Fruit Pastry Cupcake

          I just love the look & taste of this cake. It looks pretty & the orange-flavour cake is just so irresistible. For sure this is not going to be the last time I'm baking it. I understand that it was very popular among bloggers at  one time, long before I was a blogger. Among those who've tried baking it include Baking Mum,  Happy Home Baking  & Small Small Baker.  

          Instead of baking a whole cake, I've used this recipe to bake my Fruit Pastry Cupcakes. It makes about 6 large cupcakes.
         

I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #13: Enjoy Cupcakes! (November 2011) hosted by Min's Blog.

Fruit Pastry Cupcake

Ingredients:
500g fruits (apricots, peaches, pears, cherries, plums, orange, pineapple, or any other fruit not too juicy) - I used canned peaches, fresh blueberries & strawberries.
2 tbsp sugar

100g butter, soften at room temperature
200g castor sugar
50g sour cream
3 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon or orange zest (I used orange.)
210g plain flour (sifted together with baking powder.)
1 tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Wash,  drain & cut (chunks or slices, as desired) fruits. Sprinkle with sugar, toss & set aside.
2. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
3. Cream butter, sugar and sour cream till light and fluffy.
4. Add in the eggs, one at a time, & beat till incorporated in the batter. (If the mixture appears curdled, add a spoon of the flour.)
5. Add vanilla extract and orange zest. Mix to combine.
6. Fold in flour & baking powder & mix till smooth.
7. Pour batter into cupcake liner & smooth out the top with a spatula.
8. Arrange fruits on top. Don’t press the fruits too hard into the batter. Decorate the fruits as desired.
9. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 deg C for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake.
10. Remove cupcake pans from oven. Leave cakes to cool in the pans for about 5-10 mins. Remove cakes from pans & transfer to wire rack & leave to cool completely. Dust cakes with some icing sugar if desired.

Well done & Happy birthday!

           How time flies. It's already the second week of the school holidays. Have I done what I've planned to do? A bit, but I can do better! Last week was an eventful week, though. The Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) results were released! All my pupils cleared their papers...phew! My son, Amir, did well too!
        It's been a few years since I witnessed the release of the PSLE results. That afternoon, my son's principal started out by  addressing the sea of anxious parents, tense children & stony-faced teachers in the school hall. He started out with reporting the performance of the school. Not bad at all......everything is above the national level! Then the announcement of the highest score for the school, which was flashed on the screen. Waah........And then, when the name of the holder of that most-envied number was flashed up, she jumped & jumped & jumped for joy! I'm referring to the girl's mother. She ran to her daughter & hugged the cool-looking but clearly elated girl. And then the eyes turned teary. Those were mine. Haay.........when will I stop being so emotional....? It's not even my child! I guess I'm just so happy for the girl & her mother even if she's not mine. It's all right...I still have one more chance. Perhaps in three years time, I'll be able to shed my tears of joy because my son is the top student in the school. Insyaallah....
           Then the principal started reading out from the screen the names of other high scorers. Amir's not one of them. Hmm..... By then, there was some excitement as the standing parents tiptoed while those sitting down, parents & pupils, raised their heads to check the names on the list. At that point, I wished the boss could just wrap up quickly as I was becoming more anxious. I was sure the rest of us was too...
         When Amir received his result slip from his teacher & took a peek at it,  I could see a wide-eyed excitement on his face. And finally, it was my turn to take a look. Phew..... quite a decent number... What a relief! And that's the end of the first chapter. The next chapter will be the secondary school posting results. That will be in 3 week's time....Hopefully, Amir will get his first choice. Otherwise, the second choice is a pretty decent school too.
          On a lighter note, I baked the Japanese Strawberry Shortcake on Saturday as it was Amirah's 20th birthday. Happy birthday Mira!   

 

           Recently, I saw this cake on Rima's blog. It looked so delicious that I just have to try it. What better time to bake this..... It's very delicious! The sponge cake is moist & soft & the frosting tastes like vanilla ice-cream. Yummy......

Japanese Strawberry Shortcake 

Inspired by Rima.

Cotton cake recipe by Ricke Indriani.

Stabilised whipping cream recipe by Fujimama.

Cotton Cake

145g low protein flour (cake flour)

15g corn flour

1 egg

5 egg yolks - whisk lightly with folk

150g unsalted butter

65g fresh milk

1/2 tsp vanilla paste (I added.)

5 egg white

100g castor sugar

1/4 tsp salt (I used 1/2 tsp.)

