Resources: Cupcake Filling Dilemma with Foodily to the Rescue

Cross section of a cupcake.
Fill in the blanks with your descriptions.

Do you wonder what you should put into the middle of your delicious cupcakes?  No baking diva would now serve them with only frosting on top. Expectations for cupcakes have changed in the last few years. Currently your best dressed cupcake has a delicious tender cake, a flavored syrup brushed on after baking for moisture, one or more smooth, sweeping swirls of frosting, color-coordinated sprinkles, a special decorative topper, and a surprise filling. (Not to mention a beautiful wrapper!)

Sometimes choosing a filling is a real dilemma. In order to sort out the possible options I have to ask myself:

• Which is the best flavor combination to go with the frosting and cake? Sweet (raspberry jam, marmalade, fruit butter), or slightly savory (basil-lemon-mascarpone)?
• Should the texture be creamy (frosting, fruit curd, mousse), crunchy (nut butter, dark chocolate ganache with cocoa nibs, praline butter), sticky (marshmallow cream, fruit conserve, chocolate-hazelnut spread, caramel) or something else (maple butter, mouselline, cookie dough, cream filling, Cadbury Cream Egg, a strawberry)?
• Will the color of the filling contrast or blend with the cake?



Go to Things  to see how the cupcake
anatomy chart was made!

• Does the filling require refrigeration, will it be stable at room temperature, or outside at a picnic, wedding, or birthday party where it could get warm prior to eating? (USDA Food Safety and Inspection, Food Danger Zone, Ask.com)
• Are there any allergy concerns:  milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (such as almonds, cashews, walnuts), soy or gluten (wheat). Food Allergies, What You Need To Know , FoodAllergies and Intolerances Resource List for Consumers. December 2010. (PDF)

I have a wonderful collection of baking and pastry books, but sometimes, they may not reveal the information I want. When in doubt, I look online using various search tools. For instance, an "image" search on Google for "filled cupcakes" may display upwards of 4,430,000 results in 0.42 seconds. Unless I am looking for ideas in general, this shows too many options! Flickr is a good resource for dedicated bakers who also enjoy photographing their work. A search there reveals 17,028 images. Although the pictures are great, it may be troublesome to get to a recipe.

Pinterest, with 61,909 entries, has many stunning images of cupcakes that may lead to new and unexplored sites and recipes. On the About page, Pinterest is described much like a virtual cork board: "Think of Pinterest as a virtual pinboard — a place where you can create collections of things you love and "follow" collections created by people with great taste." I may also check my "go to" sites that rarely let me down such as Epicurious, FoodNetwork, Bon Apetit, or Martha Stewart (MS favorite cupcake collection). After an afternoon of searching and finding stunning eye candy, I still may not have found the best recipe!

My newest best friend online for narrowing down a recipe search is Foodily.  Foodily is "the world's largest recipe network, bringing together recipes from across the web so you can compare any recipe and find the ones your friends like." A search there reveals 125 returns. This is a manageable number of recipes to review, and there are a number of advantages that the other sites do not have. Why do I like this search site? Let me tell you:

• Recipe pictures and ingredient lists are shown side by side.
• You can click to a "details" page, or directly to the web site or blog the recipe is posted.
• Nutritional information is shown. (Now in beta.)
• You can share recipes using social media.
• And, you can eliminate ingredients from the list, on-the-fly. If you don't want recipes using soy, milk, or nuts you can delete it from a recipe and the search will recalibrate and show updated results.

Not only can you search, compare ingredients, and look over nutritional information, you can jump to the original post and maybe find a new "favorite" site to go back to another time. Don't forget to bookmark and print out the recipe!

Now, how do you get the filling into the cupcake?! Take a look at these online videos:

One of my favorite web sites is How2Heros. Follow the link to view the Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake video: "These cupcakes are large, moist and full of flavor with a chocolate ganache and fresh raspberry cream surprise inside. Make them extra beautiful and delicious with a drizzle of ganache, a sprinkling of confectioners sugar and a beautiful fresh raspberry or two on top." Recipe makes 12 jumbo cupcakes with a raspberry cream filling.

