The Mojito Cuparon!


Dear readers, please come together to witness and bless the joining of this macaron and this cupcake in glorious harmony...until they're both devoured and relished...!

When I taught a macaron tutorial a couple weeks back, I chatted with Stef of Cupcake Project and discussed combining our forces... her cupcakes and my macarons in an adorable delectable mélange of flavor and presentation. We decided to make our own separate versions and post them at the same time; you can check hers out at her blog, Cupcake Project!


I spent a good bit contemplating the best way to combine macarons and cupcakes. The textures of each are so distinctive, I wasn't sure I'd want to eat them together. Macarons are crunchy, chewy, with a slight bite. Cake is soft, fluffy, moist. The only thing they have in common (sometimes) is the filling/frosting. 

Nonetheless, this was a fun creative project that kept me thinking outside the box. I brainstormed for a while and toyed with many ideas. When the latest Mactweets challenge showed up on my blogger feed, it inspired me to think about what the month of October is about--fall, Halloween, breast cancer awareness. Just last month, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, so this year's awareness means much more to me than ever before.  

I thought of my mom, who loves a glass of wine or a margarita and won't be able to drink any for a long while. I also thought of my sister and all my girl friends (did you know breast cancer is now found in 1 in 8 women?? That's crazy). With that, the mojito cup-aron was conceived. I wanted to make something we could all indulge in on a fun girl's night at home... Of course, you can make this with so many colors and variations that it doesn't have to just be a girly dessert. But this one is.


I chose a butter rum cupcake base, combined with a fluffy pink vanilla mascarpone frosting, in honor of breast cancer month. Then I piped an extra layer in-between the cake because... well, it's mascarpone frosting, enough said. I also placed a lime macaron shell on top of the cake layer before piping the frosting. It's difficult to tell in the photo but it's there, and a pleasant surprise for those who ate it! I then made a lime flavored macaron for garnish and a mint flavored chocolate "straw" macaron. 

These turned out better than I expected. Although I originally assumed macarons and cupcakes wouldn't be a good match, they happened to work together very well in this dessert. Once again, I am proven wrong, in the best way.

When using a spoon to break through the frosting, shell, and cake all at once, the flavor combos were charming and the texture delightful, unlike anything I've had before. Since the mascarpone frosting isn't too sweet, the sweetness from the macaron is a welcome and integral component to the rest. The macaron added a slight chewy crunch to the soft bite of cake, and the frosting was a great medium between the two.
The macaron garnish was a nice addition and meant to be eaten separately since it had it's own filling, and the minty "straw" served as a good clean finish.

So what did I learn from all this? Macarons and cupcakes really can be a blessed and yummy union! And if it means I get to eat a macaron and a cupcake for dessert, then total win-win in my book.

It takes a bit of effort but it's a creative and tasty dessert for a girl's night in, or for any other special occasions.

*Note: Assemble about 30 minutes to an hour before serving!

Butter rum cupcakes
Makes 12


1 stick of butter @ room temp.
3/4 cup of sugar
1 1/4 cup of flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 eggs @ room temp.
1/4 cup of sour cream
1 tsp butter rum extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, and then the extract. Add in the dry ingredients and sour cream and fold together.
Bake for 15-17 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached.
Let cool.

Lime Macarons
makes 18-22

100g egg whites
35g granulated sugar
120g almond meal
200g powdered sugar
drops of green gel food coloring

Beat the egg whites with a hand-held electric mixer. When the egg whites get frothy, add in the granulated sugar. When the egg whites and the sugar have combined and turned white, add in the food coloring and beat on high until stiff peaks. You should be able to hold the bowl over your head and it shouldn't budge.

Sift in the almond meal and powdered sugar and use a spatula to stir the ingredients in. Stir around and into the bowl sort of like drawing the letter "J". Stir until just combined, leaving no streaks of powder and when the batter falls thickly from the spatula and settles back down into the bowl.

Fill a piping bag with a round tip, full with batter. Hold the bag perpendicular to your baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a silpat mat and pipe one-inch circles, leaving space for them to spread.

After they're all piped, lift the baking sheet and drop it to the table, about 6 inches in the air... You need to remove any air bubbles and don't be afraid to whack the pan on the table if necessary! Then let them sit out for 30 minutes to an hour, until they look dry on top.

Preheat oven to 285 degrees F. Bake for 18 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. I use a wooden spatula to prop the door open to prevent humidity but that varies oven to oven.

Let cool before trying to remove the macarons from the baking sheet and bend the sheet to pick them up instead of directly picking up each macaron!

*Set aside the shells you're going to directly put on top of the cupcakes, and brush with some lime juice before assembling.

Key Lime Filling
From here

Over a double boiler, melt:
6 oz white chocolate
1 tbs butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

When it’s smooth and melted add in 2 tbs key lime juice.
Store in fridge overnight, bring to room temp before filling cookies.


Mint Chocolate "Straws"

80g egg whites
65g granulated sugar
50g almond meal
100g powdered sugar
25g cocoa powder
black gel food coloring

Beat the egg whites with a hand-held electric mixer. When the egg whites get frothy, add in the granulated sugar. When the egg whites and the sugar have combined and turned white, add in the food coloring and beat on high until stiff peaks. You should be able to hold the bowl over your head and it shouldn't budge.

Sift in the almond meal, cocoa, and powdered sugar and use a spatula to stir the ingredients in. Stir around and into the bowl sort of like drawing the letter "J". Stir until just combined, leaving no streaks of powder and when the batter falls thickly from the spatula and settles back down into the bowl.


Use a piping bag with a round tip and fill it with batter. Prepare a baking sheet with a silpat mat or parchment paper. Pipe long thin lines, approximately the same length. Let sit out for about 30 minutes or until dry to the touch.

Preheat oven to 285 degrees F. Bake for about 6 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking time. Let cool before removing from the sheet and be gentle since they may break. Fill with mint frosting.

Mint Frosting
From here

1 stick butter, room temp.
2-2.5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/8 cup milk
two drops peppermint extract

Beat butter until fluffy, then add the rest of the ingredients. Start with 2 cups of powdered sugar and move up to get the right consistency.

Assembly:
Freeze the lime macarons.
Peel the cupcake out of the liner and slice it horizontally, place the bottom half in a glass and then pipe frosting on top. 
Place the top half of the cupcake on top and top with a macaron shell brushed with lime juice.
Pipe frosting on top of the macaron shell.
Take a lime macaron and use a knife to cut a slit (more like a tiny triangle) out of it.
Stick it on the edge of the glass.
Stick the chocolate straw in the side of the cupcake.

The best ever mascarpone frosting can be found here.

Enjoy!

Comments

  1. Wow! I love everything about what you came up with!! The straws are so creative, the macaron on the side of the glass is totally adorable, the macaron layer under the frosting is genius, and the cupcake flavor sounds incredible. Great job! It was so much fun doing this with you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. first of all, i'm so sorry about your mom! it's crazy how many people breast cancer affects!

    secondly, this is one of the most 'outside the box' creative dessert adaptations I've ever seen! love it!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. <33333

    the name= better than what i can come up with that's for sure

    ReplyDelete

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