Spoonful

After a gruelling last few days of baking, tasting…..uhmmm savouring and the admin (my only? vice….lol) of ascribing points in the judging score sheets to all the amazing cupcake entries, the scores were tallied and a winner was announced!

Congratulations to Sadiyah Osman for her winning Cupcake – Ethereal Pistachio – Rosewater  Meringue and Chantilly Cream Cupcake.

This was a cupcake of distinction which just tipped the scales a matter of 2-3 points over of the runner-up. It was delicious in taste and heavenly in decoration.

And the runner up was this beautiful combination of flavours and textures from Zainub Abdul Kader

And for the recipes to these delicious cupcakes scroll down

from Sadiyah Osman (you can find Sadiyah’s blog here) :

*~ETHEREAL PISTACHIO-ROSEWATER MERINGUE & CHANTILLY CREAM CUPCAKE  with Rosepetal Confetti and Gold Sugar~*

step 1: Pistachio and Rosewater cupcakes

225 g of cake flour
225 g of butter (softened)
225 g of caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
4  large eggs (at room temperature)
1tsp vanilla essence
a dash of rose essence

method:

Preheat the oven to 175degrees C.
place your cups in a cupcake tray
combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix with an electric beater until the
mixture is well beaten , smooth and shiny!
spoon the batter into the cups and fill until it is 2/3 full
bake for 18-20 minutes until the cupcake is golden , use a toothpick to
double check!
remove from oven and keep cupcakes in the tray for 5 minutes to cool, then
remove and place on a cooling rack.

step 2: Chantilly Cream

250mls of fresh cream (chilled)
1 1/2 tblspoons of castor sugar
1/2 – 3/4 tsp almond essence
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tablespoon crushed pistachios
gel-paste Cake Flora food coloring in Avocado or a tiny bit of any green
colour will do

method:

beat cream with the addition of everything ( except the pistachios)  until
stiff peaks form, fold in the pistachios, chill until ready to use

step 3: meringue

6 large egg whites  (room temperature)
1 teaspoon of  white vinegar
1 and 3/4 cups of granulated sugar
1/2  teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1/4 tsp rose essence
spray and cook, for baking cups
gel-paste Cake Flora food coloring in Dusty Rose

method:

Preheat the oven to 110 degrees C.
Place your cupcake cups that have been
sprayed with spray and cook in a cupcake tray . Whisk the egg whites,
vineger,essences and salt in a mixer on medium to high speed until it
becomes fluffy and frothy. Add in the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time,
beating for a minute or two after every spoon is added  (make sure the
sugar dissolves) Beat until stiff and glossy peaks form. Mix in a few drops
of food colouring  till you get a pale pink rosey colour
put the mixture into an icing bag with a nozzle that is not patterened, ie,
a plain round tip.
and press down into the cups , until the meringue is a few cms higher that
the cupcake, then pull up so that you have have a peak when you finish off!
bake for 2-2.5 hours or more depending on your oven, meringue should be dry
on the outside and still a bit soft in the centre, use a toothpick to
judge.
let the meringues cool on a cooling rack and cut the tops off with a
serated knife (just above the area where the cup ends)
the meringues baked in a cup  gives a lovely pattern at the bottom of the
meringue and keeps the meringue hats neat and cute!
use the leftover meringue for an eton mess pudding!

layer a generous dollop of chantilly creme on the cupcake topped with your
gorgeous meringue hats

step 4: decoration

decorate with rose petal pieces ( confetti) dipped in egg white and castor
sugar, crushed pistachios and gold sugar . stick on with a light brushing
of egg white or piping gel available at many bakings stores, sift on a bit
of icing sugar
tie a knot around the cuppie with a pretty ribbon or a piece of lace
create a flag from some shiny paper and a toothpick!

And you simply must try the recipe from runner-up Zainub Abdul-Kader:

      ☀♥EboNy & iVory SupriSe!!☀♥

“This is a moist almond vanilla & choc two-toned Cuppy with a Coconut
Meringue centre topped with a Delicious Coffee icing!!”

**Ingredients**
CupCake :
• 125g margarine/butter
• ¾ cup castor sugar
• 3 xL eggs
• 1 ½ cup Flour (375ml)
• 2 tsp baking pwd (10ml)
• 1 cup milk (250ml)
• 2 tblspn ground almonds (30ml)
• 2 tsp almond essence (10ml)
• 1 tsp instant coffee (5ml)
• 2 tsp cocoa pwd (10ml)
• 1 tblspn hot water (15ml)

Method :
– Cream the butter & sugar until light and fluffy
– Gently Add eggs one by one & mix well
– Sift flour & baking pwd & slowly fold into butter mixture, mix well
– Mix ground almonds & almond essence into milk & add milk into batter,
stir well
– Divide Cupcake Batter into two parts
– Mix coffee & Cocoa in hot water until dissolved and pour into one half
of the batter, mix well until it is a chocolatey colour

Meringue :
• 2 xL egg whites
• ¼ cup icing sugar
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp vinegar
• ½ cup dessicated coconut

Method :
– beat egg whites until soft peaks form, mix in sugar & beat well, add
cream of tartar, vinegar and beat until thick. Fold in coconut. Your
meringue mix shouldn’t be too stiff.

Assembling the Cake :
* in your cupcake tin, place paper cupcake cases.
* put about a tblspn of vanilla batter, follow with a tblspn of meringue
mix and lastly top with chocolate batter
* Bake in a preheated oven @ 180˚C for 15-20min until baked 🙂

Coffee Icing :
• ¼ cup margarine ( I use wooden spoon white)
• ½ cup icing sugar
• 1 tsp almond essence
• 2 tsp coffee pwd
• 1 tsp hot water

– beat margarine n sugar until light n fluffy
– mix coffee in water and add to butter, add almond essence and mix well.
– spread icing over cuppies, if you piping your icing you may nEed to
double your mixture of icing.

Variations :
* decorate with chopped pecans or almonds
* decorate with drizzled choclate and peppermint sprinkles!
* decorate with chocolate curls

Enjoy

~ Fehmz ~