Alright, this is the recipe some of you might have been waiting for. As a German/Bulgarian kid, I had never even heard the word ´curd´ four months ago. But now that I tried making it my self using such a great recipe from Java Cupcake, I love it. On her Blog, Betsy shows one possibility for using this curd in cake. It is the filling of two dozen of wonderful chocolat-y muffins, topped with a cream cheese butter cream. The combination is sooo good. :D I made the cupcakes with two friends of mine… and the suitable necklace with a raspberry charm out of polymer clay ;).
Beauty!
You will need some time for making these babies, so please make sure you have no time pressure and you have prepared the Raspberry Curd already.
Raspberry Curd Filled Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
makes about 24 cupcakes
120 ml (1/2) cup strong brewed coffee
120 ml (1/2) cup heavy cream
250 g (2 sticks) unsalted butter
60 g (1/2 cup) cocoa powder of best quality, highest percentage of cocoa you can find
1 tsp vanilla extract
240 g (2 cups) flour
450 g (2 cups) sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
200 g (2/3) cup sour cream
Cream Cheese Frosting
250 g (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 tbsp cream cheese, room temperature
60 g (1/2 cup) powdered sugar
80ml (1/3 cup) heavy cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup raspberry curd
To prepare the dough, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Stir in the heavy cream, coffee and vanilla extract. Let the mixture start to simmer just a little. Remove from heat an let cool.
Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Line muffin pan(s) with paper moulds.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside until needed. Cream the eggs and sour cream in a seperate medium-sized bowl. SLOWLY add the chocolate mixture to the other wet ingredients. Make sure you are not in a hurry, you must really start with a little amount of liquid and go on adding the rest step by step. Always stir in between, stop pourig the warm liquid inside while doing this.
And now the funny part: Combine the dry and wet ingredients by adding one third of the wet ones to the dry ones, stir, do not overbeat. Repeat the steps with the other two thirds.
Nothing of this yummy dough should be wasted, lol.
Fill the cupcake molds up to 3/4 woth dough and bake for about 17 to 19 minutes. Let cool in the mold for about 5 minutes before taking them out.
To make the frosting, cream together butter and cream cheese. Bring the heavy cream with the vanilla extract to a simmer. Don’t forget whisking. Add powdered sugar and heavy cream to the cream cheese mixture on high speed until light and fluffy. Let the cream chill in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
Cut out a whole in the middle of each cupcake (volume of about one teaspoon) and fill in one teaspoon of raspberry curd. Top with the cut out dough.
Pipe the frosting on top of the cupcakes and decorate with a piece of dark chocolate. Chill for about an hour and serve.
Recipe adapted from Java Cupcake
I don’t blame anyone who is craving this. Rasp. Berry. Curd. Fruity, fresh, not too sweet, silky soft consistence… ahhh. I made it during summer holiday for a good lot of cupcakes, which I prepared with two friends of mine. (Post will follow.)
Although I had not made or tasted any kind oft curd before, it worked very well and tasted great. By now, I have only used frozen raspberries, as the fresh ones in the supermarked looked too artificial to me and… strange somehow :P.
All you need for this is – beside the ingredients – some time to let the curd cool down before it is ready for eating.
This is where I found the original recipe: http://javacupcake.com/2012/07/raspberry-curd/
Raspberry Curd
(makes about 2 – 3 cups)
125 g (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 ½ cus fresh or frozen raspberries
6 medium egg yolks
170g (¾ cup) sugar
1 pinch salt
2 tbsp lemon juice (fresh)
Melt the butter in a medium-sized pan over low to medium heat. Prepare the egg yolks and lightly beat them with a fork.
Add the sugar, berries, egg and salt.
Stir until the berries have broken down. Let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir from time to time.
Add the lemon juice.
Press the mass through a coarse strainer over a bowl. Use the back of a spoon to rub the mixture through the strainer. Try to press out as much of the liquid as possible.
Transfer the curd into jars and let it cool for at least 2 hours.
Keep in the fridge until used.
Tastes good in yoghurt, as spread or as a cupcake filling (recipe is following soon).
Stupid ears. I’m in hospital right now. I suppose that none of the doctors expected it to be that bad, but obviously it is. Finally I feel better and I can eat properly most of the time, so eating without chewing is just the worst-case-option.
Nevertheless, I feel that I have to share this wonderful recipe with you I made the day before I went to hospital. It is very creamy, rich and chocolaty sweet. I found it on MyChefkoch, the German food platform where I often look for interesting recipes. I slightly changed the original, left the fruit out and put some chopped chocolate on top. Mmmmmh.
Despite that it this cake can be eaten without chewing it much, it is super easy to put together. AND there is a lot of nutella inside – which is another reason why you should try it. Make sure you do not have to worry about caloriewhen eating this cake – it is not what I would call low fat, low carb or something – just delicious ;). Let’s get started.
Nutella Cream Cake
300 g (11 oz) graham crackers, crumbled
400 g (14 oz) nutella (I told you it was a lot…)
80 g (2/3 stick) butter
250 ml (1 cup) heavy cream
400 g (1, ½ cup) heavy sour cream
100 g (3,5 oz) chocolate with whole hazelnuts
Prepare a round 26 cm (10´´ or 9´´) pan by placing a baking sheet on the bottom. Place the butter in a medium-sized sauce pan and melt over low heat. Add 2 tablespoons of nutella and stir until incorporated. Add the graham cracker crumbs and stir until the crumbs have evenly sucked up the butter.
Transfer the mixture into the cake pan and press it evenly to the bottom, use a spoon for this. Let the bottom layer cool in the fridge. Beat the heavy cream in medium-sized bowl. Cream the sour heavy cream and nutella (This was my favourite part :D.).
Carefully ad the heavy cream. Use a whisk and and stir just until incorporated. Transfer the cream into the cake pan.
For the topping, chop the chocolate with a sharp knife so you get thin little sticks. Spread them on top of the cake. Let it cool in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
Found a supersized chocolate from Ritter Sport in a shop. Couldn’t leave without buying it. :D
Enjoy this creamy beauty. I guess I can post something new when I am back home again, which is supposed to be by the end of the week… But don’t worry, I already miss baking, so I will post something as fast as I can.
original recipe: http://www.chefkoch.de/rs/s0/nutella+rahm+torte/Rezepte.html
