St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes and Cake

I made those cupcakes for our St. Patrick's Day lunch which we have every year in our company. I always bring something sweet. So this year I decided to make green cupcakes. Yum!

Orange and almond cupcakes:
100 gr. butter at room temperature,
1 egg,
5 egg yolks (keep egg whites for butter cream),
1 1/2 cups sugar,
grated zest of 1/2 orange,
1 tsp orange essence,
100 ml cream,
100 ml milk,
2 cups plain flour,
1 cup ground almonds,
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp green food colouring.

Preheat oven to 170C. Prepare a muffin pan and cases.

Whip the butter until light and fluffy, add sugar and beat until pale. Add egg and egg yolks one at the time beating well after each addition.

Mix cream, milk, orange essence, food colouring and orange zest. In a different bowl mix almonds, flour and baking powder.

Add liquid and flour mixtures to the butter and eggs each in three batches starting and finishing with the flour.

Divide the butter between muffin cases and bake for about 20 min.


Swiss meringue butter cream (Recipe by Martha Stewart):  
1 1/4 cups sugar
5 large egg whites
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Place sugar and egg whites in the heat-proof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, and whisk until sugar has dissolved and egg whites are hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Test by rubbing the mixture between your fingers; it should feel completely smooth.

2.Transfer bowl to mixer stand. Using the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until mixture has cooled completely and formed stiff and glossy peaks, about 10 minutes.

3. Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated after each addition. Don't worry if the buttercream appears curdled after all the butter has been added; it will become smooth again with continued beating. Add vanilla, and beat just until combined.

4. Switch to the paddle attachment, and beat on the lowest speed to eliminate any air pockets, about 5 minutes. If using buttercream within several hours, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature in a cool environment. Or transfer to an airtight container, and store in the refrigerator, up to 3 days. Before using, bring buttercream to room temperature, and beat on the lowest speed with the paddle attachment until smooth, about 5 minutes.

And finally, the cake! 
Made from the same butter and the same butter cream. Just covered with fondant and decorated with shamrocks. I'm not really good in this sort of cake decorations, but I think it's still cute. No?

Iced honey mascarpone and almond cake with fig salad

This is my new favourite - awesome almond cake with figs - absolute divine.  To be honest I'm not a big fun of mascarpone and also I don't like honey, but in this cake I love them. Try it with a glass of a sherbety, grapey Moscato.
You’ll need to start this recipe at least a day ahead. Recipe adapted from Gourmet Traveller Magazine.

Ingredients:
12       figs, quartered
125 gm       raspberries (optional)
1 tbsp       amaretto
To serve:       honey

Almond dacquoise
200 gm       unblanched almonds
6       eggwhites
110 gm (½ cup)       caster sugar
60 gm       icing sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
50 gm       plain flour

Honey mascarpone
3       egg yolks
110 gm       honey (I used 50 gm honey and 60 gm brown sugar)
750 gm       mascarpone (I used 400 gm mascarpone and 500 ml whipped cream)
60 ml (¼ cup)       amaretto




1     For dacquoise, preheat oven to 150C. Process almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Whisk eggwhites in an electric mixer until soft peaks form, add caster sugar and whisk until thick and glossy. Fold in icing sugar, then almonds and flour and spoon into a piping bag. Trace three 18cm circles onto baking paper-lined oven trays. Pipe dacquoise within template into circles, bake for 15 minutes or until just golden, cool on trays for 5 minutes, then turn onto baking paper sprinkled with icing sugar and cool completely.

2     For mascarpone, combine egg yolks and honey in a heat-proof bowl and whisk over simmering water for 7-8 minutes or until pale and thick. Transfer to an electric mixer and whisk until cold. In a bowl, gently mix amaretto and mascarpone, then fold in egg yolk mixture.

3     To assemble, place a dacquoise circle, trimming edges to fit, into a baking paper-lined 20cm springform pan, spread with one third of mascarpone all the way to the edges and down the sides, then top with another circle. Repeat with remaining mascarpone and dacquoise, finishing with a layer of mascarpone and freeze overnight.

4     Fifteen minutes before serving, remove cake from freezer and place in refrigerator. Combine figs and raspberries in a bowl, drizzle with amaretto and stand for 10 minutes. To serve, remove cake from pan, arrange fig salad on top and drizzle with honey.

Almond and blueberry cookies

Ingredients
100 g butter, softened
1 egg
100 ml sugar
100 ml  almond flour
200 ml flour
1 tsp baking powder
1tsp grated lemon zest
few drops of almond extract or 1 tbsp amaretto
100 ml dried blueberries
pinch of salt

Method
Cream together butter, sugar, zest and almond extract. Then incorporate the egg, followed by almond flour and flour with baking powder and pinch of salt. When the dough is done, gently mix in the blueberries.

Roll the dough into a log, wrap up in plastic and refrigerate for several hours or freeze.

Slice the dough into slices about 1/8" thick and place them on the sheets about an inch apart.


Bake in a pre-heated oven (175°C/350°F) for about 10-15 minutes or until slightly golden.

Chocolate cakes with almond mousse and cherries

Cake bases:
100 gr dark chocolate
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 eggs
50 gr. brown sugar
1 tablespoon starch
1 tablespoon self rising flour
pinch of cream of tartar and a pinch of salt.

Mousse:
10 fresh large cherries,
100 ml. milk
4 tbsp sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp starch
1 tsp gelatin powder
100 ml. heavy cream + 1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg white
1 tablespoon Cream fresh or sour cream,
2 tbsp amaretto or a few drops of almond essence.

Cakes:
Preheat oven to 180C. Lay a baking sheet with parchment. Melt the chocolate.

Beat egg yolk with sugar until white. Separately, whip whites with cream of tartar and a pinch of salt to soft peaks. Mix starch, flour and cocoa and add to the yolks and stir well, then add the melted chocolate. Then add beaten egg white and stir carefully.

Spread the mixture on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Cool the cake for 10 minutes, then cool completely on the rack.

Using mold rings cut 8 round bases, then cut each base in half with a very sharp bread knife. You should get 8 bases and 8 tops (or 10 depending on the diameter of your rings). Put mold rings on the parchment, then place one cake base in each ring.

Mousse:
Soak gelatin in 1 tablespoon of water. Whisk egg yolk with milk, add starch and sugar, put on a slow heat and cook stirring, until mixture is thick. Add liqueur or essence. Put mixture into a shallow dish and cover with cling film. Cool to room temperature.

Melt the gelatin 10 seconds in the microwave and stir well until completely dissolved. Add to the cooled mixture and stir thoroughly.

Cut cherries in small pieces.

Beat egg white with a pinch of salt and cream of tartar until soft peaks, add to the mixture. Whip cream with 1 tablespoon sugar to hard peaks, add to the mixture and stir carefully but quickly.

Add chopped cherries, mix gently and lay on prepared forms, leaving room for cake tops. Cover with the remaining cake tops and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Decorate your cakes with melted chocolate and chopped cherries, almond kernels and mint.





Enjoy!