Valentine’s Day Cupcakes
Valentine’s Day cupcakes was the topic of my Standard Examiner column this week. I interviewed Janell Brown, owner of the One Sweet Slice bakeries in South Jordan and Sandy and winner of the Food Network’s “The Cupcake Wars.”
Janell’s cookbook, “One Sweet Cupcake” shares a lot of her favorite recipes and flavor combinations.
Although the cupcake craze has died down a bit, it will never go out of style, Janell told me. “Cake has been around for hundreds of years, and it will continue to be popular.”
It’s just the form that changes — cupcakes, cake bites, carved cakes, sheet cakes, crazy cakes, and so on.
For Valentine’s Day, cupcakes lend themselves to hearts, flowers, flourishes and all kinds of cutesy decorations.
Some other reasons why cupcakes are so popular: they are portable and don’t require a fork or spoon to eat. They have built-in portion control, if you can stick to just one.
Brown’s creative use of flavors and fillings helped her win the $10,000 prize on “Cupcake Wars” in 2012.
“I’ve met some of the others from Utah who have won, and things we have in common is that we’re positive, we don’t give up and we’re trying to be creative and look for new things,” she said. “But personally, what helped me is that I’ve done custom cakes for so long and had to work within time constraints and in pressure situations.”
Brown said current cupcake flavor trends point toward salted caramel, and different fruit mashups, for instance “raspberry/coconut/lime or white chocolate/passion fruit. Or, taking a familiar flavor combination and give it a twist.
For instance, her Strawberry Margarita cupcakes “are an example of taking a drink people already enjoy but never thought of putting it in a cake form,” she said.
The Strawberry Margarita recipe says to core out the center of each cupcake and fill it with lime curd. You can buy a special tool, but Brown uses a teaspoon. Start at the top center of a baked cupcake, and just scoop out some of the cake.
“You don’t want to scoop clear to the bottom, or your filling will leak through and it will be soggy on the bottom,” Brown advised.
The cored center is hidden from view once the cake is iced.
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
Zest of 3 limes
1/4 cup milk
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons pure vanilla
1/2 cup Strawberry Puree (see recipe)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 1.2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed until smooth. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add lime juice, zest, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until ingredients are well-blended and smooth. Sift flour, salt and baking powder in a separate bowl. Turn the mixer on low and add dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Batter should be smooth.
Fold in strawberry puree and stir until marbled.
Line two standard muffin tines with paper cupcake liners. Fill each cup two-thirds full with batter. Use an ice cream scoop for perfect measuring. Bake until the tops spring back at the touch of your finger and the edges are just starting to brown, 20-25 minutes.
Remove from tins and cool completely before filling and icing.
Finishing touch: Core center of cupcakes and fill with Lime Curd (see recipe), ice with Strawberry Buttercream (see recipe), and garnish with lime wedges, strawberry halves, and kosher salt.
“One Sweet Cupcake” by Janell Brown (Cedar Fort, $21.99)
Berry Puree
(Raspberry, Strawberry, or Blackberry)
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen berries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Combine berries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until a liquid begins to form. Continue cooking until the mixture starts to thicken. Pour sauce into a fine sieve set over a bowl. Use a rubber spatula to stir and press the puree through the sieve. Throw the seeds away. Refrigerate.
Puree may be frozen for up to 1 month. Yields approximately 1 cup puree.
“One Sweet Cupcake” by Janell Brown (Cedar Fort, $21.99)
Lime Curd
3/4 cup egg yolks
3/4 cup whole eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup fresh lime juice
Zest of 4 limes
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
Mix the egg yolks, eggs, sugar and lime juice together. Add the lime zest and butter. Cook in a double boiler until thickened. Check the temperature with a candy thermometer, making sure it reaches 160 degrees. Strain the mixture and then mix with a whisk until smooth. Refrigerate until needed. Mixture should be completely cool before using.
Note: Don’t skip the straining process. It will catch the zest and overcooked bits of egg so you’ll have a smooth filling.
“One Sweet Cupcake” by Janell Brown (Cedar Fort, $21.99)
Strawberry Buttercream
2 pounds butter, softened
4 pounds powdered sugar, divided
1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons vanilla
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup Strawberry Puree (see recipe)
In a stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, beat butter until light, completely smooth, and fluffy. Turn the mixer speed to low and add half of the powdered sugar. Mix until smooth. Alternately, add remaining powdered sugar, milk and Strawberry Puree, until smooth. Add an additional cup of powdered sugar if needed to thicken.
“One Sweet Cupcake” by Janell Brown (Cedar Fort, $21.99)