Method:

1. Preheat oven 160 deg C. Grease & line a 7 or 8 " baking pan. Wrap bottom of baking pan with aluminium.
2. Heat butter & milk till warm. Do not let it boil. Switch off heat & add in sifted flour & cornflour, mix using wooden spatula.
3. Transfer to a bigger bowl & add in eggs. Continue to mix till smooth.
4. In another bowl, whisk egg white till frothy. Add in salt & sugar in 3 additions. Whisk till soft peak.
5. Pour 1/3 egg white mixture into egg/buttter mixture. Fold in gently. Pour in the rest & continue to mix gently ( Same manner as when baking chiffon cake.).
6. Pour batter into baking pan & bake it using au bain marie method for about 45 minutes.

Stabilised whipped cream
2 tsp gelatin powder
8 tsp cold water
2 cup whipping cream, cold
1/2 cup icing sugar
1tsp vanilla

Method:

1. Chill mixing bowl & beaters in the freezer for 10 minutes.
2. Put cold water in a small saucepan. Sprinkle gelatin over surface of water & let stand for 5 minutes. 
3. Place saucepan over low heat & stir constantly with a wooden spoon just until gelatin dissolves. Remove saucepan from heat & cool to room temperature.
4. Remove mixing bowl & beaters from freezer.  Combine whipping cream, sugar & vanilla in  the cold mixing bowl & whip until slightly thickened. Gradually pour gelatin into whipped cream mixture, beating slowly. Then whip mixture at high speed untill slightly stiff.

Simple sugar syrup
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

Method:

1. In a medium saucepan combine sugar & water. Bring water to a boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved.
2. Remove from heat & allow to cool.

250g punnet strawberries

Assembling

1. Reserve a handful of strawberries (the prettiest ones!) for decorating top of cake. Dice remaining strawberries into small cubes. Macerate them in a little sugar & set aside.
2. Slice sponge cake horizontally into three layers.
3. Place one sponge layer cut-side up on a cakeboard & slightly brush cake surface with sugar syrup.
4. Spread a thin layer of whipped cream over cake layer & arrange strawberry cubes over the surface. 
5. Spread a thin layer of whipped cream over the strawberries. Brush cut-side of second layer with the simple syrup & place it over first layer. Frost sides & top with remaining whipped cream. 
6. Repeat with third layer of cake. Spread a thin layer of cream overtop of cake & return to fridge to chill for thirty minutes.
7. Using leftover cream, pipe cream as decoration. Chill in fridge for cream to set for an hour or so. Garnish with reserved strawberries (sliced in halves.).

A taste from my home........

          I used to subscribe to a magazine called Taste of Home back in the US. It started with a free copy  sent to our address by the  distributor. I liked it so much that I decided to subscribe to it. Besides the recipes contributed by people all over the country, the magazine also features other segments which I find as interesting if not more interesting than the recipes. Among my favourites is the segment  "Am I Glad We Stopped At....." where it guides readers to great rural restaurants and country cafes discovered by the editors & readers. Another favourite is the 'I Wish I Had That Recipe....' segment in which the magazine helps readers to get the recipes from any restaurants & cafes which they've been to. The highlight of this magazine is the national recipe contest in which readers from all over the country submit their recipes based on a particular theme. Today's recipe is from an issue which had berries as the theme. Over 3000 recipes were submitted & the judges awarded Patricia Walls the grand prize for her Blueberry French Toast recipe.

          

           I've made this pudding many times but this is the first time I used brioche instead of white bread. The pudding turned out slightly dry, not sure if it was because of the type of bread or maybe I overestimated the amount of  bread I should use since a slice of my brioche is smaller than a slice of a typical white bread. That's all right because it is still delicious!

Blueberry French Toast

Recipe by Patricia Walls from Taste of Home (June / July 1996)

INGREDIENTS: 

• 12 slices day-old white bread, crusts removed (I used Brioche & I retained the crusts.)
• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• 12 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups 2% milk (I used full cream milk.)
• 1/3 cup maple syrup or honey (I used honey.)

SAUCE:

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup water

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1 tablespoon butter

Method:

1. Cut bread into 1-in. cubes & place half in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Cut cream cheese into 1-inch cubes & place over bread. Top with blueberries and remaining bread cubes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and syrup. Pour over bread mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
3. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350°F (180deg C) for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 25-30 minutes longer or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
4. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and water until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 3 minutes or until thickened. Stir in blueberries; reduce heat. Simmer for 8-10 minutes or until berries have burst. Stir in butter until melted. Serve with French toast. Yield: 6-8 servings (1-3/4 cups sauce).