chocolate cupcakes with morello cherry custard and almond praline cream

a dear friend of mine came for dinner last night so i decided to make cupcakes for sweets with some flavours that have been lingering at the back of my mind for a while..even as i put the different elements of chocolate cake, morello cherry custard, morello cherries and almond praline cream together i wasn't sure whether it would be a harmonious combination or a disaster..happily they were deemed a success..

chocolate cupcakes with morello cherry custard and almond praline cream
an original tea with hazel recipe

ingredients

cupcakes*

125 gms unsalted butter

125 gms castor sugar

80 gms srf (self raising flour)

20 gms plain flour

20 gms dutch cocoa
2 eggs

2 tbs milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp mahlepi (optional)**

pinch salt

icing sugar

morello cherry custard

1 jar of morello cherries drained and juice reserved

2 tbs corn flour

2 tbs castor sugar

3 tbs kirsch

praline cream

1/2 cup castor sugar

2-3 tbs water

1 tsp lemon juice

1/3 cup almonds

double cream

method

~place the almonds for the praline cream on a tray and cook on 180 deg c until roasted

~set aside to cool
~place cooled almonds on a baking paper lined tray

~lower oven temperature to 170 deg c

~line a 12 hole 100 ml capacity muffin tray with paper cases 

~sift the srf, plain flour, cocoa and mahlepi

~beat the butter, salt and castor sugar until pale

~add eggs one at a time beating well between each addition

~add flour and cocoa mix and milk and vanilla in two batches beating gently between each addition 

~divide batter between muffin cases 

~bake for 20 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer
~set aside to cool

~place 1 cup of the reserved cherry juice on to heat
~add 2 tbs castor sugar (or extra to taste)
~mix 2 tbs corn flour with a further 1/4 cup of cherry juice
~add a little of the warm cherry juice to the corn flour mix
~then add the corn flour to the saucepan and cook until thickened and just coming to the boil
~remove from the heat and add the kirsch
~set aside to cool

~in another saucepan put the sugar on to heat
~add the water and lemon juice and stir until the sugar crystals dissolve brushing down the sides of the pan with a brush dipped in boiling water
~increase heat and cook until the sugar turns a medium caramel colour
~remove from heat and immediately pour over the almonds
~once cooled process the almond praline finely leaving a few small pieces of toffee

to assemble***

~mix the half of the praline with 100 mls cream
~cut a deep cone shape circle from each cupcake
~cut the cone segment in half horizontally and put the cupcake top part aside
~spoon a large teaspoon of the cherry custard in the cupcake
~press four morello cherries gently into the custard
~top with a large teaspoon of praline cream
~place cupcake tops on the cream pressing them gently to secure
~dust with icing sugar

notes:
* this is a recipe that i've adapted over the years..replacing some of the srf with plain makes the cake a bit denser which is what i wanted here
**adding the mahlepi to this recipe was another one of my attempts to experiment with a less well known greek ingredient..i thought the bitter almond and cherry flavour of the mahlepi would compliment the morello cherry custard with the kirsch and the almond in the praline but i couldn't really detect it at all in the cake..next time i will double it..i was more cautious this time after my masticha disaster
***the praline cream and cake assembly are best done close to serving time..

it's a 'happy st patrick's day' coincidence that the cake is on a green plate..x

cupcake anyone?

on tuesday i was hanging washing on the line when my newish neighbour whom i hadn't met before called out to ask me if i wanted some lemons from her tree which i surely did thankyou very much indeed..i wanted to ask her if she had psychic powers when she gave them to me because i'd had my lustful eye on that burgeoning tree so full of delicious looking lemony goldenness for a while..it's not as if i can't buy lemons but for me a home grown lemon is so much better and these home grown lemons are truly beautiful..they are large with bright yellow unblemished flesh with just the right amount of pith and juice..

i never tire of cupcakes even though i've been making them since my children were little and 

despite the fact that they are in danger of taking over the world..and because i wanted to use those luscious lemons and because i needed to make a sweet for dinner last night i decided to make lemon curd cupcakes..i make all sorts of different cupcake batters and the one that gets an airing depends on my mood at the time..but yesterday i decided to try a new cake batter and it's success means that the other batters are in serious danger of being served with a recipe folder eviction notice..

cupcake batter

ingredients

155 gms self raising flour sifted

155 gms castor sugar

155 gms unsalted butter

2 eggs

75 mls milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

method

cream butter and castor sugar until pale and fluffy

beat in eggs one at a time 

add flour, milk and vanilla and beat until mixture is smooth

place in 12 cupcake cases and bake at 180 deg c for approximately 15 minutes or until golden and cooked in the centre 

lemon curd*

ingredients
2/3 cup castor sugar
60 gms unsalted butter
yolks 4 eggs
100 mls lemon juice
2 tsp grated lemon zest
method 
beat sugar and egg yolks until well incorporated
place in saucepan with other ingredients and cook over medium heat stirring constantly until just simmering and thickened
cool before use

once the cupcakes are cooled cut a large deep circle from the top of each cake, fill with a teaspoon or so of organic double cream and a generous teaspoon of lemon curd, put the circle back on and then dust with icing sugar..

and then eat one..or two..

* lemon curd recipe from 'the cook's companion' by stephanie alexander

edit note 17 october 2011: since my original post i've made these cupcakes again and i increased the sugar in the lemon curd from 2/3 to 3/4 of a cup (unusual for me because i usually find i need to decrease the sugar in recipes) and i cooked the curd in a double boiler to prevent it catching on the bottom which it did last time..