The Kitchen Juggler's Blackforest Cupcake

      Making a decadent cupcake requires just a little effort, in fact, it is pretty effortless I should say.

 

      These little cuppies are always able to delight the friends of my teenage daughters who regularly drop by after school. Instead of making a huge 9-inch blackforest gateau, I would opt for a dozen of these babies instead because I do not want leftovers piling up in the chiller! 

 

      The fastest way is to get a packet of chocolate sponge mix and just follow the directions on the packet. A 200g of sponge mix is more than enough to make a dozen of medium to large cupcakes. When you have the batter ready, fill up the cups up to two-thirds full. Bake as directed.

 

       Normally, the temperature I set for this cake is around 180-190C. Once the cake is done, let them cool.

 

        In the meantime, get the filling and topping ready. For the filling, pour a can of red cherries in a pot, and add 2  tablespoon sugar, a teaspoon of lemon or orange juice, a teaspoon of gelatin. Let the gelatin bloom for about 5 minutes. Then heat the pot and let the liquid reduce by half.

 

        Remove from heat, and mashed the cherries so that the filling can pass through a large round nozzle.

 

        For the butter cream, mix 150g of softened butter, 100g of icing sugar, few drops of vanilla essence. Whisk until fluffy.

 

        Using a nozzle with a round tip or a filling nozzle to inject the cherry filling into the cupcake. Using a star nozzle (or basically any pattern that you desire) pipe some cream around the edges of the cupcake.

 

       Then place some cherry filling in the centre to cover the hole made earlier. Grate some chocolate (or you can use chocolate rice) and sprinkle on top of the cupcake. 

 

       If you're not a fan of sponge cakes, any chocolate butter cake recipe will do. Happy trying!

Mynn