I ended up being inspired to create several cupcakes over the course of my vacation, but alas, I had to settle on one for the first week back. The treat I decided to present this week was inspired by my time in Eastern France, in the Alsace region, just on the German border. One of the traditional pastries of this region is known as Kougelhopf, or bundt cake. "Kougel" is the German word for "ball" or "globe" and "hopf" relates to the verb "hüpfen" (jump), a reference to the cake surface going up while being baked. The cupcake is made up of Kougelhopf basic ingredients but the consistency isn't quite so bready. Kougel(rip)hopf is an almond cupcake with Kirsch soaked raisins, rolled in confectioners sugar, sitting atop a bed of sliced almonds, topped with a Kirsch buttercream frosting, served up with an almond on top! As the traditional sweet is traditionally served with coffee.
Cupcake
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup plain yogurt (Chobani Greek)
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup mixed golden & sultana raisins
1/3 cup Kirsch (cherry brandy)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
In a small bowl, combine raisins and Kirsch and allow them to soak while preparing the rest of the recipe.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan(s) and cover bottom with sliced almonds (see picture below).
In a large bowl combine butter and sugar until fluffy (~3 minutes). Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between. In a small bowl whisk together the yogurt and almond extract; set aside. In a medium bowl sift together the 2 cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture in thirds alternating with the yogurt/extract mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients until combined. Fold in the Kirsch soaked raisins. Pour into pan(s) over sliced almonds. This batch yielded 12 mini and 12 regular sized cupcakes baked for 11 and 18 minutes respectively.
Once cakes cooled I rolled each over a plate covered in icing/confectioners sugar to decorate the sides. (I did this the night before and it faded slightly over night, affected by cake moisture.)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup plain yogurt (Chobani Greek)
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup mixed golden & sultana raisins
1/3 cup Kirsch (cherry brandy)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
In a small bowl, combine raisins and Kirsch and allow them to soak while preparing the rest of the recipe.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan(s) and cover bottom with sliced almonds (see picture below).
In a large bowl combine butter and sugar until fluffy (~3 minutes). Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between. In a small bowl whisk together the yogurt and almond extract; set aside. In a medium bowl sift together the 2 cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture in thirds alternating with the yogurt/extract mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients until combined. Fold in the Kirsch soaked raisins. Pour into pan(s) over sliced almonds. This batch yielded 12 mini and 12 regular sized cupcakes baked for 11 and 18 minutes respectively.
Once cakes cooled I rolled each over a plate covered in icing/confectioners sugar to decorate the sides. (I did this the night before and it faded slightly over night, affected by cake moisture.)
Kirsch Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups icing/confectioners sugar
3 tbsp Kirsch
2 tbsp whip cream
red food colouring
In a medium bowl, mix the butter and sugar together until well blended/fluffy. Add the vanilla,Kirsch and cream, beat for 2 minutes. Mix in the red food colouring to give the frosting a pink tint.
Once frosted, top each cake with a salted almond (salt adds a nice contrast of flavour with the sweet of the frosting).
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups icing/confectioners sugar
3 tbsp Kirsch
2 tbsp whip cream
red food colouring
In a medium bowl, mix the butter and sugar together until well blended/fluffy. Add the vanilla,Kirsch and cream, beat for 2 minutes. Mix in the red food colouring to give the frosting a pink tint.
Once frosted, top each cake with a salted almond (salt adds a nice contrast of flavour with the sweet of the frosting).
The Panel
The feature of this week's cupcake that was most commented on was the layer of almonds present along the bottom, a presentation technique that I am rather proud of. A few judges expressed a customary lack of adoration for raisins, but the fact that they were Kirsch soaked in this recipe offered a new angle for the dried fruit. Some commented that it could have used more raisins, but I almost prefer Cathy P's suggestion to maintain a static amount and simply chop them up. Some of the cherry flavour was lost in the frosting which, I concur, was a little on the sweet side and that the essence of Kirsch was tame. I also appreciated Diana and Peanut's proposition to add some cherries into the amalgam.
J Rock: "Almonds on bottom, OUTSTANDING!!!!"
Fathom's Chef: "I 'hopf'ed' for joy w/ this one!"
My Comments
I seem to have produced more of an 'average' cupcake this week which came as no surprise to me after having taken a week off. While preparing the batter as normal, for some reason the batter seemed thicker than usual and I think it may have been due to my using Greek yogurt instead of my usual, thinner, homemade yogurt. So, I added some applesauce to the batter as well. Upon sampling the final product, I found the cakes to be a little less sweet, more buttery (interestingly, Diana made that exact comment).Some lemon zest would have also added an extra level of flavour. I was initially disappointed with this week's treat but thankfully, the reviews were positive. Though I believe I used too much icing/confectioner sugar in the frosting, I was pleased with the consistency. The mission to master frosting continues!
The feature of this week's cupcake that was most commented on was the layer of almonds present along the bottom, a presentation technique that I am rather proud of. A few judges expressed a customary lack of adoration for raisins, but the fact that they were Kirsch soaked in this recipe offered a new angle for the dried fruit. Some commented that it could have used more raisins, but I almost prefer Cathy P's suggestion to maintain a static amount and simply chop them up. Some of the cherry flavour was lost in the frosting which, I concur, was a little on the sweet side and that the essence of Kirsch was tame. I also appreciated Diana and Peanut's proposition to add some cherries into the amalgam.
J Rock: "Almonds on bottom, OUTSTANDING!!!!"
Fathom's Chef: "I 'hopf'ed' for joy w/ this one!"
My Comments
I seem to have produced more of an 'average' cupcake this week which came as no surprise to me after having taken a week off. While preparing the batter as normal, for some reason the batter seemed thicker than usual and I think it may have been due to my using Greek yogurt instead of my usual, thinner, homemade yogurt. So, I added some applesauce to the batter as well. Upon sampling the final product, I found the cakes to be a little less sweet, more buttery (interestingly, Diana made that exact comment).Some lemon zest would have also added an extra level of flavour. I was initially disappointed with this week's treat but thankfully, the reviews were positive. Though I believe I used too much icing/confectioner sugar in the frosting, I was pleased with the consistency. The mission to master frosting continues!