I procrastinate. Too much. Especially when it comes to blogging. I always feel that the pictures arent as attractive as I’d want them to be, or that the recipe itself is too complicated and cumbersome for a lot of people to even read through, let alone trying their hand at it. And then without realising, the prospective post that I was procrastinating about never ends up becoming a post at all. But not this time.
I baked these after a simple sunday lunch at home, for a mini-game day get-together my parents were having. I always enjoy cooking/baking when I know who its for, when its going to be consumed and what their taste in food is like. For example, mums not a fan of chocolate (weird, I know!) so I know that if the host herself isn’t excited about the fare on offer, the hesitation can get contagious.
I recently started pondering about a kind of julie and juila project (which thankfully doesn’t involve deboning a duck or killing lobster) by getting through the entire 75 recipe book of cupcakes. Back to procrastinating that one. In the mean time, enjoy these fragrant, delicious and perfect pick-me-up cappuccino cupcakes filled with espresso creme. The creme is made from a gorgeous and super simple vegetarian custard, that is so silky and creamy, its almost unbelievable.
Adapted from here. Makes 12 regular cupcakes.
Ingredients for the Espresso Pastry Creme:
- 1/2 up milk
- 1 tsp powdered agar/china grass
- 4 tsp cornflour
- 1/2 pack extra firm tofu, drained
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbs espresso powder/instant coffee powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
Ingredients for the cupcakes:
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup yoghurt
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla bean extract
- 3 tbs instant expresso/coffee powder
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tbs cocoa powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Method:
- First off, prepare the pastry creme so it can cook and cool while the cupcakes are baking. Start by placing a small saucepan on medium heat, and add 1/3 cup of the milk and the agar/china grass. Keep stirring, bring to boil, then lower and mix for a few minutes until entirely dissolved.
- Mix the balance of the milk with the cornflour, and add to saucepan, mixing throughout. the mixture will thicken in 30 seconds, and once it resembles a puddingy paste, remove from heat.
- Blend the rest of the creme ingredients, along with the custard. Once the mixture is creamy and smooth, cover and leave to chill.
- Preheat the oven to 175*c and line a 12 muffin tin with ultra cute cupcake liners.
- Whisk together the oil, yoghurt, milk, vanilla and coffee. Sift in the four, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix till smooth. Fill each cupcake tin till 2/3rds full and bake for 15-18 minutes (keep checking after 15).
- Once cooled, pierce each cupcake, fill with creme and pipe on top, and sprinkle with some chocolate/coffee flavoured sprinkles.
Feedback:
- I found that the creme can get a bit runny when you pipe, so try and chill it for a few hours before using, and make sure to drain the tofu as best you can.
- Using good quality espresso powder will deepen the flavour of the cupcakes.
- Baking times vary, and with these, the moister, the better.
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