconut milk. it does need about 2 tablespoons more coconut milk than water, but that wasn't a problem. i piped the frosting onto the cupcake and dipped it in desiccated coconut. i originally wanted lightly toasted coconut slices but apparently that's not a common supermarket product in hong kong.. ah well. you make do.
since this was originally done as the taking up of a challenge, of course the cakes had to be put to the test- by my parents. (and really, they're picky about their food when i make it.) mom gave it a 9.5/10, as she likes things a little less sweet. dad gave it a thumbs up and a toe-up. he was busy eating the cupcake and typing away on his laptop. but really these fluffy little classic cupcakes are great. and i'm quite picky as well.
give it a try!
recipe after the jump :)
the recipe for this cupcake truly is the simplest of cupcake recipes. it's essentially equal amounts of egg, butter, sugar, and self raising flour. cream the butter thoroughly (that's the important step) and add the sugar. when that's combined, add the eggs, which you should beat first, and beat until the mixture returns to a structured form again. the egg is an emulsifier for the butter and helps it to form (chemical) links, while the sugar gives it links and sweetens the cake, the egg holds it all together. (CHEMISTRY!) sift in your flour and the seeds you've scraped from a vanilla pod (gently split the pod all the way vertically with the tip of a knife and scrape out all the black bits) and fold in figure 8 motions and divide into tins/cupcake liners, and bake at 180C for twenty minutes. Voila! cupcakes; tres simple, non?
i used a wilton recipe for the topping, but substituted the water in the frosting with coconut milk. it does need about 2 tablespoons more coconut milk than water, but that wasn't a problem. i piped the frosting onto the cupcake and dipped it in desiccated coconut. i originally wanted lightly toasted coconut slices but apparently that's not a common supermarket product in hong kong.. ah well. you make do.
since this was originally done as the taking up of a challenge, of course the cakes had to be put to the test- by my parents. (and really, they're picky about their food when i make it.) mom gave it a 9.5/10, as she likes things a little less sweet. dad gave it a thumbs up and a toe-up. he was busy eating the cupcake and typing away on his laptop. but really these fluffy little classic cupcakes are great. and i'm quite picky as well.
give it a try!
recipe after the jump :)
IngredientsMakes 20 cupcakes Cupcakes 4 large eggs beaten 230g self raising flour 230g white sugar 230g unsalted butter, room temp. 1 vanilla pod Frosting 190g Crisco/ unsalted butter, room temp. 400g icing sugar, sifted 6 tbsp coconut milk, and more if necessary 10g meringue powder 1 vanilla pod 95g desiccated coconut | Ready to bake?Cupcakes
Frosting
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