Creme Brulee Mini Cupcakes

Creme Brûlée Mini Cupcakes

These two-bite little cupcakes are tasty, and can really be flavored any way you want -- I used vanilla in my custard, but you can use almond extract, coconut, something fruity -- basically any flavor that you really enjoy.

Cupcakes:

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

In another bowl, whisk together sugars, oil, vanilla, and buttermilk. Pour into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined and smooth.

Fill mini cupcake liners with about a tablespoon of batter (about 2/3 full). Bake 7 minutes, turn tins, bake another 7 minutes.

Let cool.

Makes 36.

Creme Brûlée:

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

Beat egg yolks until thick and light colored. Beat in sugar.

In a saucepan, heat cream over medium heat until warm. Stir in vanilla.

A little at a time, stir half of the cream into the egg yolks. Make sure you are stirring constantly during this process to keep the eggs from curdling. Then add the egg mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring continuously.

My recipe claimed it would take 5-8 minutes for the custard to thicken, but my experience was that was a LIE. It actually took closer to 50 minutes, and I eventually had to add a little cornstarch to get it to thicken up. However, I didn't have enough heavy cream and I had to supplement with about 1/3 cup light cream, so I think this is one possible cause.

Whatever the case, don't panic if your custard takes a little while to thicken. Remember to keep stirring it, and when it's thick enough to coat the spoon it's ready.

When the custard is finished, strain it into a bowl using a fine mesh to remove solids. You will need to use it immediately.

To Finish:

1/4 cup brown sugar

Before making your custard, core a small hole in the top of each cupcake.

When custard is finished, spoon enough into each cupcake to fill the hole. Set the cupcakes in the fridge for at least two hours.

Before serving, sprinkle a generous amount of brown sugar over the top of the custard.

Then use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar into a crust. It will turn brown.

You only need to turn the heat on it for a short while -- too long and the sugar will burn, so use your judgement based on whether or not you like the burnt sugar taste.

This recipe was a little more nerve-wracking than some due to the custard, but overall not too bad. The mini cupcakes are perfect for a tea or garden party where finger food will be served; you can even unwrap them from their wrappers ahead of time to minimize trash. And the carmalised sugar topping looks extremely elegant.

Adapted from Design Bake Run.

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

I recommend making the lemon curd first, because it has to chill for two hours before you can use it.

Cupcakes:

3 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

3 tbsp freshly grated lemon rind

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Whisk together flour and baking powder. Meanwhile, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add eggs, beating until combined. Add zest and vanilla. Alternate in flour and buttermilk/lemon juice, still beating.

Fill cupcake tins 3/4 high. Bake 13 minutes, turn, bake 13. Let cool.

Lemon Curd:

2 eggs + 8 egg yolks (save whites for icing)

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup lemon juice (the recipe says about 6 lemons; I only needed 3 and was still able to get the juice for the cake)

2 tbsp butter, cut into pieces

Combine eggs, yolks, sugar, and lemon juice is a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. I used my metal mixing bowl and just set it in a small saucepan, since I don't have a double boiler. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is thick. It'll bubble into a thick, light colored foam -- you can definitely tell when it's ready.

Remove from heat and whisk in the butter until it melts. Strain into a bowl you can store in the fridge for at least two hours.

I strained the lemon juice right after I squeezed it, to remove the seeds and pulp, and when I stained the curd I found that there was really nothing left in the strainer -- maybe a few fragments of egg white. So I think you can save yourself a step by straining the lemon juice, and then you don't need to worry about straining the curd when it's hot. The picture on the right shows what the curd looked like after strained.

Meringue Icing:

1 1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cup water

2 tbsp corn syrup

6 egg whites

Combine sugar, water, and corn syrup in a small saucepan with a candy thermometer. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Continue boiling until syrup reaches 230 F (110 C, or "thread" stage).

Meanwhile, whisk egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Add in the syrup slowly while continuing to whisk.

Whisk hard until this mixture is cool and stiff -- at least seven minutes.

To Put Together:

Take the cooled cupcakes and slice a shallow indentation in the tops using a serrated knife. Put a generous spoonful of the lemon curd into each of these indentations, using the spoon to spread it slightly.

Using a piping bag fitted with a wide tip, pipe a little spiral of icing on top of the curd.

Use a kitchen torch to brown the icing spirals gently.

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.