Cupcake Hero: Marshmallow

Cupcake Hero: Marshmellow

and so for this round of cupcake hero, the theme as proudly presented to us by the cupcake hero team was MARSHMALLOW! *thinks twice*.. oh well, ain't got the hots for this one either except the occasional barbeque on a stick resulting in a toasty marshmallow, crusty on the outside and gooey on the inside. Just the way i like it...

well, rules were established that marshmallow had to be used in the cake, frosting or filling. hmph.. marshmallow flavored cake or cake with the texture of a marshmallow. Chewy cake?.. tt sounded so wrong to me. Pardon me for my rather disjointed thought process. But yesh, i did settle for the latter two for the presence of my marshmallow in this themed cupcake. here;s a sneak preview just for u guys... heh.
and since i was in the mood for a single color (purple this time), i picked and altered several recipes along the way and combined it to form.. *drum roll*.. the Globe Thistle! named after a beautiful breed of purple colored flowers that looked like mini balls of fluff except that the fluff were replaced by miniature crests and peaks..

for the cake, it was in my intention to find a more tangy, less sweet and definitely fruity flavor to compliment the overdose of sugar found in marshmallows that i was going to incorporate in the filling cum frosting (a double whammy yes!). And wat best than to use blueberry(myrtille) yogurt from Elle A Vive! by the way, I used tiny blueberry flavored marshmallows i had found on the shelves of Japanese section of the supermart. Strangely, they tasted pretty good on their own; thats a feat especially for someone who doesn't have a penchant for these little nibbles.

Blueberry Yogurt Cake (recipe makes 17 cupcakes)


Ingredients
2 eggs
2 tubs yogurt (equivalent to 250ml)
200g sugar
80ml vegetable oil
2 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla powder
1 tblspoon light rum
1 tblspoon strawberry creme liquor

  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius
  • Sift the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, soda into a bowl.
  • In your mixer, mix the eggs, sugar, yogurt, oil, vanilla, rum and liquor till well blended.
  • Fold in the flour mixture till no streaks of white are visible. Make sure not to overwork your batter.
  • Pour into Cupcake Tray. Filling each cup till 1/2 way full.
  • Bake for 13-16 mins till skewer comes out clean and dry.

the cakes emerge from the oven, soft and springy plus incredibly moist. and they do stay that way even after being chilled. the beauties of using oil and yogurt instead of the usual butter, the moisture added just enhances the texture of the cake. The colors weren't as purple as i liked them to be though, infact they appeared a little closer to shade of black sesame macaron as opposed to the barney the dinosaur.

After cooling, i poked a hole throught the middle of the cakes and filled them up with the loveliest marshmallow frosting imaginable... *yumz*. followed by spreading some generously over the domed tops of the cakes and created little peaks to be scorched by the flames of the blowtorch. It was soo much fun!

Seven minute Marshmallow Frosting

ingredients

2 unbeaten egg whites
6 tbsp cold water
few grains salt
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
12 large marshmallows

  • Combine the ingredients sans the marshmallows in the mixing bowl on the top of the double boiler over briskly boiling water. Stir with a whisk till mixture is blended.
  • Add in the marshmallows into the hot mixture and whisk till completely melted.
  • Add in 1 tsp of Vanilla extract.
  • Immediately beat with beater until frosting stands in stiff peaks (approximately 7 mins)

finally. we can first pipe some of the ready frosting into the holes to fill the cupcakes and then spoon the frosting generously on top and arrange the spikes. then it comes the fun part. the blow-torching! it was overwhelming watching the peaks of marshmallow goodness swivel and shrink in the heat. almost enlightening i can say as the white tips slowly turn to charcoal, a crisp shell enveloping over the soft gooey centres of the toasted marshmallows.


with a dash of purple sanding sugar over the crowns of the cupcakes, they were all dressed up and ready to go. Like a troop of flowers, globe thistle in full bloom. in fact, this was the show-stopper at work. With many doubting my handiwork of course... oh well.. its not like an extrovert cannot find pleasure in baking ok? *bleah*.. the funny thing was that I never saw myself as an extrovert. haha.

With this I wrap up the marshmallow saga. I have met the challenge with some purple monstrousity; blueberry yogurt cupcakes and toasted marshmallow frosting. moving on to the next Cupcake Hero soon! *cheers*

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