chestnut cupcakes with chestnut butter cream

chestnut cupcakes with chestnut butter cream

tea with hazel

makes 12

ingredients 

chestnut cupcakes

3 large eggs

125 gms castor sugar

150 gms almond meal

300 gms unsweetened chestnut puree

3/4 teaspoon (tsp) baking powder

1 tsp vanilla essence (i used my own)

chestnut butter cream

65 gms butter

3-4 tablespoons (tbs) chestnut puree

pure icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence (i used my own)

extra

finely shaved dark chocolate

method

cupcakes

~ beat eggs and sugar until thick and creamy

~ add chestnut puree, almond meal, baking powder and vanilla essence and mix until incorporated

~ pour the mix into a jug and divide mix between 12 hole paper case lined muffin tin

~ bake at 180 deg c for 30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer

~ remove the cupcakes from tin to cool on a cooling rack

chestnut butter cream

~ beat the butter and chestnut puree until smooth
~ add vanilla and enough icing sugar to make a smooth, thick, mix

cupcake assembly

~ remove a 2 cm circle by 2 cm deep piece of cake from the centre of each cupcake
~ fill the cavity with a large teaspoon of chestnut butter cream
~ dust with chocolate

the cup, plate and vase are all recent op shop finds

the teapot is a recent purchase from a second hand shop in castlemaine

i bought it to join identical red, blue and orange op shop purchased teapots

i'd love to find yellow, brown, black and white ones to match

almond cinnamon cake

i'm always on the lookout for interesting recipes using egg white only rather than whole eggs because i often have several left over from making custard, creme patisserie or ice cream..yesterday i came across a recipe for an almond cinnamon cake in the book 'nigellisima', that i'd borrowed from the library, that piqued my interest..this morning i made it with the four egg whites i had languishing..and..hey.. it's extra versatile because it's gluten and dairy product free..

almond cinnamon cake

'nigellissima' nigella lawson

serves about 8

ingredients (i halved the recipe)

4 egg whites

75 gms castor sugar

75 gms almond meal

60 mls light olive oil

1/2 teaspoon (tsp) baking powder

finely grated zest of small orange

2-3 drops almond essence

50 gms flaked almonds

1/2 tsp cinnamon

icing sugar

method

~ beat the egg whites until opaque and starting to hold their shape

~ add sugar in small increments whisking and until it's incorporated and the mixture is thick and shiny

~ mix in zest and almond essence and then add the oil and almond meal mixed with the baking powder in three batches

~ pour the mixture into a 20 cm baking paper lined tin, smooth the top and sprinkle with the faked almonds mixed with the cinnamon

~ bake at 180 deg c for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean

~ cool in the tin on a wire rack

~ sprinkle with icing sugar to serve

comments

~ i think this is a particularly lovely cake..it's not very sweet so it could be served with a citrus compote or a citrus glace such as the glaced cumquats i've been wanting to make..and i think rhubarb would go nicely with it too

~ the almond essence flavour was not particularly discernible so i'd consider increasing the amount of  essence to 3-4 drops next time i make it

if you made this cake what flavours do you think would complement it?