Sweet-tart cranberry cream filling is a delightful surprise inside moist vanilla cupcakes, which are topped with cream cheese icing and white chocolate snowflakes. Use coating chocolate because white chocolate is soft at room temperature. For best results, place the snowflakes on the cupcakes just before serving.
- Portion size 24 servings
- Credits : Canadian Living Magazine
Ingredients
Cranberry Cream:
Cream Cheese Icing:
Method
Using template, trace 24 snowflakes onto parchment or waxed paper. Turn paper over and place on baking sheet.
Snowflake Template
In heatproof bowl over saucepan of hot (not boiling) water, melt white chocolate until smooth; let cool for 2 minutes. Using piping bag fitted with small plain tip, pipe chocolate onto traced snowflakes; refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate on baking sheet for up to 3 days.)
In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy; beat in eggs and vanilla. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; stir into butter mixture alternately with milk, making 2 additions of each, until smooth.
Divide among 24 large paper-lined muffin cups. Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean, 24 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes. Transfer to rack; let cool completely.
Cranberry Cream: Meanwhile, in small saucepan, bring cranberries, sugar, orange zest, vanilla and 1/4 cup water to boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened to consistency of jam and cranberries pop, about 15 minutes. Discard orange zest; let cool completely.
In small bowl, beat cream cheese with cream until smooth; fold in cranberry mixture. Using piping bag fitted with large plain tip, insert tip into centre of each cupcake top and pipe in cranberry mixture until cupcake begins to plump.
Cream Cheese Icing: In large bowl, beat cream cheese with butter until smooth; beat in sugar and cream. Using piping bag fitted with large plain tip, pipe icing onto each cupcake. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate in airtight container for up to 3 days.)
Top each cupcake with 1 snowflake; sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Nutritional facts Per cupcake: about
- Fibre 1 g
- Sodium 143 mg
- Sugars 58 g
- Protein 5 g
- Calories 500.0
- Total fat 23 g
- Potassium 95 mg
- Cholesterol 91 mg
- Saturated fat 14 g
- Total carbohydrate 71 g
%RDI
- Iron 7.0
- Folate 18.0
- Calcium 6.0
- Vitamin A 21.0
