Birthday Desserts:Chocolate ButterCup Cakelets with Chocolate and Buttercream Icing

A birthday without chocolate cake is like Christmas without presents and a celebration without any joy. It has always been a tradition in our family to cut the birthday cake at midnight to kick start the festivities. This time the birthday boy was my husband, who was insisting I made my dark chocolate cupcakes instead of a cake. It sounded like a viable and easy option, however not exciting enough. However an idea from my mother in law came to my rescue. A few months ago, upon her return from her vacation she had bought me a “buttercup cakelet” pan from Williams and Sonoma. The tray had six flower shape cakelet molds, which in hindsight were the perfect size as they were larger than cupcakes, yet smaller than cakes, which normally end up going to waste. According to the Williams & Sonoma website blooming buttercups were considered to be symbols of happiness and good fortune in Victorian England. What better present to give to my husband than chocolate cakelets filled with happiness and good fortune.

Williams & Sonoma Cakelet Pan

Cooking and baking has always been a breeze for me. But when it comes down to decorating and beautifying my food, I am filled with trepidation. Art was never my strong subject in school, hence icing any cake or dessert has always been a challenge. So much so, that I have now vowed to take up course in pastry decoration. It a goal that I must fulfill in the near future. Trying not to experiment too much, I stuck to very basic icing techniques using buttercream and chocolate icing; giving the buttercups a black and white look. However, those of you who have mastered the art of icing or have artistic skills can go a step further. Mix any food color of your choice in the buttercream and use the cakelets as your canvas. Fill it with bright colored icing, glazes, edible glitter and sprinkles for your kid’s birthdays or your friend’s baby shower.

Chocolate Buttercup Cakelets with Chocolate and Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:

For the Cakelet:

• 200g unsalted butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

For the ButterCream Icing:

• 100g butter
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 2 cups cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• Milk

Preparation:

For the Cakelet

• Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and using an electric whisk cream the butter for about 2 minutes till smooth
• Add the sugar and whisk for another 2-3 minutes till the sugar is completely mixed with the butter
• Crack the eggs one at a time and pour into the mixture, whisking after each egg has been added
• Place all the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, self-raising flour and cocoa powder) in a sieve. Shake the sieve vigorously over the mixture till half of the dry ingredients have been added.
• Whisk the batter till no lumps remain
• Add the vanilla essence and beat again for a minute
• Sieve the remaining dry ingredients into the batter and whisk for a further 2-3 minutes till batter is smooth and semi-thick
• To test the batter, scoop a little bit out with a spoon and rotate the spoon upside down. The batter should fall off the spoon with ease. It should not be runny or thick like a blob
• Grease the cakelet pan with butter and dust with flour
• Pour the batter into the molds till 3/4 full
• Using the back of a spoon, smooth the top of the batter by moving the spoon in circular motions towards the edges of each mold
• Hit the tray on your table top to release any air bubbles
• Place the pan into a pre-heated oven and cook for about 35 minutes
• Use a tooth pick to test if the cakelets are cooked. Poke the toothpick in the cakelet, if it comes out clean your cakelets are cooked
• Once cooked, remove from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes
• Invert the pan and the blooming blossom cakes should easily fall out on your table top or wire rack. If the pan is not greased properly, the cakelets will get stuck. In such a scenario, use a hot knife and slide down the sides of the mold to loosen the cakes. Invert again and this time the cakelets should come out with ease. They should look like this:

• 

  Chocolate Buttercup Cakelets

• Cool before icing to prevent the buttercream from melting.

For the ButterCream Icing

• Add the butter and icing sugar in a food processor. Blitz till a smooth paste forms and the icing sugar is dissolved
• Pour in the vanilla essence and blitz for another minute
• Scoop out about 3-4 tablespoons of the buttercream and set aside for outlining the buttercups
• Note: If you want to add color to your buttercream icing and do without chocolate icing, simply replace the 2 cups of cocoa powder with 2 cups of icing sugar. This way you will add 4 cups of icing sugar instead of 2. Divide the buttercream into different bowls and mix in the food colors of your choice
• Add the cocoa powder into the remaining mixture and blitz till smooth, about 3-4 minutes
• The consistency should be smooth, yet thick so it can be applied easily. Add about 1-2 teaspoons of milk to soften, if the icing is very hard

Icing the Cakelets

• Fill the petals of the cakelets with chocolate icing
• Using the back of a spoon, smoothen out the icing so it looks neat
• Add 3 tablespoons of water to the remaining chocolate icing to make it thin enough to coat the sides of the cakelet
• Use a butter knife of small spatula to paint the remaining chocolate icing all around the cakelet
• Fit a thin nozzle on your icing pen and fill it with the buttercream icing
• Outline the petals of the buttercups with the icing and fill the middle of the buttercups with buttercream icing as well
• Sprinkle edible glitter or crushed flake chocolate over your chocolate buttercups and serve

Chocolate Buttercup Cakelets with Chocolate and Buttercream Icing

The best part about this recipe is that you can use it in any mold or just make a plain simple chocolate cake with it. Once your base is ready, play around with different colored buttercream icing to appease the eyes. However, if it is simplicity that you prefer, you can use the chocolate buttercream icing over cupcakes, vanilla cakes and even donuts. It is a multi-purpose recipe that you and your children can enjoy. Personally, for me this is one of those recipes that I archive, you never know when you may need, even a part of it. One recipe, many uses: Happy baking.

Chocolate Buttercup Cakelets with Chocolate and Buttercream Icing