Raspberry Chantilly Cupcakes

Finally. Baking. On. The. Weekend.

On a side not, Happy Easter everyone!

These cupcakes are raspberry chantilly cupcakes, with a hint of lemon. It was a super easy one to make – I desperately needed to study for finals and my mom asked me to make some “extravagant cake” for the neighbors tonight. So I opted with “extravagant” cupcakes instead, and made a simple whipped vanilla bean frosting. All in all, it took me about 1 hour to make and pipe. Not bad, I say.

The raspberries are extremely tart, so I had to balance the flavor with some lemon zest. They complement each other very well, and these are the two things I always automically pair together when baking something.

Whipped cream frosting may seem as a challenge for any baker trying to make whipped cream stiff and pipe-able on their first try. To be honest, I failed the first few tries. I used gelatin once to stiffen the peaks…but it turned out making them watery. So I had to scrap many batches which split.

The best way to get pipe-able whipped cream is to used powdered sugar. Normally, a good estimate is 1 cup of whipping cream to 2 tablespoons of powdered/icing sugar. I don’t really bother measuring – I just pour the sugar straight into the cream. The more sugar you add, the stiffer it should get. As a rule, I always try to add any liquid flavorings at the end when I already have stiff peaks, so that there won’t be a huge possibility of the cream whipping up.

Cream is very frustrating to make. Almost like your girlfriend. No matter how much you care for her and try to do everything right, she always finds a way to f**k you up.

Just kidding. Girls, don’t be made. I’m a girl too.

I sprinkled on some powdered sugar because it looks nice in photos, but you don’t have to. Fresh berries are always the best decoration, and it really shows the consumers what is inside their cupcake, and give them an idea of what the flavor might be. Oh man, now I sound like I’m some businesswoman. But then again I am studying business right now, and I AM a young woman now (nearly 21!) so yes I guess I could call myself that.

Sorry, Sunday morning musings.

Anyway, these little babies with a gazillion calories will be heading over the fence tonight to my neighbors. Mamapyjama. I can’t wait for finals to be over so I can start baking more! But looking at my schedule, I doubt I can spare a few days to bake.

1. I’m going to be in New Zealand from 21st April to 14th May
2. I have training and presentations to attend/give on the 20th and 25th – 28th May,
3. Then I’m flying off again from 1st June to 7th June to Fiji
4. Then workshops on the 11th, 12th, 18th, and 19th of June
5. And then flying off again 20th June midnight all the way to 28th June to Malapascua Island, Cebu, Philippines for a reconnaissance trip for a project.

As you can see, I won’t be able to bake and will probably be MIAing (Missing In Action) for those couple of days. Apologies if you miss me! I promise I will take plenty of pictures while I’m away so I can share with all of you! 🙂