Take a look at Vegan Triple Chocolate Cupcakes from "New Vegetarian," and Grandma's Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes. The frosting recipe can be found on the Gluten Free Whoopie Pies page. This recipe does not have a filling. So, prior to icing, you will have to decide what to fill them with!

Cupcake books abound. Here is a list of a few of my favorites:

•  Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make
• What's New, Cupcake?: Ingeniously Simple Designs for Every Occasion
• Martha Stewart's Cupcakes: 175 Inspired Ideas for Everyone's Favorite Treat
• Gluten-Free Cupcakes: 50 Irresistible Recipes Made with Almond and Coconut Flour

Still not satisfied? Try TasteSpotting.com, my next new best search friend! Described as:
"TasteSpotting is our obsessive, compulsive collection of eye-catching images that link to something deliciously interesting on the other side. Think of TasteSpotting as a highly visual potluck of recipes, references, experiences, stories, articles, products, and anything else that inspires exquisite taste."

Recently added to my "that's interesting" list: check out Bake It in a Cake for surprise centers you would have never thought of!

What are your favorite cupcake fillings, books, blogs, web sites, or online search tools? Post a comment and let me know.

Online: Interesting & Inspiring

So many articles, beautifully composed food images, and delicious recipes!! I just can't stop reading long enough to bake! Saveur has saved me some hunting time so I can concentrate on the gathering of ideas and inspiration: Saveur's 2011 Best Food Blog Awards. You do have to create an account to see the entries. Oh well, what's one more!

"In SAVEUR’s ongoing mission to chronicle “a world of authentic cuisine,” we find what we’re looking for more and more in one place: online. We’re thrilled to shine a light on the very best of the best in the second annual SAVEUR Best Food Blog Awards — and we need your help. After going through all your nominations for the best blogs, posts, and photographs on the web, we’ve narrowed the field down to finalists in each category — and it’s time for you to pick a winner! Voting is open from April 26 – May 12. We’ll reveal the winners on May 17. Start voting today"

17 award categories. Just to name a few: Best Baking and Desserts Blog, Best Original Baking and Desserts Recipe, Best Food Photography, and Best Video Content.

Under Best Baking and Desserts Blog I found Evans's Kitchen Ramblings, and Desserts for Breakfast (love the painted macaroons! Coconut Rose Chocolate Macarons.), blogs I regularly enjoy. Under Best Original Desserts and Baking Recipe I found La Tartine Gourmande: Spiced pumpkin pots de crème with sautéed apples and pistachios. Cannelle at Vanilla:Pear, Apple and Fennel Salad, has a gorgeous photograph of their plated Thanksgiving salad under Best Food Photo.

Along with finding new and interesting ideas, I have found several new sites to follow that I had not known about: Golube, Cafe Fernando,  Not Without Salt, What Katie Ate, Food52, She Simmers, Alinea at Home, The Bitten Word, and Cooking Issues.

Hope you find some new inspirations as well! Add to my list by linking your favorites in a comment.

Recipe Question: Flourless Chocolate Cake

Recipe question of the day: What do you recommend for a flourless chocolate cake recipe?

There are many versions of this gluten free recipe. Some are more crispy or silky, "fall" or hold there shape, are firmer or souffle-like, with interiors that are slightly moist or molten. Those that I like the best have a crispy exterior with a soft dense interior. The following recipes strike a nice balance of flavor and texture. Always use the best ingredients that you can. This is especially important for the chocolate. A deep, rich chocolate flavor requires a high quality chocolate of at least a 70% cocoa solid.

An informative video, good recipe, and nice plating for a Flourless Chocolate Cake can be found at the How2Heroes.com web site. How2Heroes.com is an informative site with many videos from professional chefs for home cooks and bakers. Be sure to sign up for their newsletter.

