Ispahan cupcake
For the macarons:
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75 grams almonds or almond meal
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125 grams icing sugar
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2 large egg whites
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15grams caster sugar
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Pink colouring
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Strawberry flavouring
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Rose flavouring
For the cupcakes:
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165g butter
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100g white chocolate chopped coarsely
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1 1/3 cups (290g) caster sugar
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2/3 cup (170ml) water
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1 teaspoon rosewater
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Pink food colouring
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1/2 teaspoon strawberry flavouring
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1 cup (150g) plain flour
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2 tablespoons Self raising flour
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1 egg
Plus per cupcake
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1/2 tablespoon of Buttercream
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2 lychees chopped finely, drained overnight or pressed using lots of paper towels to squeeze out excess liquid (Herme used tinned lychees)
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3 strawberries, of a similar size and height
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2 perfect rose petals
Instructions for the Macarons
Step 1 - Mix the almond meal thoroughly with the icing sugar. Whisk the egg whites until fairly stiff, but not dry, sprinkle the sugar over and add the flavouring (a few drops of each, they're strong!) and colourings (gently) and whisk until very stiff. Fold the whites into the almond-sugar dust, and combine gently.
Step 2 - Pipe spiral rounds onto your lined baking sheet, using a plain 1 cm nozzle. Let them sit for at least 10 minutes to form a skin. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4
Step 3 - Rap the baking sheet hard on the countertop to flatten the batter before baking, then put in the oven and cook for 10-12 minutes: they should be set, but not dried out.
Step 4 - Remove from the oven and let cool, still on their sheets
Recipe adapted from How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson
Instructions for Strawberry Rose cupcakes:
Step 1 - Preheat oven to moderate 170degrees/150 fan forced. Line 12 hole standard muffin pan with paper cases
Step 2 - Combine butter, chocolate, sugar, the water and flavours in small saucepan, stir over low heat until smooth.
Step 3 - Transfer mixture to large bowl; cool 15 minutes and then add colouring to get a vivid pink shade. Whisk in sifted flours, then egg. Divide mixture among cases.
Step 4 - Bake for 30 minutes and they came out perfectly. Cool in tin for 5 minutes, then turn cakes onto wire rack to cool.
Adapted from the Womens Weekly Cupcakes book.
For assembly:
To assemble Ispahan cupcake, remove greenery from washed and dried strawberries and cut in half. Place 4 halves around the edges straight up and then add 1/2 tablespoon of buttercream and top with lychees. Then add last strawberry half and gently push the strawberries forward so that they resemble a dome (see below). Do not let any lychee juice touch the macaron, it will begin to dissolve it. Like the Wicked Witch of the West, macarons are sensitive to water.
Add macaron and then slice strawberry half and fan and place on top of it. Then add rose petals and voila!
This cupcake is also my entry into Couture Cupcakes' Best Evah cupcake recipe event. Why would I say these are the best ever? Well they feature macarons, which is always a winner and the combination of fruit, buttercream, cupcake and sweet macaron was perfect, so perfect I found myself eating 3 in one go!
This is also my entry into the Sugar High Friday event hosted by Foodbeam! :)