Cupcakes - Vanilla W/Fruit Filling & Bubble Sugar Decoration

By mariannefeldman

see Twinkies for recipe for cake
shards of colored sugar

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2011/07/01/twinkie-cupcakes-with-fruit-fillings-with-bonus-bubble-sugar-demo/

Ingredients

• Twinkling Good Cupcakes.
• to to the mixing bowl
• 2 2 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Cake Flour Blend
• 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 3/4 3/4 cup cold water
• 7 7 7 unbeaten egg yolks
• 1 1 1 teaspoon Princess Cake and Cookie Flavoring, for true snack cake taste; OR 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Beat on medium speed until thick and smooth.
• to thirds, fold in the beaten whites. Use a gentle hand to keep as much air in the mixture as you can.
• 18 to 20, addition of whites the batter will be light and spongy. Divide the batter evenly into paper lined cupcake tins. You should get about 18 to 20, depending on size.
• to until the cupcakes are very lightly browned and spring back to the touch. They’ll be quite domed, but will settle some as they cool.
• to interior of the cupcakes will be delicate and full of tiny holes. Not surprisingly, they weigh next to nothing – until you fill them.
• To 2 1/2 traditional cooked flour filling, whisk together 2 tablespoons King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour and 1/2 cup milk in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat.
• 1 constantly until the mixture forms a thick paste. Remove from the heat, let cool for a minute, then stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
• to to paste to a bowl and cover directly with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge to cool completely.
• to it’s fresh berry season here in Vermont, I decided to jazz up the plain filling with some fresh blueberries and strawberries. I used blueberries first, then repeated the steps with strawberries.
• 1/2 1/4 about 1/2 cup of fresh berries in a food processor or blender with 1/4 cup of sugar.
• 2 2 the regular recipe in your mixer, add 2 tablespoons of the shortening and 2 tablespoons of the butter and mix well.
• Add half of the cooled flour paste.
• Whip on high speed until light and fluffy.
• to all the steps with fresh strawberries to yield two half batches of fresh fruit filling: one blueberry, one strawberry.
• to the fillings into disposable pastry bags equipped with large-opening tips. Here I’m using one star tip, and one round tip. The size doesn’t really matter, as long as it allows the filling to flow easily.
• To fill the cupcakes, insert the tip of the bag into the center of the cupcake. Gently squeeze in about a tablespoon of filling. If you hold the cupcake in your hand, you can feel it expanding and you’ll have a sense of when it’s full enough.
• Stop squeezing and remove the tip from the cupcake. You can either pipe the same filling over the hole, or leave the little squirp of filling exposed, à la real Twinkies.
• For this cupcake, I piped in the blueberry filling and covered with strawberry. Frank, our pastry chef, came up with the idea for a “surprise” filling that was different from the topping. Thank, Frank!
• Here’s the same idea in reverse. Strawberry filled, blueberry topped. YUM!
• BONUS*******BONUS**********BONUS********BONUS********
• to for a fast, easy way to jazz up your cupcakes? Try Bubble Sugar!
• to by crunching up a piece of parchment paper in your hand. You’re looking to make lots of wrinkles in the paper.
• Smooth the paper out in a half sheet pan with a lip. Leave some texture, though.
• 1/2 3/4 1 1/2 with 3/4 cup sugar plus 1 1/2 tablespoons corn syrup over medium-high heat, until the sugar is completely dissolved.
• to 315°F. to the sugar solution without stirring until it reaches 315°F. The sugar will go from clear to a very light amber color.
• 2 the sugar is heating, spread 2 tablespoon of clear liquor over the parchment. I used vodka; definitely not top shelf, just plain ol’ bar vodka.
• Because I was making these cupcakes with a patriotic theme, I colored the vodka with red and blue gel paste food coloring.
• ‘
• to to self: Use a brush to spread the colors next time.
• When the sugar reaches temperature, slightly tilt the pan and let the hot sugar run in slow drizzles down the pan.
• As the sugar hits the alcohol, it will bubble and fizz. If your alcohol is colored, you’ll get great swirls and blending of color with the plain sugar. Check out those funky bubbles!
• to to to to create a few more swirls to blend colors, you can carefully use a toothpick to mix. Keep in mind that the more you mix, the fewer bubbles you’ll end up with.
• to to sugar aside to cool completely. You can then lift it from the parchment and hold it up to the light while you giggle in delight. WOW! I can’t believe how easy this edible art is!
• Break the sugar into shards. You can wedge them into filled cupcakes for a really spectacular fireworks display of your own. (Keep in mind the sharp sugar edges if you’re serving kids).
• to you want to skip the food coloring, you can still use the plain vodka and then sprinkle your favorite colored sugar on the hot sheet of syrup. Quick and fancy!
• I hope you enjoy these Twinkling Good Cupcakes for your next picnic, with or without the bubble sugar. They’re an All-American treat straight from your home and heart.
• Please bake, rate, and review our recipe for Twinkling Good Vanilla Snack Cakes.
• Print just the recipe.
• 4th 4th of July, cupcakes, decorating, special, sugar, Twinkies

Preparation

Step 1

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