Tuesday, July 29, 2014

New job cupcakes

A few months ago I started a new job. After over 5 amazing years working for a performing arts venue, as well as about 3 years before that working with other performing arts companies, it was time for a change.

I was ready to step into a new role. I was ready for more responsibility. I was ready to take on the challenges of a new industry. Well, kind of a new industry, I was only stepping over into visual arts, where I guess you could say the performance occurs on the canvas instead of a stage. Either way, it was new.

In the interview it came up that I could bake… not really sure how, I guess I weaved it in there to “sweeten” the deal. But after starting and focusing all my energy on figuring out what I was doing, I was too drain too try and impress with my bake prowess. Every time we had a morning tea, and there seemed to be one almost every week, I either had a function or something on the night before and couldn’t make anything. A few months went by until I finally showed I could produce the goods. And that came in the form of my fresh strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese icing and (to make things extra special) lime zest AND edible glitter. I think the whole office was taken by the edible glitter, it was all anyone could talk about. And to make things even better, I could tell who had eaten my cupcakes as a few specks of glitter could be seen on their faces. Success!




Fresh strawberry cupcakes 
1 x 250g punnet strawberries, hulled and halved
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
2 tbs caster sugar
2 tbs water
240g plain flour  
3 tsp baking powder  
280g caster sugar pinch salt  
80g butter
240ml milk  
2 tsps vanilla extract  
2 eggs  

In a saucepan over a low-medium heat, add the strawberries, lemon juice, sugar and water. Allow to stew until the strawberries are broken down (about 5 - 7 minutes). Allow the strawberry mixture to thicken up to a loose jam consistency then take it off the heat and strain it through a fine sieve to remove lumps and seeds. Allow the strawberry mixture to cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a cupcake tray with cupcake cases. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and butter with an electric beater until it resembles a sandy consistency. Slowly beat in half the milk. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the remaining milk and egg. Add to the flour mix and beat until smooth. Fold through the cooled strawberry mixture. Be careful not to overbeat! Spoon mixture into cupcake cases and bake for about 20 minutes. 

Icing 
250g cream cheese
100g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs milk (optional)
1 x lime
edible glitter 

In a food processor, beat the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla until smooth. If icing is too thick, add a little bit of milk to get it to the right consistency. When ready, spoon into a piping bag and pipe onto your cooled cupcakes. Finely grate the zest of a lime and sprinkle over the top. Then finish with a light sprinkling of edible glitter (you can sometimes find edible glitter form the baking section of a supermarket, otherwise go to any good cake/baking goods store or look online).




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