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Arizona cupcakes

Cupcakes are small sponge cakes. In their original American version, they are usually decorated with brightly coloured icing. Here's a version inspired by the famous saguaro cactus, so common in Arizona.

136,426 14.5/5 for 21 ratings

Last modified on: October 13^th 2010

For 25 cupcakes, you will need:

1 100 g butter
2 30 g caster sugar
3 10 g Vanilla sugar
4 100 g flour
5 2 eggs
6 1 pinch salt
7 5 g baking powder
8 100 g Marzipan (almond paste)
9 1 tablespoon icing sugar
10 150 g fondant icing
Total weight: 610 grams

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Measures:

How long does it take?

Time required

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
1 hour 14 min.	35 min.	1 hour 49 min.

Keeping:

Several days in a closed metal box.

At what time?

When will I finish if I start the recipe at a certain time?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at a certain time?

Work this out...

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 3 min.

Cut 100 g butter into small pieces and tip into the bowl of the mixer, along with 30 g caster sugar and 10 g Vanilla sugar.

Stage 2 - 5 min.

Knead for a few minutes on slow speed until thoroughly mixed.

Stage 3 - 3 min.

Then add 100 g flour, 2 eggs, 1 pinch salt and 5 g baking powder.

Stage 4 - 5 min.

Knead again on medium speed just until evenly mixed.

Preheat oven to 180°C (360°F).

Stage 5 - 10 min.

Divide the mixture between small moulds, preferably in paper cake cases. Do not over fill as the cakes will expand during cooking.

You can divide out the mixture with a spoon, but it's much quicker and easier to use a forcing bag.

Stage 6 - 35 min.

Put in the oven and bake for around 35 minutes (watch for colouring).

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Stage 7 - 15 min.

Meanwhile, make the cacti using green marzipan.

Stage 8 - 10 min.

Melt 150 g fondant icing in a bain-marie.

Note: if you don't have fondant icing, make up a quick glacé icing using 100g icing sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon water, or just a little more.

Stage 9 - 2 min.

Spread icing over the cupcakes...

Stage 10 - 1 min.

... and place a cactus on top immediately.

Stage 11 - 20 min.

Decorate all the cupcakes like this.

Remarks

You can start with the basic cupcake mix and let your imagination run wild!

A quick variation: replace the marzipan decorations with pistachio paste, which gives a more realistic saguaro cactus colour.

For that real Arizona touch, the sun should make an appearance on the cupcakes, maybe as a small circle of yellow marzipan at the top to left or right of the cactus? Oh, well - for next time.

Nutritional information

% are calculated relative to a Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI of 2000 k-calories or 8400 k-joules by day for a woman (change to a man).

How much will it cost?

For 25 cupcakes : 6.49 €
Per cupcakes : 0.26 €

Note : These prices are only approximate

Change currency:

Source

Home-made, but warmly dedicated to Krissy, Kelley and Heather, three charming friends from Phoenix, of whom I cherish fond memories.

More recipes?

This recipe uses (among others)

	Fondant icing: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Chocolate eclairs, Chinois, ... All
	Flour: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Bechamel sauce, Lobster Thermidor, Walnut short bread, Cod loin with saffron, How to succeed in making sabayon (syllabub), ... All
	Marzipan (almond paste): You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Fraisier (French strawberry cake), Agen prune cake, Little Christmas biscuits, How to make marzipan decorations, Provençal colombier for Pentecost, ... All
	Butter: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Fish fillet in express cooking envelope, Pork medallions with "full" turnips, Baked Mont d'Or with diced mixed vegetables, Fish "à la Bordelaise", Yeast-based flaky dough (for croissants), ... All

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Your 1 comments or questions on this recipe

Those are absoluetly perfect!! I love it! I sure wish we could share that cup of tea while enjoying your yummy cupcakes.
Posted by Krissy may 10^th 2010 at 04:40 (n° 1)

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