This week's cupcake is the beginning of my Halloween series, and an ode to the "Run For Your Lives" 5K Zombie Obstacle Course that I will be participating in this coming weekend in Baltimore, MD. The name 'Zinger' may strike a mental chord in some of you sweet toothed individuals; an American snack cake produced by Hostess, available in chocolate, vanilla and raspberry flavours. The Zombie Zinger isn't quite your traditional Zinger but presents similar flavours. In an attempt to mimic a snack fit for the undead and add a level of 'crunch' to the blood filled (raspberry filling) treat, I produced a white chocolate cake (this produces a 'crunchier' cake containing brittle white chocolate chips, draped in a thin layer of raspberry mascarpone icing, covered in a layer of coconut flakes, topped with a raspberry buttercream braaaaaaaiiiiiiin.
Raspberry Filling (modified from Transcontinental Bake Fest)
2 cups frozen raspberries, thawed
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup Triple Sec
Combine all ingredients 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 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.
White Chocolate Cupcake (adapted from joyofbaking.com)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup shredded coconut (reserve for topping)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan(s).
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 milk and vanilla extract; set aside. In a medium bowl sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture in thirds alternating with the milk/extract mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients until combined. Fold in white chocolate chips.This batch yielded 5 mini and 12 regular sized cupcakes baked for 10 and 17 minutes respectively.
Once the cakes cooled I cup a golf ball sized hole into the center of each, removing the tops and cutting away part of each center piece to allow them to be replaced once the cakes were filled. Fill each cupcake with raspberry filling and replace the respective cake lids. And proceed to top with the following frosting:
Raspberry Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup raspberry filling (from above)
2 tbsp whip cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients and mix at medium speed until smooth (~2-3 minutes), scrapping down the sides as necessary.
I spread a thin layer of frosting over each cake to provide an adhesive base for a sprinkle of coconut flakes over each treat. The rest of the frosting was then piped onto the cakes in the formation of a brain.
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup raspberry filling (from above)
2 tbsp whip cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients and mix at medium speed until smooth (~2-3 minutes), scrapping down the sides as necessary.
I spread a thin layer of frosting over each cake to provide an adhesive base for a sprinkle of coconut flakes over each treat. The rest of the frosting was then piped onto the cakes in the formation of a brain.
The Panel:
Though the presentation of this week's cupcake was definitely the talk of the group, the combination of flavours also produced a bit of hype; the raspberry and coconut seemed to really compliment one another. Some commented that the cake was a little dry, others moist, some enjoyed the frosting to filling to cake ratio, while others did not. This treat was rather busy but seemed successful overall. The white chocolate chips also had an acceptable presence.
JRock: "I was surprised I liked it so much!"
Peanut: "Icing on top looked awesome; so brainy!"
Kupcake: "I never thought I'd enjoy eating a brain so much...this cupcake was awesome!"
Cocoa: "The combination of raspberry and coconut was to die for."
My comments:
The recipe seen above was the result of my second essay as this week's cupcake, fittingly, has an associated horror story. I made the filling first which turned out PERFECT! I proceeded to make the cupcakes, adding applesauce as I did last week, but the cakes came out really under cooked at the bases.After baking the second batch, whose bottoms still seemed slightly underdone, I came to the conclusion that the culprit, culprits rather, were the Toll House white chocolate chips that I was putting into the batter. The excessive amount of cocoa butter used in their development was foiling my fat ratios! Luckily, the second batch was presentable and I was able to salvage the ruined batch for next week's theme but I was thoroughly disappointed with the results I obtained in Round 1. THEN, the mascarpone frosting recipe I attempted was far from substantial enough to maintain brain shapes atop the final product so I also had to produce a second parcel of frosting. I was, however, fairly pleased with the final result. Though I found the cakes to be somewhat on the sweet side, the flavours all worked well together and for once, the filling definitely had a presence. The white chocolate chips melted down to about half their original size but still provided a nice compliment to the raspberries; coconut subtle.
Though the presentation of this week's cupcake was definitely the talk of the group, the combination of flavours also produced a bit of hype; the raspberry and coconut seemed to really compliment one another. Some commented that the cake was a little dry, others moist, some enjoyed the frosting to filling to cake ratio, while others did not. This treat was rather busy but seemed successful overall. The white chocolate chips also had an acceptable presence.
JRock: "I was surprised I liked it so much!"
Peanut: "Icing on top looked awesome; so brainy!"
Kupcake: "I never thought I'd enjoy eating a brain so much...this cupcake was awesome!"
Cocoa: "The combination of raspberry and coconut was to die for."
My comments:
The recipe seen above was the result of my second essay as this week's cupcake, fittingly, has an associated horror story. I made the filling first which turned out PERFECT! I proceeded to make the cupcakes, adding applesauce as I did last week, but the cakes came out really under cooked at the bases.After baking the second batch, whose bottoms still seemed slightly underdone, I came to the conclusion that the culprit, culprits rather, were the Toll House white chocolate chips that I was putting into the batter. The excessive amount of cocoa butter used in their development was foiling my fat ratios! Luckily, the second batch was presentable and I was able to salvage the ruined batch for next week's theme but I was thoroughly disappointed with the results I obtained in Round 1. THEN, the mascarpone frosting recipe I attempted was far from substantial enough to maintain brain shapes atop the final product so I also had to produce a second parcel of frosting. I was, however, fairly pleased with the final result. Though I found the cakes to be somewhat on the sweet side, the flavours all worked well together and for once, the filling definitely had a presence. The white chocolate chips melted down to about half their original size but still provided a nice compliment to the raspberries; coconut subtle.