Though the week's forecast may beg to differ, autumn is in full swing and this week's cupcake is an attempt to capture just that. Ripe Bosc pears (fresh from Canada), sweet figs, smokey meat and rich balsamic are the flavours highlighted in this unique creation. Inspired by one of "Wicked" signature fire kissed pizzas, Autumn Rapture is a pear cupcake, smeared with fig butter, overlayed by a thin slice of prosciutto, covered in a balsamic mascarpone frosting finished off with a couple sprigs of arugula.
Poached Pears
3 cups of water
1 cup of sugar
4 Bosc pears, peeled, cored and quartered
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp vanilla
Heat the water and sugar in a saucepan, over medium heat, until the sugar has dissolved. Add the spices and allow to simmer for a minute. Add the pears, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until pears cooked. Remove from heat and allow pears to cool in liquid.
3 cups of water
1 cup of sugar
4 Bosc pears, peeled, cored and quartered
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp vanilla
Heat the water and sugar in a saucepan, over medium heat, until the sugar has dissolved. Add the spices and allow to simmer for a minute. Add the pears, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until pears cooked. Remove from heat and allow pears to cool in liquid.
Pear Cupcake
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup yogurt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups diced poached pears
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 medium bowl sift together the flours, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture in thirds alternating with the yogurt, starting and ending with the dry ingredients until combined. Fold in pears and scoop into pans. This batch yielded 16 regular sized cupcakes baked for 17 minutes.
Mascarpone Balsamic Frosting
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioner/icing/powder sugar
1 1/2 tsp balsamic
1 tbsp whipping cream
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix until smooth.
~3 tbsp fig butter
30 arugula leaves
5 thin slices of prosciutto, halved
Once cool, I spread a layer of fig butter on each cupcake, place half of a thin prosciutto slice on top, then added a 1/2 inch layer of the Mascarpone Balsamic Frosting and finished it all of with a couple arugula leaves.
The Panel
Another savory treat to cause skepticism and a stir. Overall, comments suggested that all of the flavours worked well together, that none of them overpowered the other and that the elements were well balanced, also true for the presentation comments. A couple judges found the aroma of the prosciutto to be overpowering, Sweet Tooth wasn't keen on the element and Diana removed it from the treat all together. Many a remark was made that the prosciutto made the cupcake difficult to eat as it required an extra level of tearing that the rest of the cake did not. From this, several suggestions were made to break the meat down somehow, either into strips or dried bits. A few also noted that the pear flavour was muted, Kupcake recommended creating a pear frosting. JRock proposed adding a balsamic drizzle over the arugula.
Giovanni: "This might be my ideal autumnal snack."
Peanut: "Bravo!"
My comments
Once I put it into my head that there was a savory aspect to Autumn Rapture, it was a very enjoyable experience. I personally found the arugula to be the most overpowering aroma but was able to get past it. All of the components definitely worked well together, not that I doubted it, and I was extremely pleased with how the frosting turned out. Though the cake being slightly dense (I think the use of whole wheat flour may have contributed to this) and on the moist side, it worked for this particular treat. I may attempt different approaches to bringing out the pear flavour further including larger pear chunks, a pear sauce topping or incorporating it into the frosting. I fully agree that in the future the meat should be easier to access, otherwise I was very pleased with the end result.
Another savory treat to cause skepticism and a stir. Overall, comments suggested that all of the flavours worked well together, that none of them overpowered the other and that the elements were well balanced, also true for the presentation comments. A couple judges found the aroma of the prosciutto to be overpowering, Sweet Tooth wasn't keen on the element and Diana removed it from the treat all together. Many a remark was made that the prosciutto made the cupcake difficult to eat as it required an extra level of tearing that the rest of the cake did not. From this, several suggestions were made to break the meat down somehow, either into strips or dried bits. A few also noted that the pear flavour was muted, Kupcake recommended creating a pear frosting. JRock proposed adding a balsamic drizzle over the arugula.
Giovanni: "This might be my ideal autumnal snack."
Peanut: "Bravo!"
My comments
Once I put it into my head that there was a savory aspect to Autumn Rapture, it was a very enjoyable experience. I personally found the arugula to be the most overpowering aroma but was able to get past it. All of the components definitely worked well together, not that I doubted it, and I was extremely pleased with how the frosting turned out. Though the cake being slightly dense (I think the use of whole wheat flour may have contributed to this) and on the moist side, it worked for this particular treat. I may attempt different approaches to bringing out the pear flavour further including larger pear chunks, a pear sauce topping or incorporating it into the frosting. I fully agree that in the future the meat should be easier to access, otherwise I was very pleased with the end result.