Pinoy Cupcake: Sorbetes Cupcakes

Did you know that the sorbetes we enjoy is acutally made from coconut milk?

When the Americans came to the Philippines and introduced us to the heavenly delight that is ice cream, we just cannot resist making our version - and so, sorbetes was born.

This idea has been brewing on my mind since last year. But I was hesistant to do it since in my mind there seems to be too much work to do and it might be difficult to execute.

Finally last week I was able to do it. For the base, I made coconut cupakes then I topped it with three scoops of white chocolate ganache flavored with cheese, chocolate and ube. The classic sorbetes flavors. I hope I made Mamang Sorbetero proud.

Coconut Cupcakes

Makes 24/350 degrees

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 kakang gata/coconut cream

Cream butter and sugar until it lightens in color

Add eggs one at a time

Sift flour, baking powder and salt 3 times

Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture

Add half of the kakang gata.

Add the remaining dry ingredients then add the remaining kakang gata.

Scoop into cupcake liners and bake for 15-20 minutes.

White Chocolate Ganache

24 oz white chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

6 pcs Hershey's Kisses (melted)

1 tsp ube extract

2 tbsp grated cheese

Simmer cream in pan

Add hot cream to the white chocolate.

Wait for 10 seconds then stir vigorously

Cool ganache for 30 minutes then whip it as you would whip cream

Divide mixture into 3.

Add Hershey's Kisses into a third

Add ube extract into the other third

Add grated cheese into the last third

Place ube, chocolate and cheese flavored white chocolate ganache in the freezer for 3 minutes.

Scoop each into the cupcakes as you would ice cream into cones.

The Quest for the Nearest to the Original York Peppermint Pattie

September 26, 12:47am







Do you know that Hershey's does not distribute York Peppermint Patties in the Philippines?



I know! I tasted these little divine treats about a month ago. Believe it or not, I devoured one pack in two days. Just me --- I was too selfish to share it because it was so yummy.



So, what's a girl who has been let loose in the kitchen got to do? Make her own version of course!



Googling "recipe york peppermint pattie" brought about 55,300 matches. Whew! Quite a lot but I'll probably just peruse the first 2 pages to see what ingredients I need and how to do it.



Will be updating this post every now and then to see how near am I to tasting the Nearest to the Original York Peppermint Pattie.





Happy Cupcaking!

Aikko

Pinoy Cupcake: Tiramoko

This is my Pinoy take on the well loved classic Italian dessert.

I know I blogged about it before, strictly following every step and using all the authentic ingredients, mascarpone, savoiardi ladyfingers,espresso,brandy... but this time I'll exchange some of the ingredientsto with Pinoy ones. Think broas instead of savoiardi lady fingers, a locally produced rhum instead of brandy, and kapeng barako instead of espresso. Should be interesting.

This is a no bake cupcake, all that is needed to be done is arrange the barako/rhum soaked broas then add a layer of cream and repeat the process unit you reachthe top of the papercup. Then, here comes the fun part, I get to decorate the top! No artsy fartsy decoration on these cupcakes.

Tiramoko Cupcakes

makes 6 cupcakes

6 Nut & Party Cups

15 broas

3/4 c whipping cream

4 oz cream cheese

2 tbsp icing sugar

1/2 c kapeng barako

2 tbsp rhum - I used Tanduay for this =)

Chocolate Sprinkles and Chocolate Coffee beans for decoration

Combine coffee and rhum. Set aside.

Whip cream until it soft peaks form.

Mix cream cheese and sugar until mixture softens.

Fold in cream cheese mixture to the whipped cream.

Line broas and fit them on the Nut & Party cups. This will be the first layer.

Brush the broas with the coffee mixture.

Add a layer of the cream cheese mixture.

Repeat last 3 steps till you reah the rim of the cup.

Top the cupcake with more cream and decorate with Chocolate Sprinkles and Chocolate Coffee beans.

Happy Cupcaking,

Aikko

Pinoy Cupcake: Kapeng Barako Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and Marie Buscuits

I remember when I was younger, my Decembers wouldn't be complete without the yearly trip to NAIA to fetch my father so we could spend the holidays together. And my mother's Decembers wouldn't be complete if she wouldn't see me get so impatient waiting for him to arrive garbed in his "uniform" so we wouldn't miss him.

When my mother sees me impatiently playing with the rails which separates us from the ones arriving in Manila, she would instantly produce a bag of Marie biscuits in her bag which she knows would keep me (or rather my stomach until the Barrio Fiesta dinner/lunch) occupied till my father arrives.

