Mellow Mood Cupcakes

 

This cupcake will play your favorite song with a lightly sweet coconut cupcake, filled with raw honey pastry cream, and topped with matcha green tea italian meringue buttercream plus toasted coconut.  Mellow Mood has got me, let the music rock me.  'Cause this cupcake's got love, darlin.

 

INGREDIENTS FOR COCONUT CUPCAKES

• 1 cup coconut cream (not cream of coconut) or milk
• 6 large egg whites
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups cake flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 12 tablespoons (6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup desiccated or unsweetened coconut, finely ground in a food processor
• 1 cup desiccated or unsweetened coconut (2 cups total)

INGREDIENTS FOR GREEN TEA ITALIAN MERINGUE BUTTER CREAM

Meringue

• 5 egg whites
• pinch salt
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (if not using a copper bowl)
• 2 ounces (1/4 cup) castor sugar

Syrup

• 8 ounces (1 cup) castor sugar
• 1/4 cup water

Other

• Butter, 1 lb., unsalted, and soft
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tsp matcha green tea powder (note: I could only find a mix of matcha and full leaves.  Came out great.  100% matcha powder is best and gives the frosting a green color)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut, toasted

INGREDIENTS FOR HONEY PASTRY CREAM

• 2 cups milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/4 c flour
• 5 tbsp raw honey
• 4 tbsp butter, cut into 8 pieces
• pinch of salt

 

DIRECTIONS

1. Frosting
   1. Follow directions for Jameson Italian Meringue Butter cream, substituting 2 tsp Vanilla extract for Jameson
   2. Add the green tea with the vanilla
2. Pastry Cream
   1. Heat milk and honey in a heavy saucepan over medium heat
      1. Whisk to dissolve the honey. 
      2. Heat until almost simmering.
   2. In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the flour and pinch of salt until the mixture is pale yellow and thick, about 30 seconds to a minute.
      
      1. Anchor your mixing bowl with a wet kitchen towel wrapped around the base of the bowl. 
      2. Using a ladle with one hand, ladle some of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks while whisking with the other hand to temper the egg yolks. 
      3. Add the milk ladle by ladle until you have added about half the milk. 
      4. Then switch from whisking the egg yolks to whisking the milk in the saucepan and whisk the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk. 
   3. Heat the saucepan containing the mixture over medium heat and bring to a simmer, whisking constantly. 
      1. Continue simmering the cream for 30 seconds to 1 minute then take it off the heat.
      2. Whisk in the butter.
      3. Cover the cream with a piece of plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface (to prevent a skin from forming) and chill for at least 4 hours.
3. Cupcakes
   1. Preheat oven to 320°F. and set oven rack in the middle position. 
   2. Lightly coat the surface of 2 12 cup cupcake pans with a nonstick spray and line each cup with a foil or paper liner.
   3. In a small bowl, whisk together the coconut cream, egg whites, and vanilla extract to combine. 
   4. In another bowl, or over parchment paper, sift together the flour and baking powder.
   5. Beat the butter and salt together in an electric mixer fitted with a whisk until creamy and smooth and while continuing to beat add sugar in a steady stream. 
      1. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
      2. Add one-third of the dry ingredients along with one-third of the coconut cream mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. 
      3. Add the remaining dry ingredients and coconut cream mixture in two alternating batches, beating between each addition to fully incorporate. 
      4. Add the dried, ground coconut and sweetened dried coconut with the last addition of dry ingredients. 
      5. Scrape down the bowl and give a final stir with a sturdy rubber spatula.
   6. Fill each cupcake cup about two-thirds full and knock the pan on the countertop once or twice to release air bubbles and even the surface of the batter. 
   7. Place pan in oven. 
      1. After 10-12 minutes, rotate the pan 180 degrees and continue to bake until cake springs back when lightly pressed in the center and a cake tester or wooden skewer emerges with crumbs clinging to it. 
      2. Total baking time will be 20-28 minutes.
   8. Cool pan on a cooling rack for 5 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pan to the rack and let cool completely.
4. Assembly
   1. Using an apple corer or butter knife, cut a nickel sized cylinder in the cupcake and discard 
   2. Fill the cylinder with honey pastry cream
   3. Pipe the luscious green tea frosting on top
   4. Sprinkle the remaining toasted coconut on top
   5. Store cupcakes in the refrigerator after assembly if not consumed right away
      1. Refrigerated cupcakes need to sit out for about 2 hours prior to consumption, or the icing will be as hard as a rock.  :)

 

Comments

can you fax me some of these cupcakes?

La lectura del seu article fa una espècie d'inspirar el sentiment, el moment en que la meva ment està plena de bella imatge, aprecio molt el teu article, crec que ha de prendre per aprendre, i així millorar les seves habilitats d'escriptura, i també esperem que ho facis feliç cada dia, gràcies.