This week's cupcake was based on the concept of a rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions, which is why I presented each of the judges with not one, but THREE (mini) cupcakes. A twist on the traditional oatmeal raisin, this treat is a golden raisin oatmeal cupcake topped with a goldschlager buttercream frosting, finished off with gold sprinkles.
Taste: **** | Presentation: ****
Cupcake
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup golden raisins
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease pan(s).
In a large bowl, stir the butter and sugar together until fluffy (~5 mins). Beat in the eggs, one at a time. In a small dish combine the vanilla and milk, set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients, adding the oats after sifting. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture in 3rds, alternating with the milk/vanilla mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Fold in the raisins. Scoop the batter into your prepared pans and bake. This recipe yielded 48 minis, baked at 13 minutes.
Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups icing/confectioners sugar
4 tbsp Goldschläger
1/2 tsp vanilla
In a medium bowl, cream the butter. Sift in 1 cup of sugar and mix. Mix in the liquids and slowly add the rest of the sugar. I frosted 44 minis with this recipe (~1centimeter thick).
Once the cupcakes have cooled and been frosted, top them with gold sprinkles.
The Panel
I always find it interesting when there are mixed comments concerning moistness level of the cupcakes, this week was a perfect example with a roughly 50/50 split of moist and dry comments. Those who commented that it was dry however, did say that the frosting covered it up nicely so perhaps there were some who didn't notice thanks to the frosting? Either way, the flavour was accurate to the cinnamon raisin concept and 'pretty' was the general consensus concerning presentation, with the gold sprinkles adding a nice crunch to the bite sized treats. Though everyone noted the pleasant essence of the golden raisins, remarks were made that the raisins were on the large side for these small cakes and some even felt there were too many in their cakes. Cathy P reported that she could not taste any of the Goldschläger.
Kupcake: "Tasted just like an oatmeal raisin cookie...THESE ARE SO YUMMY!!!"
Cathy P*: "I want more!"
Crazy Cakes: "Sweet & simple"
*Cocoa was out of the office this week and offered up her treat to this week's guest judge, Cathy P.
My comments
I found the flavour to be nice and light, one of the simpler recipes I have conjured. Though I personally felt my pipping technique could have used a little practice, people seemed to comment on it positively: the star tip is definitely a tougher one to master. Only one comment was made about the Goldschläger flavour of the frosting and I completely agree that it was lost, another failed attempt at using liquor as an extract! It seems to disappear over night and I am bound and determined to resolve the loss of flavour. I felt the cupcakes could have used a little more frosting on an individual basis, perhaps part of the flavour was concealed by the spice cake. In the future I would consider dicing the raisins to decrease their size and cut back to 3/4 of a cup.
I always find it interesting when there are mixed comments concerning moistness level of the cupcakes, this week was a perfect example with a roughly 50/50 split of moist and dry comments. Those who commented that it was dry however, did say that the frosting covered it up nicely so perhaps there were some who didn't notice thanks to the frosting? Either way, the flavour was accurate to the cinnamon raisin concept and 'pretty' was the general consensus concerning presentation, with the gold sprinkles adding a nice crunch to the bite sized treats. Though everyone noted the pleasant essence of the golden raisins, remarks were made that the raisins were on the large side for these small cakes and some even felt there were too many in their cakes. Cathy P reported that she could not taste any of the Goldschläger.
Kupcake: "Tasted just like an oatmeal raisin cookie...THESE ARE SO YUMMY!!!"
Cathy P*: "I want more!"
Crazy Cakes: "Sweet & simple"
*Cocoa was out of the office this week and offered up her treat to this week's guest judge, Cathy P.
My comments
I found the flavour to be nice and light, one of the simpler recipes I have conjured. Though I personally felt my pipping technique could have used a little practice, people seemed to comment on it positively: the star tip is definitely a tougher one to master. Only one comment was made about the Goldschläger flavour of the frosting and I completely agree that it was lost, another failed attempt at using liquor as an extract! It seems to disappear over night and I am bound and determined to resolve the loss of flavour. I felt the cupcakes could have used a little more frosting on an individual basis, perhaps part of the flavour was concealed by the spice cake. In the future I would consider dicing the raisins to decrease their size and cut back to 3/4 of a cup.