Impromptu Cupcakes for Dire Situations

Saint Patrick's Day. Not my favorite holiday, because it means corned beef and cabbage at Mother Superior's table. And, this year, the addition of a boyfriend meeting Father Superior. I'm still not clear on how this came together, or why I thought cupcakes would diffuse the situation. But that's not important here. The fact that these were hands down the prettiest, most feminine cupcakes that've ever come out of this kitchen is important.

For the cupcake, I used the same cake recipe from the previous post, except I substituted white sugar for the light brown for a lighter, sweeter flavor. I also nixed the cinnamon and other spices. I didn't want those flavors competing with the topping.

Before. Photo by J.Cust

After. Photo by J.Cust

Now, I'm going to apologize in advance for this vague recipe. I was in "Cocaine Driven Martha Stewart" mode and just wanted to crank something out in the short time I had before worlds crashed together. Just bear with me, okay?

For this impromptu topping, I think I used:

• About 2 cups Frozen Raspberries
• 1/2 a Lemon's worth of juice 
• Possibly 3 tablespoons White Sugar  
• Water
• 1 teaspoon Unflavored Gelatin
• Heavy Cream

In a medium saucepan, I threw together the raspberries, lemon juice, sugar, and a splash of water to keep it loose. Then, on medium-low heat, I mashed it all together with a whisk. Keep whisking this stuff until it turns into a seedy syrup. Take it off the heat and pour it through a strainer. You can either wait for it to drip through by itself, or whisk it some more, until all that's left in the strainer are the raspberry seeds. In your bowl you'll have a very simple raspberry syrup. At this point, sprinkle your gelatin over your syrup and let it set up for... I think I did ten minutes before stirring it up. Read the directions on your gelatin packet, to be safe, though.

This... Photo by J.Cust

...turns into this. Photo by J.Cust

While the gelatin is doing whatever it does, start whipping your cream. You can add a little sugar if you want, but the tartness of this mousse/topping/frosting really compliments the cake. Anyway, whip the cream until it's fairly stiff, and then start folding your gelatin-syrup mixture in. I did it in three additions, and then, with a chilled attachment, whipped it all together with the stand mixer to get it stiff enough to pipe. You don't want butter, mind, just a really thick whipped cream/mousse thing. Eventually, you can have something life the following, that hasn't be mashed by unceremonious saran-wrapping.

Sorry... Photo by J.Cust

For... Photo by J.Cust

The... Photo by J.Cust

Lighting. And the fact that this one was partially squished
by some saran wrap. Photo by J.Cust