Saturday, June 28, 2008

Flat-top butter cupcake with cherry sauce

Foam on coffee, golden color on the bottom of pie... something that my husband insists to see in food.

For cupcake, I don't like it too big, full or fat, but I like it tall. Flat-top seems look more elegant than a cracked face.

I have chosen butter cake in this first experiment, just for safe, since it is less temperamental.

I placed a regular cupcake paper into a flan cup for the batter climbing higher. Baked the cakes in a medium-low oven temperature; they rised nicely and slowly without cracking the top.

Almost forgot to tell you, I had added little desiccated coconut and fine semonlina, not for flavoring, but to surprise you with the intricate texture.

By the way, how to create foam on coffee?

Recipe of flat-top butter cupcake

yield about five 6cm-tall cupcakes

  • 120 g plain flour
  • 100 g butter, soften at room temperature
  • 100 g sugar
  • 1 egg + 2 yolks
  • 1 tsp baking powder (I used coffee spoon)
  • about 1-1/2 tablespoons fine semonlina
  • about 2-1/2 tablespoons desiccated coconut, unsweetened
  • a pinch of table salt

How-to:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 170C
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, semonlina, coconut and salt. Set aside.
  3. Mix the sugar with butter until white and fluffly. Add the egg and 2 yolks, continue to beat until the content looks fluffy. Then combine it with the flour mixture.
  4. Pre-grease the side of flan cups with butter and flour
  5. Place the regular cupcake paper into flan cup (or 6-cm tall paper cup... but I haven't tested on this one), fill the batter up to the top of the paper cup.
  6. Bake them in the 170c oven for about 15 minutes, then lower to 160C, for other 20 minutes, test the doneness by inserting a toothpick, if it comes out (almost) clean, the cakes are done. Please note that every oven's power is different, please adjust accordingly.
  7. When the flan cup isn't too hot to touch, you can unmold the cupcakes.

To make the cherry sauce:

You will need about 20 ripe cherries, take the stones out but leave the skin. Cook them with little butter in a small pot for a minute, add a few dashes of water, when the fruit looks soften, process. Add spoonfuls of berry preserves, jam or sugar, let it simmer until you get your desired consistency. I cooked mine for just about 5 minutes in total. Spoon the warm sauce on cakes to serve.

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24 comments:

Callipygia said...

I guess the same as true is for us; a smooth finish is much better than a cracked face! These are elegant with their saucy sauce. About the foam I leave it to the barista-

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Magnificent! So dainty, pretty and tempting!

Cheers,

Rosa

Brilynn said...

I love the site of cherries, these look great!

indosungod said...

Pictures are beautiful as always. With the cherry sauce om top they look perfect.

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

I can do the foam on the coffee ($20 frother) and then you're in charge of the cupcakes!So pretty Gattina!!

Proud Italian Cook said...

Those a just beautiful!!

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

Love the cherry sauce dribbling down the side of the cupcakes. Simple and elegant.

Anonymous said...

that looks delicious! Great photos!

Suganya said...

Take coffee in a cup with a brim (a lipped one to avoid mess). Take a similar empty cup on the other hand. Swiftly pour coffee back and forth between the cups. Keep one of the cups at a comfortable height and the other one lower, while you do this. That is how I froth my coffee :)

Anonymous said...

now those are very beautiful flat-top cupcakes! i'd love to make them one of these days. good job Gattina!

J said...

Lovely cupcakes and perfect cherry sauce to go with it. Just bought a packet of cherries! To make foam on coffee pour 3/4 of the coffee into the cup in which you want to serve it and pour the remaining 1/4into the cup in a slow, steady stream from a rimmed glass held atlest one metre vertically above the cup. Sounds easy :)??

Lore said...

Great idea adding semolina and desiccated coconut for a texture suprise!
Gorgeous!

jpstivers said...

Gattina,
Love the presentation and touch of coconut. Smooth over cracked is one of those little things that truly make a difference.
Joseph from Louisville, Kentucky

Anonymous said...

What is a flan cup?

Gattina Cheung said...

calli, seems that the cherry also gives me allergy as well, so I got to cook it *sigh*
but a bonus for a cracked (top) cake... extra-crunch :)

rosa, thank you thank you :D

Brilynn, I LOVE cherry... hundred times more than any berries!

indosungod, thank you for your encouragement, it means a lot to me!

Tanna, deal! Can I have your onion bread as well?

pround italian cook... thanks a lot!

Lydia, oh I love that too. Thanks!

Beth, thank you so much!

suganya, I am glad I asked... I know someone so clever like you must have an answer! Thanks! Will do it in the morning!

eliza, really thank you for the sweet words!

jyothsna, love the cherry season, we can get them so good and so cheap!
Thanks for the wonderful advise on coffee, sure will go for it!

Lore, thank you! I always love the cakes with some rustic feel... semonlina is a staple in my baking :D

Joseph, thank you for the compliment! It is kind of interesting, just work slightly differently in one step, and the result comes out so much better... I do enjoy the process :)

Hi anonymous... think of water glass shape but made of stainless steel so that it can go into oven.
It is for making this dessert

Anonymous said...

They look really beautiful!And I am sure they are so good.
Ciao.
Orchidea

Pooja said...

wow that looks so yummmmmmmyyyyyyyyyy.......... :P.
I love anything with cherry.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

I'd have trouble spooning the cherries on the cakes because I'd probably eat it all first. ;)

ChichaJo said...

This looks very elegant! You are truly talented in the kitchen...dishes seem to bend to your every whim! :)

isabella said...

You can create foam on coffe using a italian coffe machine, take out the first two spoons and mix whisk it with sugar until creamy, and pour it over the coffe

Anonymous said...

They look really cute :)
Thanks for the great post..

Mary from - Cooking Recipe Videos

Jescel said...

just stumbled upon your blog.. beautiful. and love your cupcakes. they're so elegant. as for the foam on the coffee.. get one or two tablespoons (depending on how much you use) on a cup and put a little bit of coffee just enough to make it wet. then stir vigorously till the sugar melts.. pour hot coffee afterwards and you'll have froth on top...

Noor said...

I made the yum yum blog award just a few months to see where all she would end up and you would not believe the amazing food blogs she has ended up on. I have had so much fun seeing all of this and learning about more blogs and recipes along the way.

You deserve it!

Noor from Ya Salam Cooking

Tutin in Australia said...

I tried the recipe, awesome! Thanks for sharing it. To answer your question about foam on coffee: I froth the milk in the microwave, fill your coffee mug with milk (about half way), froth it in the microwave, say.. 1 to 2 minutes on high, then put your instant cofee and hot water, stir and enjoy !