Raspberry Truffles

Not too easy - but the first step to become a true chocolatier :)

Peaches ‘n Cream Cupcakes

Last week I bought a huge bag of vineyard peaches. They matured really quickly and as I cannot reduce my diet to peaches I decided to make cupcakes with them.
Maybe those cupcakes will taste a little different when using regular peaches but I doubt that the taste would differ very much.
Peaches are such a wonderful summer fruit: It looks like summer, tastes like summer… And I am seriously amazed by those cupcakes, because the peaches don’t lose their fresh and fruity taste even after baking.

Have a wonderful day,
Annika

Peaches ‘n Cream Cupcakes
(makes 12 pieces)
 
Ingredients

Dough:
185 g/ 1.5 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
6 tbsp butter, room temperature
45 g/ 1/3 cup white sugar
45 g/ 1/3 cup brown sugar
vanilla 
1 egg
95 g/ 3/4 cup curd
2 peaches 

Frosting:
95 g/ 3/4 cup brown sugar
30 g/ 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
30 g/ 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
30 g/ 1/4 cup curd

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 150 degree Celsius/ 300 degree Fahrenheit.
2. Put together flour, baking powder and baking soda.
3. Set aside.
4. Beat the egg with the brown and white sugar until creamy.
5. Add the curd and the vanilla and stir the mixture.
6. Mix in the dry ingredients and incorporate them well.
7. Remove the peach core and cut the peach flesh into small pieces. ( Leave out a few as garnish)
8. Fold the peaches in the cupcake dough.
9. Fill the dough into cupcake molds.
10. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

11. Mix together all ingredients for the icing.
12. When the cupcakes have cooled off, put the icing on the cupcakes with the help of a piping bag.
13. Garnish the cupcakes with a little piece of peach on top of the icing. 
 
 
 

Cream Puffs

As I child I used to love frozen cream puffs. I could eat tons and tons of them (…and still can). Thats the main reason why I hadnt had them in quite a while. I felt “safe” from eating them since I was always too scared to try to make choux pastry by myself. I believe I ve heard people say that it was super complicated.
But a coin is always two-sided, and I had to try whether I d suceed with choux pastry or not.
Good thing: To my surprise my cream puffs turned out perfect.
Bad thing: I guess I will go back to my old routine of eating tons and tons of them…

Have a great day!
Annika

Cream Puffs
(makes twenty small cream puffs)

Ingredients
For the choux pastry
30 g/ 0.15 cup butter
salt
75 g/ 0.3 cup flour
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder

For the Filling
200 g/ 0.85 cup cream
0.5 packet stabilizer for whipped cream
1 packet vanilla sugar

Directions

1. For the choux pastry, cook 125 ml/ 0.5 cup water and the butter up in a mediumsized saucepan while stiring with a wooden spoon.
2. Add the salt.
3. Sift the flour and add to the boiling water.
4. Set cooktop on medium heat.
5. Stir until a glossy dough lump is forming. The dough lump should slowly come off the bottom of the saucepan.
6. Keep moving the dough lump with the wooden sppon over high heat for two more minutes. There should be a thin white layer on the bottom of the saucepan.
7. Put dough in a mixing bowl and let cool for 10-15 minutes.
8. Add the baking powder and the eggs one by one and stir them in using dough hooks.
9. Preheat oven to 180 degree celsius/ 350 degree Fahrenheit.
10. Place rosette-shaped dough balls with a diameter of 3-4 cm on the baking sheet.
11. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
12. Cut of a small cap of each cream puff immediately after baking. (Use scissors of a knife)
13. Let the cream puffs cool off.

14. For the filling, whisk the cream, the stabilizer for whipped cream and the vanilla sugar until stiff.
15. Fill the cream puffs with whipped cream and close with the cap.

You can vary the filling by incorporating cocoa powder in the whipped cream or adding chocolate sprinkles or any type of fruit.
I recommend to eat the cream puffs within two days.



The shape of the choux pastry when placed on the baking sheet.

Cut a small cap off the cream puff immediately after baking.

What my cream puffs looked liked! :)