Additional Tips for this recipe:
1. A tart or cake pan with a removable bottom (like a springform pan) can be used instead of the freestanding ring. Alternately, a regular cake pan cake be used, but it is trickier to remove the cooled cake. It may be easier to cut slices and remove them from the pan one at a time. (Inverting the cake onto a flat plate, then re-inverting it onto a display play may crush the delicate crust.)
2. If you only have one mixing bowl, beat the whites with some of the sugar first, as described in the recipe. Then you can beat the yolks without cleaning the bowl. If you do it the other way around, thoroughly clean the bowl to remove any trace of the egg yolk mixture. (The remaining fat content of the yolks will keep the whites from fully whipping to a high volume.)
3. The inside of the cake ring/pan can be coated with oil and sugar, as shown in the video/recipe, or coated with butter and dusted with cocoa powder. The cocoa blends into the surface of the cake and adds additional flavor.
4. Don't over beat the egg whites. (In the video they are almost too over-beaten and dry. This makes it hard to fold into the batter evenly without leaving white streaks and lumps.)
5. It is natural for the this type of flourless chocolate cake to "fall." The edges are nice and crispy, and the middle is soft and moist. Yumm!!
6. Make the same day you are serving if possible. If you make it a day ahead the flavor will still be wonderful, but the crispy edges will soften. Still delicious.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Glaze is found on the Whole Foods web site. This is a firmer cake that does not fall as much. The rich chocolate glaze provides a beautiful lustrous presentation with an additional flavor and texture element.

For another delicious ganache covered cake, try the Queen Mother Cake, found on Saveur.com.

Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cake can be made in a blender! Find it at Healthy Blender Recipes. From the About page: "... recipes are wheat-free, gluten-free, refined sugar free and vegetarian. The majority of the recipes are vegan, dairy-free, and soy-free." The Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cake is vegetarian, soy free and gluten free. Special ingredients include fair trade coffee, ground hazelnut meal, and agave nectar. The picture alone makes me want to get the blender out.

Related articles online:
Pie Pans vs. Tart Pans at finecooking.com.
Springform pan, definitionn at whatscookingamerica.net

I hate spending time (sometimes weeks!) trying to find ingredients. Here are some hard to find items related to this article from Amazon.com:

• Kaiser Bakeware Basic Tinplate Nested Springform Pans, Set of 3 
• Norpro Silicone 9 Inch Springform Pan with Glass Base
• Bob's Red Mill All-Natural Hazelnut Meal/Flour, 14-Ounce Packages (Pack of 4)
• Cafe Altura Organic Coffee, Sumatran Dark Roast, Whole Bean, 32-Ounce Bag
• Madhava Agave Nectar 100% Pure Organic Sweetener, Amber 11.75 fl oz (333 g)
• Dark 85% Chocolate Organic (10 Bars) 3.50 OuncesDark 85% Chocolate Organic (10 Bars) 3.50 OuncesDark 85% Chocolate Organic (10 Bars) 3.50 OuncesDark 85% Chocolate Organic (10 Bars) 3.50 OuncesDark 85% Chocolate Organic (10 Bars) 3.50 OuncesDark 85% Chocolate Organic (10 Bars) 3.50 Ounces
• The Green & Black's Organic Ultimate Chocolate Recipes: The New Collection
• Dagoba Organic Chocolate Bars, Eclipse, 2-Ounce Bars (Pack of 12) 

Best Recipe: Payard's Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies

There is a wonderful French-style bakery a few miles from my home. One of my favorite treats is their flourless chocolate cookie. It has a crispy cracked crust with tiny chocolate chips in the soft, chewy center - Yum!! When I asked about the type of cookie, I was told that it was a meringue. Hmmm, I thought. Meringue? These did not look like the tasty little meringue's like those on Joy of Baking, or "Mom's Chocolate Chip Meringue" cookies on SmittenKitchen. These are very tasty, but not the kind of cookie I was looking for.

After several hours of searching on Epicurious.com, Food Network.com, and Google, for meringue cookie recipes without finding what I was looking for,  it occurred to me that I needed a different approach. I changed the search terms from "chocolate meringue" to "flourless chocolate" cookie. Now I had a new set of recipes to sort. After several minutes of skimming result pages it became obvious that the number one recipe that was referenced the most was famous Chef François Payard's Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies. This was it - my search was over.

