Sunday, April 7, 2013

Aunt Sassy (cup)Cake



These were delicious. The cake is really nice, I love the texture that the crushed pistachios gives. And the frosting is yummy, like honey butter, but better.

So, I made a couple of changes; one purposeful, one not. I decided to make cupcakes instead of a full-size cake because I wanted to share some of these and cupcakes are just easier to transport. I used the same trick the BAKED boys suggest in their Whiteout Cake recipe--added an extra egg yolk for cupcake stability. It worked out perfectly. They were still tender but not too much so.


The inadvertent change I made was using salted instead of unsalted butter. I know. That's kind of a big change (although a quick google search tells me salted butter generally contains only 1.6-1.7 percent salt--which doesn't seem like very much at all). I accidentally bought salted and then once I realized it, there wasn't enough time for me to run to the store AND make the frosting in the small baking window I had left myself. What's interesting is that I kind of liked the change for this. When I think of nuts, I think of saltiness. So, to use unsalted pistachios as the garnish on top seems a little...unsatisfying? Because I wanted a salty flavor? I don't know. But it didn't taste salty, it seemed, rather, to have quite a good balance of salty and sweet. Not that I would ever do that again, because I can't control the salt when it's already in the butter. I would probably just use unsalted nuts in the cake and salted on top.

I did, once again, have a little problem with the frosting texture. That happens occasionally with the BAKED boys buttercream. And I have yet to figure out the reason. It seems to have the same sensitivity to external moisture and temperature (yesterday was a wet morning) as bread does. But the taste always conquers all, even when the texture isn't perfect.



TGIP Rating--KEEPER--Next time I make it as a full-size cake. Much more impressive presentation.

Next up: I want to make a Banoffee Pie. I've never eaten one. I'm just intrigued by it. I mean, there's nothing about that idea that sounds bad, right?



8 comments:

Have Apron....Will Bake said...

Your cupcakes looks wonderful! Love the way the buttercream looks on the cupcakes.
Cupcakes are a much better way to share!
Great job!

Susan said...

I love the cupcake version! We really enjoyed this & your buttercream looks amazing - I like the way you described it, too!

Unknown said...

All I can say is YUM!!

Chelly said...

Great looking cupcakes. Your buttercream looks good!

Anonymous said...

April, the cupcakes look lovely! I'm always tempted to make cupcakes because I love them (and they're so much easier), but the full cake is a stunner for sure. I definitely feel ya on the frosting-- it's so fussy, and it's hard to know exactly why. I *thought* I figured it out last time I made it, but apparently not! Anyway, nice work with your darling cupcakes, and may we both have better luck with the buttercream next time! :)

Anonymous said...

This is the cupcake I had when I visited Baked. It was incredible, and had I baked this week, I would have made cupcakes as well...they are easier to share!

Anonymous said...

Looks great! I bet they were awesome with a little more salt. :)

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