Yank Bakes Madera Cake with Summer Fruits

After many failed attempts at summer fruit themed cupcakes I was drowning in excess summer fruit that was moments away from going off. I had found this cake recipe a few weeks ago on The Caked Crusader and new it would be sturdy enough to hold up to all the fruit and a mascarpone crème filling so off I trotted.


Madeira Cake

Ingredients:

180g unsalted butter, at room temperature

175g caster sugar plus an additional 2 tablespoons for sprinkling on top

3 eggs

165g self raising flour

2 teaspoons vanilla extract



How to make:- Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan oven 140°C/315°F/Gas mark 2-3.

- Line a 20cm spring form tin with baking paper.

- Start by beating together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

- Beat in the eggs gradually, adding a little of the flour if the mix looks like its curdling.

- Beat in the vanilla.- Fold in the flour.

- Spoon into the prepared tin and level the surface.

- Sprinkle the additional caster sugar over the top.

- Bake for approximately 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Mine took 50 minutes.

- Leave to cool for 20 minutes in the tin before turning out and allowing to cool completely on a wire rack.

- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.

- Eat.

Martha Stewart’s Mascarpone Frosting:

1 pound mascarpone cheese (used 8 oz)
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar (used ¼ cup) 1-1/4 cups heavy cream
(I wanted a very creamy very easy to spread filling more than frosting)

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (I didn't have this and just used the regular beaters), beat the mascarpone, cream and confectioners' sugar until medium-soft peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. Be careful no to over beat. Use immediately.

Various Summer Fruits

I used:

3 peaches that I had to cut some bad parts out
½ a punnet of strawberries
Almost a whole punnet of blueberries





Assembly:

After the Madera cake had completely cooled I cut off the top ¼ of the cake leaving as much bottom as possible to soak up all the juices. I then put the base back into the spring form pan I had used to bake the cake. I spread the bottom with around 3 TBS of some strawberry puree I had left over. I then started layering cut up fruit on the cake; I layered peaches the strawberries and then threw in the blueberries. In hind sight I would have 1. mixed all the fruit together and then tossed it on top or 2. put the strawberries down first. I think the flatness of the peaches covering the base of the cake did not allow all the juices from the strawberries to soak into the base of the cake but that is just my unfounded humble opinion and since I was making this up as I went along I have no idea. I then put the Mascarpone filling on top and spread towards the edges. Finally I put the top layer of the cake back on and delicately but as hard as I thought the cake could handle smooshed everything down.

Don't

Post at 5.15am in the morning when you have been averaging 4-5 hours of sleep for a week, it leads to mistakes. After much consideration into my feelings about the tube strike that hit London last week and very early in the morning when I couldn't sleep I wrote what for me it a very long post about it. I then with out noticing for over 24 hours posted it to my other blog Yankee Crafts in England. Having given it a lot of thought it does not seem right to delete it from my other blog and post it here. The moment is gone and the post was written at the time during the strike and it does not read the same after the fact. I hope you will take some time to hop over here and read it for yourself. I am off to make potato salad as I have just learned that Mr. Y in E thinks my potato salad rocks and living with a chef you take your chance to shine in the kitchen when you can.

Yank Bakes for Iron Cupcake London

Last night was the first ever Iron Cupcake London. A good time was had by all (this may have been sugar induced euphoria). Yank not one to miss out on all the fun entered with Chocolate Chipolte Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting. Follow the link for the original recipe and below is the Yank adapted recipe from trial and error and a lack of access to some of the ingredients.

Chocolate Chipotle Cupcakes
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
3/4 cup boiling water
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3 tsp chili powder
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
2 small or one large dried chipolte chili

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line cupcake trays with baking cups (36)

Blend chili in blender to fine powder reconstitute with a small amount of water to make a paste.

Boil water. Transfer 3/4 cup of boiling water to bowl. Stir in cocoa until dissolved to form chocolate mixture and set aside.

With a wire whisk, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and chipotle powder in a separate bowl and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix sugar, butter and eggs until light and fluffy. Add buttermilk and vanilla and mix well.

Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients in three additions, alternating with chocolate mixture in two additions, ending with flour mixture. Beat until combined with each addition.

Add pureed chipotles and beat until combined.

Scoop batter into prepared cupcake trays,

Bake for 13-15 minutes and cool completely.


Cream cheese frosting
3 oz. chocolate with chipotles ( I used Lindt with Chili)
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 stick butter ( 4 ounces by weight)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
4 cups confectioner's sugar

Melt chocolate in microwave in 30 sec intervals., stirring in between until melted. Let cool.

Sift sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

Cream butter and cream cheese and vanilla in a large mixing bowl on low until combined.

Add sugar in small batches until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl in between.

Set aside half of frosting and set aside for the Vanilla Chipotle Cream Cheese Buttercream.

Add melted chocolate to the other half and mix until combined for the Chocolate Chipotle Cream Cheese Buttercream.

Thank you Caked Crusader for a great evening!