Oh, are these delicious!This has now become my go-to cookie for fast and wonderful cookies that get raves every time they are served. For those of you in NY, go to Payard’s Upper East Side pâtisserie and buy a few dozen for yourself. If you happened to buy Payard's latest book last year, it is featured  in Chocolate Epiphany: Exceptional Cookies, Cakes, and Confections for Everyone.Tasty treats can also be found on his online e-Boutique.

For those of you like me, who live far from NY, you can find this cookie recipe, and links to related articles, online in the New York Magazine article, Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies, April 13, 2008.

I have made these cookies a dozen times in the last 2 months for family and gifts, with toasted walnuts and pecans, tiny bittersweet chocolate bits, and plain. They are always very good. If you are not familiar with this style of recipe, it doesn't look like it will work with the ingredients called for. Persevere, they are wonderful.

New Finds: Deodorized Cocoa Butter, Writing Spoon, World Wide Vanilla Beans

Intriguing items have been catching my attention in various blog articles this week: deodorized cocoa butter, a stainless steel writing spoon, World Wide Vanilla Beans.

Image via Wikipedia

Deodorized cocoa butter:

I was totally fascinated by the idea of alternative chocolates as presented in the article Like Ketchup for Chocolate, posted by Dave Arnold. Noted in the article, for purposes where you want the silky feel of chocolate, but not the scent, deodorized cocoa butter is needed. Create a silky delight with the scent and flavor of your choice, a signature couverture.

After a quick Google search, I found an informative supplier: Cocoa Supply, South Hackensack, NJ.

"Deodorized cocoa butter is used in recipes where you don't want to add the strong cocoa flavor and aroma that Natural Cocoa Butter has. Widely used in the cosmetic industry, it is great for creams and balms, as well as any recipe where you want to blend other flavors."

I have not ordered from Cocoa Supply, but they are now on my wish list, along with a Santha wet grinder.

Writing Spoon:

While reading blog articles about molecular gastronomy, and following up on resources sited, I came across a most interesting spoon: a stainless steel spoon with a tip that resembles a calligrapher's pen nib. This remarkable spoon can be found on Le Sanctuaire.com, where a short video of the spoon in artistic motion can be viewed.

Writing Spoon description: "An innovative design from Julia Mariscal, each piece is hand-made of 18/10 stainless steel. This spoon has a tip that resembles that of a fountain pen. Just dip it in coffee, chocolate, or sauce, and use it for writing. Great for the table and also for plating in the kitchen! Dishwasher-safe. Made in Spain."

World Wide Vanilla Beans:

Image via Wikipedia

I have used and been delighted with Madagascar vanilla beans, Tahitian vanilla extract, and Mexican vanilla beans. Previously, I had not heard of those from Uganda, India and other places until recently. The Boston Vanilla Bean Company sells several varieties including Uganda vanilla beans and Indonesia vanilla beans. Beanilla.com additionally has vanilla beans from Tonga and India. The product descriptions provide insight into the differences between the various types.

Example description of the Organic Indonesian vanilla bean from Beanilla.com:

"Our 100% Certified Organic Indonesian Vanilla Beans are sweet with a unique woody flavor. The flavor is perfect for richer deserts and recipes that call for chocolate, caramel, or other deep flavors. They are very plump, pliable and have a flavor similar to our Indian vanilla variety. These vanilla beans are Australian Certified Organic (ACO), which means that you can ensure that these vanilla beans were produced in harmony with nature, keeping harmful chemicals out of our land, water and air.

Length: 16-17cm (approx. 6-7 inches)
Color: Very Dark Brown/Black
Place of Origin: Indonesia
Botanical Name: Vanilla Planifolia, Organic
Amount: 1 Whole Vanilla Bean
Flavor: sweet, woody, and a hint of smoke"

I'll keep looking for interesting items to share. Disclaimer: I do not work for these companies. These are my observations and found examples.