New Years resolutions? Bake more cupcakes!

I’m not a big fan of New Years resolutions; they sound like some kind of obligation.  

And if you do not fulfill that obligation if feels like failing to yourself right?

But like anyone else I do have some hopes and wishes for 2013, here they are:

1)   Finally finish my Bachelor of Law degree (after 10 years !)

2)      Blog more regularly; at least once a month. That becomes more realistic when I don’t have to spent every free time to study.

3)      Roast a leg of lamb. I love lamb but for years now I’m a bit scared of preparing this big piece of meat. Will it fit in my oven? And when do I know it’s ready and not raw anymore? But this year I’m definitely going to give it a try.

4)      Travel to Australia. A long time favourite on my countries-I-would-love-visit-list.  Hope to spend this Christmas and New Year in the sun.

5)      Bake more (mini) cupcakes! I really love cupcakes and don’t believe any article or person that says the end of cupcake trend is way behind us. It’s not a trend; they are here to stay!

I started this year with wish number 5. Because my birthday is in January I decided to bake cupcakes for my colleagues and family. Normal cupcakes are pretty big and I sometimes find them difficult to eat. Especially with a big butter cream or cream cheese topping on it.

So instead of baking normal cupcakes I experimented with the baking times and made 3 times the amount of the regular sized by using a cupcake tray for little cupcakes.

This gave everyone the chance to try different flavours and it was a big hit.

I used recipes from the cookbook ‘Rudolph’s Cupcakes’ by a famous Dutch pastry chef; Rudolph van Veen. He is one of only two persons in the Netherlands that earned the title ‘Master Patissier’. 
And just like me he is a big fan of cupcakes!  But even better; his recipes are correct and written down for any amateur to make them.

This is the one I liked most, Rudolph calls them ‘Bombay Boogie’ cupcakes.  
They are deliciously fresh and fruity. And the sugared cashew nuts are a nice crunchy extra.

I made about 36 mini cupcakes from this recipe; using a mini cupcake tray for baking and mini cupcake papers.

Missing ingredient: flour 

Cupcakes ready in the oven

For the Dutch readers; if you're interested in the Dutch version of the recipe click here or buy the book for this and more delicious cupcake recipes.

Bombay Boogie cupcakeYogurt- saffron cupcake with mango-passion cream topping

For 12 large cupcakes or 36 mini cupcakes

Ingredients yogurt saffron cupcakes:

• 1 gram of saffron threads or powder
• ½ teaspoon turmeric
• 2 tablespoons water
• 200 grams of flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder (7 grams)
• 230 grams of sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 eggs (large ones)
• 200 grams Greek yogurt
• 180 grams of sunflower oil

Ingredients mango-passion cream:

• 250 grams of butter (at room temperature)
• 60 grams of icing sugar
• 250 grams of pastry cream made from 100 gram instant custard powder or instant custard (I used  it from the Jamin store which worked  great) created with 250 ml mango passion juice (store bought is fine, I used the freshly squeezed juice from AH supermarket ). Read the instructions on the package, sometimes the proportions slightly different

Ingredients sugared cashew nuts:

• 1 egg white
• 75 grams of sugar
• 150 grams cashew nuts (unsalted)

Additional: cupcake tray, paper cupcake tins, mixer

Cupcakes

Dissolve the saffron and turmeric in 2 tablespoons hot water. Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Sieve the flour and baking powder. Mix  in the sugar and salt. Mix in another bowl the saffron-turmeric mixture with the eggs, yogurt and sunflower oil. Add the two mixtures together and mix them up, low speed, until smooth. Mix the batter then another 10 seconds at the highest setting of the mixer. Set the cupcake papers in a cupcake tray and fill them three quarters full with the batter. Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes until if you make 12 large cupcakes and about 16 minutes if you make mini cupcakes. Every oven time may vary, always check if they are cooked by putting a skewer to stabbing. Does this come out dry then they are good.

Mango-passion cream

Add the softened butter with the sugar in the bowl of a food processor (Kitchenaid) or use a mixer and a bowl. Beat the butter at least 10 minutes of easy breezy.  Add the custard with mango passion juice gradually to the airy butter. Keep beating until well blended.

Sugared cashews

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Beat the egg whites with the sugar separately, mix the cashews through and arrange them on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Fry lightly browned and crispy in about 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Stir interim notes once thoroughly with a spoon. Let them cool down.

Garnish

Spoon the mango-passion cream in a pastry bag with a small cartel mouth and make a rosette/topping on the cupcakes. Garnish the cupcakes with candied cashews.

Storage
Because I had to bake them in advance I kept the cupcakes in a box outside the fridge and the cream in the pastry bag in the fridge for 1 day. Just finish them before serving, but make sure to get the cream out of the fridge in time to soften again!

If you want to keep them longer they are easy to store in the freezer. In that case garnish with the cream but keep the cashew nuts separately.

The result: perfect one-bite mini cupcakes