This week's cupcake is the result of the King Cakes from Mardi Gras. Crazy Cakes received the bean in her cake and passed along some flavour ideas. This one was inspired by "a great margarita at Anejo (Mexican Resaurant in Falmouth, MA) made with mango nectar and I believe it has habenero tequila". A mango vanilla cupcake, filled with a mango preserve, frosted with a jalapeno-cilantro-lime-cream cheese frosting and topped with a slice of dried mango.
Mango Vanilla Cupcakes
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup fresh diced mango
pinch of cayenne
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan(s).
In a large bowl combine butter and sugar until fluffy (~3 minutes). Beat in the eggs one at a time. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl combine the milk and vanilla extract, set aside. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the butter/sugar mixture in thirds alternating with the milk mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, until combined. Fold in the mango bits. Pour the batter into the pan(s). This batch yielded 12 regular sized and 10 mini cupcakes baked for 15 and 11 minutes respectively.
Mango Filling
1/2 cup fresh pureed mango
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp lime juice1 tbsp confectioner sugar
Combine mango, granulated sugar, corn starch and lime juice in a heavy saucepan and maintain over medium heat until they reach a full boil. Stir often until the mixture becomes thick and glossy. Remove from heat and stir in confectioner sugar until well incorporated. Allow to cool completely. *This made enough to fill the cupcakes produced in this batch and to use in the frosting with a couple tablespoons left over.
Jalapeno Lime Cilantro Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
4 oz cream cheese
2 1/2 cups powder/confectioner sugar
zest of 1 lime
2 tbsp jalapeno puree (2 jalapenos, diced + palm full of cilantro + juice of 1/2 lime pureed in a blender)
Cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar together until well combined. Add zest and puree until well combined.
Once cooled, filled and frosted, I topped each cake with a half slice of dried mango fruit.
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup fresh diced mango
pinch of cayenne
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan(s).
In a large bowl combine butter and sugar until fluffy (~3 minutes). Beat in the eggs one at a time. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl combine the milk and vanilla extract, set aside. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the butter/sugar mixture in thirds alternating with the milk mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, until combined. Fold in the mango bits. Pour the batter into the pan(s). This batch yielded 12 regular sized and 10 mini cupcakes baked for 15 and 11 minutes respectively.
Mango Filling
1/2 cup fresh pureed mango
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp lime juice1 tbsp confectioner sugar
Combine mango, granulated sugar, corn starch and lime juice in a heavy saucepan and maintain over medium heat until they reach a full boil. Stir often until the mixture becomes thick and glossy. Remove from heat and stir in confectioner sugar until well incorporated. Allow to cool completely. *This made enough to fill the cupcakes produced in this batch and to use in the frosting with a couple tablespoons left over.
Jalapeno Lime Cilantro Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
4 oz cream cheese
2 1/2 cups powder/confectioner sugar
zest of 1 lime
2 tbsp jalapeno puree (2 jalapenos, diced + palm full of cilantro + juice of 1/2 lime pureed in a blender)
Cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar together until well combined. Add zest and puree until well combined.
Once cooled, filled and frosted, I topped each cake with a half slice of dried mango fruit.
The Panel:
First and foremost, commentary from the creator of the concept for this week's treat, Crazy Cakes: "I loved the frosting. Probably one of my most favorite. I think the mango on top blended nicely with the frosting. The cake was wonderfully moist, almost a little too much. Loved the mango puree!! " All of the judges agreed that this was a very interesting combination of flavours, suggesting that the heat and sweet made for a great pairing. They really seemed to enjoy the frosting, commenting that the cilantro definitely came through (too strongly for some) and that the jalapeno could have been a little stronger. Peanut and JRock commented that they found the cakes to be almost corn cake based (possibly because I used 3 eggs in this week's recipe). Cake was moist overall, likely contributed to the mango content. Giovanni and Shannah suggested cutting the mango topper down to strips to provider easier navigation of the very much sweet treats. Colours provided excellent visual appeal.
Giovanni:"Uggh that frosting was delicious, like literal plate licking delicious. Within microseconds of consumption the tart sweetness from the limes arrives in your mouth, the tartness is quickly smoothed out with the the cilantro, and the spice of the jalapeno closes out the bite yet is tempered by the inherent creaminess."
Shannah: "Bottom line...if served again, I would definitely indulge in it!!!"
Cocoa: "This cupcake tasted exactly like a margarita!"
My comments:
Though the batter had a slight bite, I agree that the final product could have stepped up a couple more notches as far as spice is concerned. I wasn't initially pleased with the frosting as I found the consistency to be slightly runny and the cream cheese to be subtle. The cakes were a little wet, possibly attributable to the mango chunks in the batter; the cakes seemed too moist, almost dense. I would try adding baking soda next time to minimize the cakes fro falling. The frosting was also lacking spice though the pepper flavours come through. I agree that the cilantro was strong in the frosting., I felt that the cakes were quite sweet and that more mango filling would have been nice.
First and foremost, commentary from the creator of the concept for this week's treat, Crazy Cakes: "I loved the frosting. Probably one of my most favorite. I think the mango on top blended nicely with the frosting. The cake was wonderfully moist, almost a little too much. Loved the mango puree!! " All of the judges agreed that this was a very interesting combination of flavours, suggesting that the heat and sweet made for a great pairing. They really seemed to enjoy the frosting, commenting that the cilantro definitely came through (too strongly for some) and that the jalapeno could have been a little stronger. Peanut and JRock commented that they found the cakes to be almost corn cake based (possibly because I used 3 eggs in this week's recipe). Cake was moist overall, likely contributed to the mango content. Giovanni and Shannah suggested cutting the mango topper down to strips to provider easier navigation of the very much sweet treats. Colours provided excellent visual appeal.
Giovanni:"Uggh that frosting was delicious, like literal plate licking delicious. Within microseconds of consumption the tart sweetness from the limes arrives in your mouth, the tartness is quickly smoothed out with the the cilantro, and the spice of the jalapeno closes out the bite yet is tempered by the inherent creaminess."
Shannah: "Bottom line...if served again, I would definitely indulge in it!!!"
Cocoa: "This cupcake tasted exactly like a margarita!"
My comments:
Though the batter had a slight bite, I agree that the final product could have stepped up a couple more notches as far as spice is concerned. I wasn't initially pleased with the frosting as I found the consistency to be slightly runny and the cream cheese to be subtle. The cakes were a little wet, possibly attributable to the mango chunks in the batter; the cakes seemed too moist, almost dense. I would try adding baking soda next time to minimize the cakes fro falling. The frosting was also lacking spice though the pepper flavours come through. I agree that the cilantro was strong in the frosting., I felt that the cakes were quite sweet and that more mango filling would have been nice.