IronCupcake_006: Sangria Chiffon Cupcakes

Iron Cupcake:Earth
Theme: Wine
My entry: Sangria Chiffon Cupcakes
Voting begins: Thursday, January 29 at 8 pm Central @ http://mkecupcakequeen.blogspot.com and will be open through Wednesday, February 4 at 12 noon Central.


I love freeing my mind of the daunting task of having to decide which cupcakes to make for IronCupcake:Earth. You guys always pull through and vote for the yummiest one in the poll! This time you picked Pomegranate Sangria Cupcakes. I had a little problem in the beginning. When I went to the grocery store, there wasn't any Pom juice to be found! They usually have it in the produce department, but I couldn't locate it anywhere! I bought a bottle of pomegranate cherry juice on the regular juice aisle. I didn't have high hopes for using it in a recipe, but at least I'd give it a try. I boiled it down and substituted it for the water in the chiffon cake recipe. But the flavor was totally unnoticeable in the cupcake. I ended up with what I'm calling Sangria Chiffon Cupcakes. I added some lemon and orange zest to the batter. While they were still hot out of the oven, I poked them with a fork and brushed some sweet red wine on the tops. I frosted the with SMBC flavored with more zest and the juice from the fruit. I tinted it kinda wine-colored just to play with the whole "sangria" idea.

Reducing the pomegranate cherry juice Ingredients for the citrus chiffon cupcakes
I just love ribboned egg yolks... :)
Chiffon batter ready to be baked...

Shout out to the citrus hangin in the back!And apparently I need practice with mixing chiffon batter...
I was just so afraid of overmixing!
Here are my drunk Sangria Chiffon Cupcakes!

I used Alton Brown's recipe for chiffon cupcakes. I've had that episode of Good Eats saved on my DVR for like a year. However, the recipe really let me down. I encountered two MAJOR problems with it. I've read a few other blogs that have used this recipe and wonder how they missed these problems. Anyway, here is what I noticed. First, there is entirely WAY too much salt in this recipe. When I tasted a cupcake, every bite has a crunch of kosher salt in it. Very unappetizing. Second, the baking time is double what it needs to be. Half an hour for cupcakes is rediculous. Mine were done at 15 minutes. Good thing I'm insane about constantly checking on my baked goods. I practically babysit them at the oven door. Here is the recipe from FoodNetwork.com. My comments are in orange italics, as always.

Chiffon Cupcakes
Makes 24

5 1/4 ounces cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt (Way too much! I'd say reduce to 1/2 teaspoon and use table salt)
5 large eggs, separated
6 ounces sugar, divided
1/4 cup water (I subbed reduced fruit juice... didn't really do much flavor-wise though)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I omitted)
Zest of 1/2 a lemon and 1/2 an orange (My addition)
5/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Place paper liners into 2 (12-cup) muffin tins and set aside. If you prefer, set 12 ovenproof coffee mugs on a half sheet pan and set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Place the egg yolks and 5 ounces of the sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on high for 2 minutes or until the mixture becomes pale yellow and 'ribbons' when lifted. Add the water, vegetable oil and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients and whisk just to combine (Don't mix the flour all the way in! You'll do more mixing in the next step, and you don't want the flour overmixed!). Transfer the batter to a mixing bowl while you whisk the egg whites.
Place the egg whites and cream of tartar into a clean bowl and whisk on high using the whisk attachment, until it becomes foamy. Decrease the speed to low and gradually add the remaining ounce of sugar. Increase speed to high and continue whisking until stiff peaks form, approximately 2 minutes.
Transfer 1/3 of the egg whites to the batter and whisk until well combined. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in gently. Transfer batter into prepared muffin tins or coffee mugs, evenly dividing the batter between the cups. Place both muffin tins on the middle rack of the oven or, if using mugs, place all of them on a half sheet pan and set on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake for 30 minutes (Mine only needed 15 mins, so check them early!), until a toothpick comes out clean or the cupcakes reach an internal temperature of 205 to 210 degrees F. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Citrus-Scented Swiss Meringue Buttercream (My recipe)
Makes enough to generously frost 24-30 cupcakes

5 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, cut into tablespoons
Zest (finely chopped) and juice of half an orange and half a lemon

Put egg whites and sugar in a glass bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture reads 160 degrees on a candy thermometer.
Pour into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, 7-10 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low, add butter several tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. (If frosting appears to separate after all butter has been added, beat on high speed until it thickens, 3 to 5 minutes). Beat in zest and juice. Color, if desired. Reduce speed to low; beat 2 minutes to eliminate air bubbles. Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth.

Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 4
Tenderness: 3 (My fault, I haven't mastered chiffon!)
Frosting: 5

Prizes provided by Etsy artists:
DOGBONE ART (I have their sticker on my car!)
A pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES
Also, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice!
As an added bonus for January SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY will be tossing in another treat as well.
Corporate prize providers:
HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS
HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson
JESSIE STEELE APRONS
CUPCAKE COURIER
TASTE OF HOME books
UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM
Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers