This month's challenge in Iron Cupcake is CRANBERRY. I have used fresh cranberries before when living in the States and love them. I love their colour, love their tart taste and the look of them in a glass bowl. Being from Australia though, we don't see the fresh ones - ever. We can buy frozen cranberries and assorted sauces.
Now that we are in Vienna I was hoping that the fresh ones would be on sale here too (given it is coming up to Christmas AND it is winter). But alas, not even frozen ones are to be found. So the best I could do was a tin of whole cranberry sauce (Ocean Spray) from the UN Commissary.
The recipe I adapted was originally a brown sugar jam cake. I took a gamble and replaced the jam with cranberry sauce. No tweaking was needed for the finished product. THESE ARE DIVINE! Not too sweet but a wonderful maltiness complements the tartness of the cranberries.
Mia and Charlie hadn't seen a tin of cranberry sauce tipped out still holding the tin shape. Funniest thing they had seen all day. Of course they each had a turn poking it with a spoon. Then Mia asked if I could really turn THAT into a cupcake. So much for inspiring confidence!
I wish I had used an icecream scoop to measure out the mixture into each paper. I remember seeing the Ina Garten doing that this week and thinking she was inspired. And yet, I forgot and here is the proof with my mismatched sized cupcakes...
I used a patty cake size tin rather than muffin size. Little cakes are much better for the little hands in our house. It is difficult to buy this size in Australia now. I tried to nick Mum's several years ago but she knew it was me. She has two and my sister and I decided that we will get one each when she dies. (Who cares about the diamonds when there are such goodies to be had!!)
Luckily I found this and another matching one at a Salvation Army store a little while ago. Classic 1960s anodised orange.
The icing was simply the leftover cranberry sauce and icing sugar.
The whole cranberies held their shapes well in the cakes.
RECIPE
1 1/2 cup plain (all purpose) flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 TBS butter (3/4 of an American size stick or 3/8 of an Aussie stick)
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs
3 TBS sour cream
1 cup whole cranberry sauce
Preheat over to 175C (350F).
Cream butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs and sour cream.
Stir in flour until barely mixed. Stir in jam.
Divide batter evenly between cupcake papers (I made about 30 patty cakes so it would make approx 15 larger cupcakes).
Bake for 15 minutes or until done when tested with a toothpick.
Icing
Approx 1/3 cup whole cranberry sauce (what was leftover from making the cake)
Approx 500g icing sugar (same as powdered sugar in the USA or staubzucker here in Vienna!)
Beat well. When it is your preferred consistency spread onto the cupcakes and let it drizzle attractively wherever it wants to!
Please vote for me and my cupcake at this great blog
"No One Puts Cupcake in a Corner" . I will let you know when voting starts. There are some fantastic prizes to be won!
See here. I can't work out how to get the badge to show to the right of my column which links you to all the great iron cupcake stuf. Still rather new to blogging.....
Cheers for now!
Bindi
There are some gorgeous items to buy from the Hotel Sacher. I want the little teddy dressed up as a doorman!!
The cake came in a lovely wooden box.
and gift wrapped!
Mia and Charlie hadn't seen a tin of cranberry sauce tipped out still holding the tin shape. Funniest thing they had seen all day. Of course they each had a turn poking it with a spoon. Then Mia asked if I could really turn THAT into a cupcake. So much for inspiring confidence!
I wish I had used an icecream scoop to measure out the mixture into each paper. I remember seeing the Ina Garten doing that this week and thinking she was inspired. And yet, I forgot and here is the proof with my mismatched sized cupcakes...
The icing was simply the leftover cranberry sauce and icing sugar.
The whole cranberies held their shapes well in the cakes.
He also bought these when he went off to find another James Bond site (VolksOper) at their little sweet shop. I feel so European eating them! Lovely little pastel shades and great flavours (though Mia had a licorice flavour first and refuses to try any others now!)
