We’re super-excited for Kyra Bussanich’s appearance on “Cupcake Champions” coming up on the Food Network. As awareness of gluten intolerance rises, it’s even more important to have representatives out there in the gluten-full world letting everyone know that living gluten free can be delicious, satisfying and fun!
Our interview yesterday with Kyra revealed challenges she’s overcome and what
she’s most excited about with the upcoming series. Today, she’s sharing with our
Easy Eats readers the recipe that crowned her Cupcake Champion on her second appearance. And to make today even sweeter, she’s teaming up with Easy Eats to bring you a very fun giveaway.
Now, this recipe is definitely as far from a boxed cake mix (which we love too!) as
you can get, but it’s also accessible even if you’re not a pastry chef or television star.
We want to see how you make it and who you make it for and how many smiles it inspires. So, every Easy Eats fan who makes this recipe and shares a picture with us on Facebook or Twitter will be entered in a super-sweet gift package
drawing, including:
A collection of gluten-free cookbooks from Easy Eats
A shipment of sweets straight from Kyra’s Crave kitchen
A Crave Bake Shop T-shirt (you specify the size)
To Enter:
Just make Kyra’s winning Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes and drop a note with a photo onto our Facebook or Twitter pages (don’t forget to tag both Easy Eats and Crave Bake Shop). Photos can be as fun and fancy as you like or quickly snapped
with a camera-phone; we just want to see how much you love them!
Post at any time through 6pm on Monday, May 21st (the day after Kyra’s episode)!
Want a second chance?
Drop us a note about what you loved / what made you laugh / what made you
shake in your shoes during Kyra’s “Cupcake Champions” appearance on Sunday,
May 20th at 8pm EST, and you’ll get a second drop in the winning bucket!
Have fun – good luck – eat easy!
Cupcake Wars Winning Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes
Vanilla Cake filled with Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream,
Topped with Dark Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream
Copyright 2011 by Kyra Bussanich
Components:
Vanilla Cake (recipe follows)
Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream (Recipe follows)
Whipped Dark Chocolate Ganache (recipe follows)
Recipe Prep Time: 65 minutes
Recipe Cook Time: 35 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 7 minutes
Ease of preparation: Intermediate
Yields 24 filled and frosted cucpakes (and some pastry cream left over!)
Vanilla Cupcakes:
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 cup tapioca starch
1 cup potato starch
2/3 cup white rice flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 1/2 cups whole milk
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter with a paddle attachment until the butter is light in color and fluffy, about five minutes. Take your time with this step! Add the sugar to the butter and continue beating until the sugar is uniformly incorporated into the butter and the mixture is very creamy. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and then restart the mixer on low speed.
Crack the eggs into a small container and add 1 egg at a time, waiting until it is fully incorporated in the butter mixture before adding the next egg. Once all the eggs have been added, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that all the butter is incorporated with the eggs.
In a small bowl or dish, measure out and mix together the tapioca starch, potato starch, white rice flour, baking powder, salt and xanthan gum. Add the tapioca mixture to the butter-sugar mix in three additions, alternating with the milk, incorporating each addition into the batter before moving to the next step. If needed, stop the mixer after each addition and scrape down the sides of the bowl and then resume mixing on low. Do not over-mix or the resultant cupcakes will be tough and rubbery.
Evenly fill the cupcake pan cavities two thirds of the way full. Bake until the top of each cupcake is slightly springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 13-16 minutes.
Remove from the oven and immediately turn the cupcakes out of the pan onto a cooling rack. Let the cupcakes cool completely, and then frost with the Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream (recipe follows) and top with Dark Chocolate Italian Meringue Butter Cream (recipe follows).
Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream:
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons sugar
5 ounces egg yolks (yolks from about 7 large eggs)
2 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons sugar
pinch of sea salt
Line the inside of a bowl, casserole dish or baking pan with heat-proof plastic wrap and set aside, near the stovetop.
Measure the butter and salt into a small container and bring over near the stovetop. In a medium-sized metal bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and the first quantity of sugar to combine thoroughly and prevent any lumps in the cornstarch, and then whisk in the egg yolks until smooth and creamy. Set the bowl with the yolks on top of the damp dishtowel (This will keep the bowl from spinning later as you whisk in the milk).
Pour the milk and the remaining sugar into a heavy saucepot and scald over medium heat until the milk starts to steam and tiny bubbles are apparent at the edge of the pot. Do not boil the milk! When the milk is steaming, remove from the heat. Whisking the yolk mixture vigorously while very slowly pouring the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture in a steady stream. Once all the milk is combined with the egg yolks, pour the entire contents of the bowl back into the sauce pot and return to medium-high heat.
Whisk constantly while the yolk mixture is heating to make sure that the pastry cream doesn’t form lumps while it cooks. Bring the pastry cream to a boil and, whisking constantly, continue to let it boil for 90 seconds. Remove the pastry cream from the heat and stir in the butter, vanilla bean paste, and salt that you have set aside. Stir to combine and ensure the butter is completely melted into the pastry cream. Pour the pastry cream into the plastic wrap-lined bowl and immediately cover the top of the pastry cream with additional plastic wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap covers the entire surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cool, at least 30-60 minutes.
When you are ready to use the pastry cream, remove from the refrigerator and whisk in a large bowl until completely smooth and lump-free. Fill the piping bag fitted with a #803 round piping tip with the pastry cream and set aside until you need it.
Dark Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ cup water
Egg whites from 4 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup good-quality dark chocolate, chopped
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/16 teaspoon (pinch) fine sea salt
Measure the sugar and the 1/4 cup water into a heavy saucepan. Wipe down the sides of the pot with a pastry brush dipped in additional water to ensure there are no sugar crystals on the sides of the pot. Heat the sugar over high heat until the sugar mixture reaches 250 degrees F about 15-20 minutes (use a candy thermometer to gauge the temperature).
While the sugar is cooking, beat the egg whites on medium speed in the mixing bowl of a stand mixture to the soft peak stage (whites will look foamy and white). Be careful not to overwhip the whites (if the egg whites start to look clumpy, then they’ve been overwhipped. If this happens, toss them out and start again! If the whites are beating faster than the sugar is cooking, turn down the mixer speed. You can always turn up the speed if you need to!) Add the cream of tartar and continue whipping. While the egg whites are whipping on medium speed, gently pour the hot sugar syrup down the side of the mixing bowl. Turn the speed up to high and whip until the mixing bowl no longer feels warm to the touch, about 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the dark chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl at 30 second intervals, stirring well in between each interval, until the chocolate is completely melted. Once the sugar-egg white meringue is no longer warm to the touch, turn the mixer speed back to medium and add the butter in small chunks until it is completely incorporated.
Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the vanilla bean paste and sea salt. Turn the mixer back on medium-low speed until the vanilla paste has mixed entirely through the buttercream.
Spoon a small amount (about 1/2 cup) of the buttercream into the melted dark chocolate and stir to combine. Add the chocolate-butter mixture back to the buttercream in the mixing bowl and whip thoroughly on high speed, stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure all the chocolate is combined.
Fit an 18-inch plastic piping bag with an 847 star tip and twist the bag right by the tip to prevent the buttercream from leaking out. While you grasp the piping bag right above the star tip with your hand, fold the top of the piping bag over your hand and spoon the butter cream into the piping bag.
Putting it all together:
Using an apple corer or knife, core out the center of each cooled cupcake.
Fill each cupcake with the Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream and frost the top of each cupcake with the Dark Chocolate Italian Meringue buttercream.
