I remember when my bellini obsession began. I was in middle school and my family was eating dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I always loved eating at the Cheesecake Factory because of the extensive dessert selection. An entire restaurant whose premise was to serve inventive cheesecakes? How could I not love that?
Anyway, after selecting my entree (fettucine alfredo, most likely) I flipped to the drink menu, just out of curiosity. There were lots of drinks that sounded terrible to me. I was 13, after all. But then, something caught my eye: a peach bellini, with sparkling wine and peaches blended together. It sounded like dessert in liquid form. Suddenly, I wasn't very interested in cheesecake any longer. Instead, I was wishing I were 21 so I could try a bellini for myself.
A few weeks ago, my husband and I found ourselves with an abundance of peaches. We'd also had a bottle of pink moscato sitting in our fridge for months. The combination screamed "bellini." Yes, I know a traditional bellini would use prosecco. But honestly, I couldn't bring myself to buy a bottle of prosecco when we had a perfectly good bottle of moscato just chilling out in the fridge. Since I'm just one person and can't/shouldn't drink the entire bottle of moscato myself (and since my husband has little interest in sparkling wines) I knew I had to find a creative way to use the moscato. The obvious solution was to make bellini cupcakes.
These cupcakes are moist and tender, with small chunks of peaches incorporated throughout. Add a fluffy, delicate buttercream spiked with sparkling wine, and you have the perfect cupcake for any celebration.
(cupcakes adapted from this recipe from Smitten Kitchen)
(buttercream adapted from this recipe from The Suburban Soapbox
Peach Cupcakes
3 small peaches (appx. 12 ounces in weight)
1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
3 small peaches (appx. 12 ounces in weight)
1. Peel and dice peaches (To easily peel peaches, immerse in a pot of boiling water for about 1 minute. Remove from water and run under cool water. Skins should slid off easily). Place about 4 ounces of diced peaches into a small saucepan and mash with a fork or potato masher. Cook over medium heat for about five minutes. Peach puree should simmer and reduce to about 1/4 cup. Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper liners.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
4. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and the cooled peach puree from step 1. Mix just until blended. Add the buttermilk and stir until combined. In three separate steps, add the dry mixture, blending after each addition. Finally, gently fold the diced peaches into the batter.
5. Fill each cupcake liner with a scant 1/4 cup batter. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Allow to cool briefly in tin, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Buttercream
1/2 cup, plus 1 Tbsp. sparkling wine (prosecco, champagne, moscato)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
1. In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup sparkling wine over medium heat. Simmer for several minutes, until reduced to 1 Tbsp. Cool completely (you can put the reduced wine in the freezer for a few minutes to speed up the cooling process).
2. In a large bowl, use hand mixer to beat butter until it has a light and fluffy consistency. Add sifted confectioner's sugar, in two portions, until well incorporated. Beat in reduced wine, plus 1 additional Tbsp. of wine. Pipe buttercream over cool cupcakes. If desired, garnish with sliced peaches.
No comments :
Post a Comment