I was posted to the Obgyn department for my Surgery Sub-Internship Program (SIP) earlier this year for a month, where we were attached to the wards and learnt how to be house officers (and future minions) from the team. Whole bunch of minions freshly out of our final exams, learning from a really great team who took such great care of us. These were for their last day as a gift to thank them.
The cupcakes were vanilla sour-cream based (same recipe as my summer berry cupcake), which I cored out and filled with Lychee/Grape jam or Passionfruit jam. Wanted to make them blueberry originally, but the stores ran out.. They were then topped with a cream cheese vanilla swiss meringue buttercream frosting, and decorated with fondant minions. We also made individual minions for each of the House Officers for fun, as well as a Call My MO (Medical Officer) – which they will be soon!
| Best Vanilla Cupcakes adapted from Buttercream Blondie
Vanilla Cupcakes 5 ounces (141 g) unsalted butter Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream from Korena in the Kitchen 2 egg whites Decorations Jam or fruit puree of your choice (Passionfruit, Grape/lychee) |
To make Vanilla Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place blue cupcake liners into cupcake pan. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla bean paste. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream and ending with dry ingredients. Fill cupcake tins to 2/3 full. Bake for 22-25 minutes, rotating once halfway through. To make Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream: In the heat-proof bowl of an electric mixer, combine egg whites and sugar. Place the bowl over a pot of gently simmering water and heat the egg white-sugar mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is hot to the touch, about 160˚F. Attach the bowl to the mixer base and beat the mixture with the whisk attachment on medium speed until foamy, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until you get a stiff-peaked meringue. If the meringue is still warmer than room temperature, reduce the speed to low and stir until completely cool. Meanwhile, cut 1 cup of unsalted butter into cubes and let it come to room temperature while the meringue whips. The butter should be a spreadable consistency and not melty in any way. Add the butter, cube by cube, to the meringue, stirring on low speed. The meringue will fall and start to look curdled, but keep adding the butter and stirring and it will come together into a fluffy frosting. Scrape the frosting into a different bowl and set aside. In the mixer bowl, whip until very light and fluffy 8 oz softened cream cheese (room temperature) One spoonful at a time, gradually add the SMBC to the whipped cream cheese, stirring on medium-low speed. Once combined, the frosting should be like softly whipped cream. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is like stiffly whipped cream. Add a dash of vanilla and a pinch of salt. You can use the frosting right away, or chill it to firm up a bit (re-whip before using). To decorate cupcakes: Core out the center of the cupcakes and fill with jam (passionfruit or grape/lychee jam). Frost cupcakes with yellow swiss meringue buttercream. Pipe on designs with chocolate ganache and white fondant cut into rounds. Use chocolate callets for the eyes or pipe on designs. |
My Dose of Sugar 