As part of my Pinoy Cupcakes series, this has been inspired by --- you guessed right, Marie biscuits. Those little round biscuits that just melts the moment you dunk it in a steaming mug of hot coffee. Yum yum yum.

The cupcake is coffee-flavored and to give it a Pinoy twist, instead of regular coffee, I used kapeng barako for an added kick. To make it fancier, the cupcakes have been frosted with Chocolate Ganache and Marie biscuits. Now, if only I could dunk it in the coffee cupcakes.... nah, never mind.

Hershey's Chocolate Ganache

1 cup heavy cream

36 Special Dark Hershey's Chocolate Kisses

1 tsp Vanilla extract

Simmer heavy cream and vanilla extract

Chop kisses to even smaller pieces.

Place in a mixing bowl

Pour cream into the Kisses and stir until thick.

Refrigerate Ganache for 30 minutes then whip it as you would a whip cream.

Ganache is now ready for piping!

Happy cupcaking!

Aikko

The "Should not be Repeated" Kapeng Barako Cupcakes

I am revising this entry to add more tips from a novice baker. This entry is dedicated to Pammy's friend. Hope this helps! =)


Last weekend, I made these kapeng barako cupcakes. As you can see, unfortunately, it did not went well. This made me think.... hmmm... saan ako nagkulang?

Mukhang inamag bago pa amagin... =)

Went to Fully Booked and found Shirley Corriher's

BakeWise. Here's what Shirley and my misadventures taught me -

(1) I did not cream the sugar and butter long enough. It seems to be such a small step but why is creaming important? According to Shirley'sbook, by creaming the butter you create air bubbles in the batter, the cake becomes light and well aerated. It's important to cream the butter first then gradually add the sugar. The slowest speed works for me. Some say cream the butter 15 minutes, some 3 minutes but as long as you see the butter and sugar become pale in colour and become visibly lighter,that is when to stop. Not sure about the fluffy part, what I see is grainy, which should be fine. Another tip, to make your cake more moist,use castor sugar instead of the regular refined one.

(2) Don't use butter that is more than the "room temp" (i.e. melting already). Since the ole islands is a tropical paradise, what is described as room temp in baking books doesn't mean room temp here. For me, what works is taking out the butter from the ref 10 to 15 minutes before creaming it. To check, make sure when you press the butter, it's still firm. If your finger created a dent in the butter, put it in the ref to cool it again.

(3) Eggs colder than "our" room temp curdles the batter. This happened to me thrice already. Ha! It was only this weekend that I discovered the culprit. If you will be baking after office hours, make sure to take out the eggs before you go to the office, it's the safest bet. Also, when adding the eggs to the butter/sugar mixture, make sure the mixer is set to the slowest speed possible. Add the eggs one by one. Slooooowly.

(4) I stored the baking powder in the refrigerator... a big no-no. It is possible that a reaction already happened when the baking powder was cooled, rendering it useless. Make sure to store baking powder at room temp.

After this weekend, I know I still have a lot to learn. As Monique said, baking is an exact science... it's true. It's better to know the science behind it than leaving it all to chance.

Happy Cupcaking,

Aikko

Pinoy Cupcake: Calamansi Cupcakes Frosted with Cream Cheese, Glazed with Bugnay Wine and Topped with Butterscotch Mini Cupcakes

Third installment of the Pinoy Cupcake Series.



Is it just me, or did you also noticed that the last 6 posts have something to do with chocolate? I think it's time to break the trend. This week I decided to focus on Calamansi - the Pinoy version of lemon.

We use it with bagoong when eating fried fish, with patis when eating liempo, I use it with salt when eating Chowking's Chicharap. Seldom have I heard of it being used to make dessert so I dedicate this week's post to Calamansi.



Why Calamansi? Why not.

Since there is no recipe for calamasi cupcake, I decided to look for a recipe for lemon cupcakes and found one at Martha Stewart's website. I just made made the necessary substitutions.



Calamansi Cupcakes

(adapted from Martha Stewart's Lemon Cupcakes)

Makes 24/325 degrees



3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

2 tablespoons fresh calamasi juice

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk and calamasi juice, and beating until just combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.



Because of the tangy flavor, it seems a cream cheese frosting would compliment this cupcake. My dilemma is, how can I make it more Pinoy? I decided to glaze it with a simple Bugnay wine (from Baguio) syrup then topped it with Butterscotch (from Bacolod) shaped like little cupcakes.

Bugnay Wine Glaze



½ cup Bugnay wine

6 tbsp sugar



Bring wine and sugar to a boil until mixture thickens.







Happy Cupcaking,

Aikko