April 1, 2016:
Last night, BlueStar had the pleasure of competing in ABW’s First Annual Cupcake Wars for Charity. Hosted in their stunning Silver Spring MD luxury showroom, 12 teams competed to design, bake and decorate the best cupcakes. The contest was a winner take all – each team was baking to support the charity of their choice.
Team BlueStar arrived ready to compete, armed with the culinary skills of Chef Danielle Turner and her assistant Jordan.
Our cupcake of choice? A unique take on the classic French dessert crème brule. After baking a rich, buttery yellow cake, the chefs toped the cupcakes with a pastry cream.
The icing on the cake? A carmelized sugar topping that we simmered ever so gently on the 48” Platinum gas range, then cooled, then chopped in a food processor.
We baked over 60 of these cupcakes in our Platinum PowR Oven (all in 1 batch!) – and they tasted amazing! The judges praised these cupcakes for their originality and complex flavors.
In the end, the competition was stiff! So many amazing creations came out of this event.
And the best news was, at the end of the night, over $10,000 was raised for charity.
We left feeling on a sugar high – so proud to be part of this exciting competition and great cause! Thanks to the team at ABW for putting together such a memorable evening.
Creme Brûlée Cupcakes
- 2 cups cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup vanilla sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake tin with paper liners.
- Sift cake flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.
- Cream butter and vanilla sugar together. Reduce mixer speed to low and add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add flour and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Stir in vanilla. Scoop batter into cupcake tin lined with paper liners.
- Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean and cupcakes are golden brown, 15-17 minutes. Makes 12 cupcakes
Cooked Sugar Crumbs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- Line baking sheet with parchment. Spray parchment with nonstick cooking spray.
- Heat sugar over medium high heat until sugar melts and begins to brown, 5-7 minutes.
- Pour onto prepared sheet. Let harden. Pulverize into coarse crumbs.
Vanilla Pastry Cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 3/4 cup vanilla sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 Vanilla extract
Heat milk to simmer. Remove from heat and set aside. Whisk yolks, sugar and flour together in a medium bowl. Gradually pour milk into yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Return mixture to pot and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Strain into a clean bowl and chill.
Assemble Cupcakes
Place chilled pastry cream into a pastry bag. Pipe cream onto cupcakes. Dip cupcakes into cooked sugar crumbs or sprinkle crumbs on top.
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