I love baking, the sweet aroma that fills up the kitchen, watching patiently as the mix rises. It's like watching something you create with your bare hands coming to life. "It's alive, it's alive .... " some inner voice within me would jump.
Recently I came across this wonderful receipe book for cupcakes by Betty Saw, "TEMPT". Well for one thing the cover already "tempted" me to pick it out of the shelves. The receipes were easy to comprehend (and I must say the pictures were "tempting"). But mostly I agreed with the preface that the author have written, something on the context that "baking a cake ... the leftovers ... and something about the state of the cake after it have been cut ..." Anyway according to the author, cupcakes are easier to store and your guest would be able to taste much more variety.
Well, with what amatuerish skills I have acquired through the trials and errors in baking cakes, muffins, I tried the cupcakes receipe. I decided to start with something refreshing (the weather this weeks have been so hot!). The cupcake is a basic mix of 75gms of flour (self-raising; sifted), 75gm of ground almond (almond meal), 15gms of caster sugar and 90gms of butter at room temperature (only 90gms!!!) and 1 large egg, lemon rind from 1/2lemon.
The 130gms of apple (I used granny smith) is diced into about 1cm cube and mixed with lemon juice, lemon rind from 1/2lemon and 15gms of light brown sugar, which when completed is scooped to paper cup base.
The cupcake basic mix is then scooped over the apple to about 2/3 of the paper cup and pop into the oven at 175deg cel for 20 mins or when ready. The cupcake is best enjoyed with a cup of iced chamomile tea on a hot afternoon. I tried the cupcakes on a few of my office colleagues and they absolutely love the taste and the texture of the cupcakes and they acutally wanted 2nd helping, which I have to disappoint them. Next time. I guess.
