Cherry Blossom Cupcakes
With a cake crumb as soft as the petal of a cherry blossom, this cupcake is a cause for celebration. The not-so-sweet frosting base is whipped cream cheese complements the sweet cake perfectly.
Adapted from the 1-2-3-4 cake recipe at Epicurious.com.
Cherry baking chips are available at Amazon. Feel free, however, to substitute your favorite butterscotch, chocolate or peanut butter chips to make the cupcakes blossom in flavor for you.
For the cupcakes:?
- 3 cups sifted cake flour (do not substitute with self-rising flour)?
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 large room temperature eggs, separated
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup cherry Greek yogurt
- ½ cup culinary coconut milk + 1 tablespoon
Tip: Reduce the milk if using regular coconut milk or almond milk.
Culinary coconut milk is slightly thicker than regular coconut milk.
- 1 ½ teaspoons cherry extract
- 1 ½ cups cherry baking chips
For the frosting:
- 1 (8-ounce) tub of whipped cream cheese
- 1 (5.3-ounce) carton of cherry Greek yogurt
- 3 tablespoons powdered cherry gelatin
- 6 tablespoons powdered sugar (more if you like very sweet frosting)
For the cherry blossom cut-outs:
-
Pink fondant
Cherry blossom vegetable cutters are available at Etsy. (Amazon also sells them for a few more dollars.)
For the cupcakes:
Sift the already sifted cake flour with the baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Cream the butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. (About one minute.) Add the sugar a tablespoon at a time. Look for a lovely pale yellow color to emerge. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites. When foam arises, add the cream of tartar. Allow the whites to form soft peaks.
Meanwhile, alternate adding the flour mixture with the yogurt/coconut milk to the butter/sugar/egg yolks combination until well combined.
Gently fold in the soft peaked egg whites.
Stir in the baking chips.
Divide the batter into cupcake cases. Bake at 350 degrees for 28 minutes. This recipe yields 31 cupcakes.
For the frosting:
Fluff up the whipped cream cheese with an electric mixer. Add the remaining ingredients until well combined. Place the frosting in a piping bag and swirl onto cooled cupcakes.
For the fondant:
Roll the fondant on a corn starch or powdered sugar covered cutting board. Punch out cherry blossom cut-outs as garnish for the frosted cupcakes.
