One of the most comforting and appealing flavour combinations of the baking world that translates perfectly into cupcake form is the classic fusion of orange and poppy-seed. The pairing of a moist, buttery sponge, flecked with shreds of orange zest and speckled with poppy seeds, with swirls of luscious citrus-spiked cream-cheese frosting, creates a cake that is indulgent without being too rich. The sharp freshness of the citrus zest provides a necessary element of 'zing' to the light sponge, offering an ideal counterpoint to the creaminess of the frosting. As for the poppy-seeds, aside from infusing the cakes with a subtle but no-doubt pleasing hit of opiates (!), I adore the hint of crunch that they lend to these cupcakes.
 |
| My first batch of orange and poppy-seed cupcakes, frosted with light cream-cheese frosting and decorated with citrus-flavoured jellies and poppy seeds....this photo doesn't quite capture the wonderful poppy-decorated serviette that I presented them on! |
In my first foray into the world of orange and poppy-seed, I wanted to use decorations that would enhance the playful qualities of these miniature cakes. To this end, I topped each cream-cheese frosted cake with a candy citrus segment and sprinkled the edges with a poppy-seed border. I have to admit that it seemed a pity to mask the beautiful golden sponge under so much frosting, and on reflection I think I would have preferred a more restrained dollop of frosting, allowing some of the sponge to still be seen.
 |
| You can just glimpse the un-frosted cake, in its golden glory, in the background of this photo! |
Luckily for me, a second occasion to make orange and poppy-seed cupcakes presented itself to me, allowing me to experiment with a different and perhaps slightly more sophisticated way of decorating the cakes:
 |
| Orange and poppy-seed cupcakes, the 'redux'... |
In this second attempt, I decided to use a simple citrus flavoured icing with a fairly fluid consistency instead of the traditional rich cream cheese frosting. This more fluid icing gave the cakes a lovely transluscent glazed effect and ran down the sides of the cakes to produce a classic home-baked look. I decorated each little cake with some beautiful crystalline shards of candied citrus peel, adding another element of textural contrast and also some additional citrus hints of lemon and lime to the orange fragrances of the cake. Other decoration ideas that I think would work well include a simple dollop of cream cheese frosting and a fresh orange or mandarin segment, or, for a more indulgent touch, a sliver of chocolate-dipped candied orange peel, a square of Lindt Orange Intense dark chocolate, or even a segment of Terry's chocolate orange.
 |
| Orange and poppy-seed cupcakes - the perfect rainy-day baking project, and even better when enjoyed with a cup of fragrant bergamont-infused earl-grey tea, a good book to read and a warm blanket to snuggle under! |
For those keen to recreate these cakes in their own kitchen, here is my recipe for orange and poppy-seed cupcakes:
115g soft unsalted butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup self-raising flour
Grated zest of one orange (unwaxed)
3 tablespoons of poppy-seeds
1 tablespoon of milk
Preheat oven to 180 degrees fan forced and prepare a tray with 12 cupcake papers. Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs and sift in the flour. Add the zest, milk and poppyseeds and stir to combine (do not overbeat). Spoon mixture into prepared cases and bake in the oven for approximately 18 minutes or until golden and springy to the touch. Allow to cool completely before frosting as desired, either with cream-cheese frosting (made my combining cream cheese, icing sugar and orange zest), or with a simple icing sugar and fresh orange juice glaze.
I hope you enjoy making these cakes, I am hoping to have more opporunities to experiment with different decoration ideas in the near future!
xx
Anne
No comments:
Post a Comment