You would say "Oh no you didn't!" and I would say "HELLLLLS YEAH!"
Entry #2 for Iron Cupcake Earth Summer Berries is Sichuan Blueberry Pancake Cupcakes....
I KNOW RIGHT???!!
This is what you're lookin' at....
Slightly sweet, super moist Triple Vanilla Brown Butter cupcake, filled with Sichuan Blueberry filling, topped with Maine Maple Buttercream, sugar crystals and a few more decadent blueberries for good measure.
The thing about Sichuan berries is that most people associate them with Sichuan food that can be VERY hot...these little babies however have a slight heat with a lovely almost lemony scent to them...perfect complement to blueberries.
Here is the really important info to know...
Our June
ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by
INSANEJELLYFISH,
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5021935A groovy
linocut piece from BLOCKHEAD PRESS
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6108705a sweet surprise from Sweet
Cuppin' Cakes
Cupcakery,
http://www.acupcakery.com/PLUS,
IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend,
CAKESPY,
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS,
http://www.fiestaproducts.com/, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson,
http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com/, JESSIE STEELE APRONS
http://www.jessiesteele.com/; TASTE OF HOME books,
http://www.tasteofhome.com/; a t-shirt from
UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM
http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers,
http://www.1800flowers.com/ .
And now for the recipes, you know you wanna try 'em!
Triple Vanilla Brown Butter Cake (adapted from "The Sweet Life" by Kate Zuckerman)
3 Vanilla Beans
2 tsp. vanilla extract
24 Tbsp. (12 ounces) unsalted butter
1 1/3 Cups vanilla sugar (you could use plain sugar I use vanilla)
2 whole eggs (room temp)
4 egg yolks (room temp)
2 1/2 Cups + 2 Tbsp. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup whole milk (room temp)
Directions:
2-24 hours ahead of time brown the butter with the vanilla bean.
1. Run a paring knife down the center of the vanilla beans. Split them open and scrape out the seeds into a sauce pan. Add the butter and the scraped vanilla bean and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook the butter with the vanilla beans and seeds until the butter caramelizes and emits a rich nutty vanilla aroma. Remove the vanilla beans, dry, and save for another use. Refrigerate the brown butter until it solidifies, 1-2 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and position the rack in the center of the oven.
3.Place the chilled brown butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and beat on medium high speed for 1 minute.
4. Add the sugar and beat on medium high speed. Toward the beginning of the creaming process the mixture will look dry and seem as though it will never come together. Continue creaming, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl, until the mixture becomes fluffy and almost beige in color, 8-12 minutes.
5. Add the whole eggs and yolks one at a time, continue to beat until they are fully incorporated and the batter looks smooth and glossy, 1-2 minutes. Add the vanilla extract.
6. In a dry bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.
7. With the mixer set on slow speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter in 3 parts, alternating with the milk. Once you have added the 3rd portion, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and briefly beat the batter on medium speed until just incorporated, 20 seconds.
8. Portion batter into muffin tins (only 2/3 full please) bake for about 30 minutes.
Sichuan Blueberry Filling
1 quart fresh blueberries
1 cup vanilla sugar or plain sugar
4 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. sichuan peppers toasted and ground
pinch salt
2 Tbsp. Chambord or other raspberry liqueur
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. lemon juice
In medium size heavy bottomed pot, combine first 5 ingredients. When mixed well add Chambord and heat at medium heat until boiling and thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add lemon zest and juice. Allow to cool.
Maple Buttercream
1 cup Grade A Maple Syrup
2 tsp. Maple extract
1 lb. unsalted butter
1/2 lb salted butter
1/2 3 ounce package vanilla instant pudding
1 cup cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
In small saucepan, heat maple syrup to boiling point and reduce to half cup. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add maple extract and set aside.
In mixing bowl combine butters, vanilla pudding mix and beat for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add cream and maple mix slowly to incorporate then slowly add powdered sugar. Beat for 5-7 minutes to make smooth and silky.
There ya have it my friends. I sure do love hearing from you and sharing with you. I will try to continue on a regular basis...here's hoping.
Stay tuned for more info on Iron Cupcake Mid-Coast Maine too! It's gonna be a blast!
Read more!
So this was the last half of my day yesterday and boy was it fun! A good friend of mine is a professional photographer, Renee C. Gage. To say the very least, she is amazingly talented, so much fun, and so very warm...really an awesome chick...anyhoooooo. She and a few of her amazing photography friends are doing a workshop this week. They are basically photographing different stories and artists and telling these stories through their photographs...I was lucky enough to be one of the stories....well my CAKES were the real story but it was fun hamming for the camera though....a little weird at first, but fun.
The top tier was chocolate chip cookie cake with vanilla bean 
Here is the info so far so that you can get your 
