Raspberry, Rose & Chocolate Cakes

Happy Winter Storm Warning. After a few mild, sunnyish days, February is clearly here to remind us that winter is far from over. I made this recipe yesterday, and while the ice crystals were swirling around in the frigid gales outside my window, there was no place I would rather have been than in my toasty kitchen with the oven on. And I hear there was some kind of football event that happened last night too?  And Valentine’s Day is right around the corner? Lots of reasons to stay indoors and eat cupcakes.

With sweet raspberry and a hint of rose, the flavors in this recipe provide some much-needed reminders of spring.  The directions come from April Carter’s book trEATs, which was also the source of the Almond and Earl Grey Teacup Cakes I made it November. Those were pretty stellar, so the bar was set accordingly high for yesterday's endeavor.

First, I had to adapt the recipe slightly because I didn’t have raspberry jam on hand. Of course I’ve got four other kinds of jams, all open and half-eaten, sitting in my fridge. But no raspberry. Perusing my other options, I immediately rejected the rhubarb-hibiscus and decided that the apricot preserves were a last resort. I found myself torn over whether to use blackberry jam or the strawberry preserves I made from scratch last summer (they were frozen until a couple weeks ago - don't panic). Thankfully, I quickly remembered that this is America, the place where football ends with brawling and there is always a way to get out of making difficult decisions. So I used both. Okay, that's kind of a lie. The blackberry was my definite first choice, but when I opened the jar there were only a few tablespoons left, and it ran out after four cakes, so I had to utilize my second and then third string options (and that is the first and last time I will ever use a sports metaphor on this blog; clearly the Superbowl has wormed its way into my subconscious. Gross). 

The recipe in trEATs does a nice job giving its list of ingredients in metric and imperial measurements. And I've said this before, but measuring ingredients by weight makes so much sense in terms of consistency between bakers. However, because I'm not as used to thinking in terms of weight, I have kind of a terrible time estimating how much of each ingredient I'll be using. For instance, I imagine that 2oz of cocoa powder isn't very much - maybe a couple of tablespoons? Oh no. Here is what 2 oz of cocoa powder looks like. A veritable mountain of chocolate. 

All that cocoa powder made a smooth chocolate paste for the base of the cupcakes.

The recipe was a little vague about how to combine all of the ingredients. While I'm definitely a fan of the ol' dump-and-mix, I chose to be a little more deliberate with the order in which I put things together, just in case, you know? First, I added the milk to the butter/sugar mixture, then into that I folded the cocoa paste, and finally I slowly added the dry ingredients, which I'd already sifted together. 

The recipe made one dozen cupcakes, which fit perfectly into my jars. I did have to add time onto the baking to accommodate for the glass containers. Mine baked for about 25 minutes and turned out nicely - crisp on the tops, but moist inside. Sidebar: I'd like to give another gold star to Trader Joe's for making a cooking spray with coconut oil. I feel very trendy AND healthy when I'm using this. Much better than your basic Pam spray, in my opinion.

The tops came out a bit knobbier than I’d have liked. I considered shaving them down a bit so the frosting would look rounder and less…pointy, but ultimately decided against it on the grounds of wasting not wanting not. Thank goodness America is also a land of helpful proverbs.

Shout out to Science for providing man with the capacity to invent (and re-purpose) tools that make it easier to put holes in things. Apple corer, cupcake corer? Tomato, tomahto. 

After they'd cooled and been cored properly, I ended up filling my cakes with blackberry, strawberry, and apricot jams. (That's right, I ran out of the strawberry back-up, too. Normally I'm not such a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants baker. I should have run to the store right at the outset and just bought a jar of raspberry jam, but I took the snowstorm as an excuse to stay in and fake it). 

The frosting was a simple butter cream with a healthy dose of pink dye added in. I used rose water instead of rose extract, so I had to increase the amount to around a teaspoon. This ingredient can be dangerous because it's such a recognizable and potentially intense flavor, but I was cautious while I added it in, and ultimately I really liked how the rose aroma brought out the floral elements in the jam fillings. In other words, the risk was totally worth it. Also, usually I'm not one for artificial colors in baking, but this time the smell/taste combo made sense - desserts that taste like roses ought to be pink, damnit. 

So, the recipe advised me to decorate the cakes to look like flowers. That's a tall order for someone who still uses ziploc baggies with the corners cut off as her pastry bags. I was able to fumble out some kind of cactus-meets-peony-maybe kind of shapes, and my friend Emily suggested that the one in the back left looks kind of like a brain. Clearly I'll need more practice before I make (and decorate) this recipe again. Also keep in mind I only took pictures of the GOOD ones to show you guys.

Raspberry, Rose & Chocolate Cakes

from trEATs by April Carter

For the Cakes:
2 oz cocoa powder (about 1/2 cup)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 fl oz boiling water
3 3/4 oz (7.5 Tbsp) unsalted butter
2/5 cup superfine sugar [possibly condescending note: 2/5 cup is between 1/3 and 1/2 cup]
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 2/5 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 fl oz milk

For the Filling:
4 Tbsp raspberry jam (or the fruit preserve of your choice. I also feel like I used a lot more than 4 Tbsp, so make sure you have extra)

For the Rose Buttercream:
4oz (8 Tbsp or one stick) unsalted butter
2 cups confectioner's sugar
2 tsp milk
3 drops of rose extract (I used 1 tsp rose water; add more or less to taste)
claret or pink gel food coloring

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Set liners in a 12-hole cupcake tin or spray your 4 oz jars with non-stick cooking spray.

Mix the cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and boiling water in a small bowl until combined, then set aside to cool.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars (about 3-4 minutes). Add the eggs one a a time and beat well after each addition.

Into a clean bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt, and stir to combine. Add milk to butter mixture and then fold in chocolate paste. Finally, gradually mix in dry ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl (or use one of these...so cool!) to make sure all of the ingredients are well incorporated, then scoop the mixture into the cupcake liners or jars. Fill containers about 2/3 full.

Bake for 18-20 minutes for normal cupcakes or 23-25 minutes for 4 oz glass jars (or until a skewer inserted into the middle of one of the cakes comes out clean).

Remove cupcakes from tin and set on a wire rack to cool.

To make the buttercream, cream together butter and sugar, then add milk, rose extract or water and beat for 3-5 minutes until mixture is creamy and light. Add food coloring a few drops at a time until desired color is reached.

Once the cakes have cooled, cut a small, cone-shaped piece from the top of each (or use an apple corer to gently remove the centers of the cakes). Fill each hole with a teaspoon (or more!) of jam and top with the cut-out piece.

Pipe the rose buttercream onto the top of each cake using a large star tip (or your trusty ziploc bag). To pipe a rose design, start piping from the center of each cake and spiral outwards (then hide the results of all of your mess-ups from your friends).

Cover and store in the fridge for up to 3 days. Any leftover buttercream can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.