Blueberry Fields

Blueberry Fields is the name of one of the off-piste powder snow stashes at the Hanazono ski area on Mt Niseko-Annupuri in Hokkaido, Japan. The snow there is softer than whipped cream, your skis float through it as you snake between the trees... It's a little bit of skiing Paradise.

I don't know if blueberries grow there or not in summer, but it's a cold climate island so I like to think that they do. There's also an area called Strawberry Fields, which brings to mind the Beatles song. 

Blueberry Fields doesn't have a song... So I thought I would commemorate it with some cupcakes.

I chose to use a white cake base. not everybody knows that you can make amazing cake with just egg whites (other than angel food cake that is). Egg white cake is really lovely, pale and soft crumb with a mild but still buttery flavour, and its a great thing to make if your freezer, like mine, gets full iff egg whites! This cake goes together with blueberries like Hokkaido goes with powder snow. The blueberries sink a little in the mixture, leaving a denser jammy layer with a float of fluffy white cake above. 

For the topping, a purple cloud of blueberry buttercream made with puréed blueberries, the sweetness offset by a hint of lemon. 

Top with a sprinkle of edible glitter and suddenly you are in a magical wonderland - Blueberry Fields. Enjoy! 

White blueberry cupcakes (makes 20)

125g unsalted butter, softened

2 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup milk

4 egg whites

1 1/2 cups blueberries (preferably fresh)

Combine all ingredients except egg whites and blueberries and beat in low speed until well combined. Add egg whites, increase speed of mixer to full speed, beat about two minutes until the mixture is very pale and smooth. 

Fold in blueberries. 

Spoon mixture into muffin cases that have been greased with canola spray.

Bake cupcakes at 175 degrees Celsius 25 minutes or until golden and cakes have stopped whispering.

Cool on a wire rack.

When cold, place frosting in a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle, and frost cupcakes, allowing about two tablespoons of frosting per cupcake.

Blueberry buttercream

125 g unsalted butter, softened 

4 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup frozen blueberries, defrosted and puréed 

1tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp lemon oil

1tbsp lemon juice

2tbsp vodka

Cream butter, blueberries and half the sugar. Add flavourings and the remainder of the sugar, beat until light and fluffy. Add lemon juice and vodka, beat until very fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Chocolate; death by.

I don't know that these need much of an introduction except to say that I have been looking for a cupcake upon which to place a maraschino cherry for quite some time - there really is nothing like a cherry on top of a cupcake.
Call it oldschool, maybe it's a bit of a clichéd, but happily, in the cake world, clichés never never get trite.

If you don't dig cherries of course, you could leave them off and just bathe in the chocolate, chocolate, cocoa, and cocoa nibbed sensation that are these cupcakes. I have a suspicion that crushed candycane might be a complete winner on top of these babies too.

Clichéd Chocolate Cupcakes of Insanity

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes (makes 18):

125g 70% cocoa chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup cocoa powder
1 ¼ cup hot water
1 ¼ cup flour
1 ¼ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking soda
135g butter, chopped into small pieces
3 eggs
3 teaspoons white vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

Frosting

1 cup sugar
¼ cup plus 2 tbsp water
Big pinch of citric acid
Pinch of salt
300g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup icing sugar
¾ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
250g chocolate (milk, 70% or a mixture), melted and cooled
Cocoa nibs, silver sprinkles
18 Maraschino cherries, dried on a paper towel

Cupcakes:

Line two 12 hole muffin pans with 18 paper cases, grease with oil spray.

Combine the chopped chocolate and cocoa powder with the hot water and stir until smooth. Add the butter and beat until the butter is incorporated and there are no lumps. Cool to room temperature (this may have happened when the butter was added.   Add the sugar, eggs, vinegar and vanilla extract into the cooled chocolate mixture and beat until smooth. Add the flour, soda and salt and beat until smooth. The mixture is quite runny.

Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cases, using a 1/4 cup measure as a scoop. The batter should come about 2/3 of the way up the cases. Bake at 180 degrees C until the cupcakes are set and just firm to the touch, about 20 minutes. Let the cupcakes sit in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and cool the on a wire rack.

 Frosting:

Combine the sugar, water and citric acid in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, making sure all the sugar is dissolved by swirling the pan occasionally. Boil without stirring until the syrup reaches 116 degrees C on a candy thermometer (soft ball stage). Remove from the heat, let cool to room temperature.

Beat the butter, icing sugar, cocoa powder and salt until smooth. Add the cooled sugar syrup and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the melted chocolate and beat until smooth and creamy. Spoon frosting into a large piping bad fitted with a star tip, and frost the cupcakes in a swirling motion. There is about 50g of frosting per cupcake – the frosting should be about an inch high.

Decorate with a sprinkle of cocoa nibs, silver sprinkles and a maraschino cherry.

Eat them; do not think about what is in the frosting. Thinking is bad for you anyway.

Kxxx