Strawberry, White Chocolate and Pistachio Cupcakes!

I'm back at it again with the original recipes!

Strawberry, White Chocolate
and Pistachio Cupcakes!

These cupcakes comprise a strawberry cake sponge with added white chocolate chips and chopped pistachios, are filled with a homemade strawberry jam for an extra strawberry hit, and are topped with a white chocolate and pistachio buttercream! To finish, I topped the cupcakes with half a strawberry coated in white chocolate and sprinkled with chopped pistachios!

Strawberry cake is a completely new concept to me, and is a little different to the sponge recipes I'm used to following. When I first heard about it on Instagram I didn't pay full attention to the recipe, as I assumed it would just be a plain sponge with strawberry puree mixed in... spoiler alert, it's not.



I began with the concentrated strawberry puree, which I would add to the sponge batter when it was cool. The puree was very simple. All you have to do is core the strawberries, blitz them into a puree, and reduce it in on the hob for about half an hour, or until you're left with approximately 100ml of puree! 

At the same time, I prepared the strawberry jam. At the minute I'm absolutely loving making my own jams! I made a batch of cherry jam to go with my Vegan Cherry Bakewell Cupcakes (recipe coming soon once I've perfected the design!), and love how simple they are. For the strawberry jam, strawberries, preserving sugar and lemon juice are added to a pan, brought to a simmer, and cooked until thickened.

You don't even need a sugar thermometer to make this jam. Simply stick a plate in the freezer for a few minutes, drip the jam onto the plate, and leave it to cool for a minute. If pushing the jam with your finger causes it to ripple, then it is ready! 

Mandatory cross section to show off 
the strawberry jam filling!

I've always wondered why you need to use lemon juice in jam, but by the time I've finished with a bake my mind has usually raced on to something else and I forget to look into it. I've just taken a minute to look up why this is, and apparently the answer might interest any chemistry buffs out there! 

Pectin is a uronic acid found in plants, and it dissolves into the jam as it heats. However, when the pH of the jam is close to neutral, the uronic acid is negatively charged. The negatively charged pectin molecules repel each other, making it less likely for the jam to set. Adding lemon juices reduces the pH of the jam, making it slightly more acidic, and neutalises the negative charge on the pectin, meaning the jam can set properly. There's your science lesson for the day, and even if you didn't find it interesting I certainly did!

The strawberry puree, reducing (left) 
and the strawberries for the 
jam (right)!

With the puree now chilling in the fridge, I could begin on the sponge. Butter and sugar are creamed together until they are very soft and fluffy, before egg whites are added and mixed in (I would love to retry these cakes with whole eggs just to see the difference in the finished bake). Next into the bowl goes sour cream and the cooled reduced strawberry puree, followed by plain flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. I then added whole milk to the batter as it was quite thick, before folding in white chocolate chips and chopped pistachios. 

Once baked, I allowed the cakes to cool before coring them and filling with the cooled strawberry jam! I then tempered some white chocolate, used it to coat strawberries and sprinkled them with chopped pistachios and left them to set in the fridge.

White Chocolate and Pistachio
Buttercream!

Preparing a white chocolate and pistachio buttercream was the final thing I needed to do before I could begin decorating the cakes! Butter and icing sugar are beaten together to create a simple American buttercream, before melted white chocolate and finely chopped pistachios are added. I added a little bit of green food colouring to give the buttercream a very delicate colour. I then piped swirls with my favourite 2D closed star piping tip, and topped each cupcake with a white chocolate coated strawberry!

Surprise surprise I've got some critiques. A lot of effort went into making these cakes, what with the puree, jam, sponge, buttercream, and tempered chocolate. However, I'm not sure that the finished look of the cupcakes reflects just how much work goes into them... something is missing to me and they almost look unfinished? Maybe using a strawberry on top feels like an easier way to decorate the cakes, or maybe because I've decorated cakes like these before it felt like cheating somehow?

Either way, I'll have to get to thinking about how I might decorate these cakes differently in the future. I gave some of these cupcakes away to family and friends, and the feedback was insanely positive so I'll definitely be making them again!

Gibby x


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