Matcha Cupcakes with Raspberry Jam

I always want to make a filled cupcake, and I know exactly what I wanted to use--raspberry jam. So I was thinking about possible flavor I can use it with, and I came up with chocolate and matcha. I made several chocolate cupcakes before and thought it's time to try something different, so I used the matcha powder that I have! I found this matcha cupcake recipe online by Martha Steward, then I just filled it with raspberry jam and made my own experimental matcha buttercream.

The cake is moist but too cakey for my taste. Don't get me wrong though, it tastes great and have a great texture, but I think it's more suitable for making a regular size cake. It's not as fluffy as I wanted it to be. I also think I need to get a stronger tasting matcha powder. The matcha cupcakes has only hints of the matcha taste, and this is speaking from a person who know what matcha tastes like. Otherwise, to most people who didn't know it has matcha in the cupcake, it would just like a sweeter version of vanilla cupcakes.

Elle's Birthday Cake

So for my friend, Elle's, birthday, I decided to make her a cake. Knowing that she has a cat and loves cat, I decided to make a cat cake. My original plan was to make a cat cake like her cat Freiya, which is black. But I changed my mind after awhile because I do not want to give her a black cat on her birthday. I know I know, I sound superstitious right? Maybe.

I drew a sketch of how I want the cake to be during lunch time two days before the cake was due. My sketch included a two tiers cake. I started baking the cakes Friday night after work, which was a day before the cake was due. Unfortunately, my cake for the first tier did not turned out the way I wanted. I gave up around 3am in the morning. The next day, I woke up and baked another cake, but this time it was too dense, so with time restrain, I decided to just make it one tier. I was glad it turned out alright.  

 This was the cake 7 hours before due time at dinner. I was stressing a bit after taking this photo because it resembled a rat as well. Oh no! So I added some extra things later.

And this is the finished cake. I added the paws and the fish 2 hours before dinner. I'm glad it made it look more like a cat.

Here is the birthday girl, Elle, and her cake. She looks so pretty from the orangy red glow. The waiter did an awesome job in putting the cake on a plate and putting candles on it for me. Yay!

It's a dark chocolate cake with raspberry preserve and raspberry buttercream frosting. I added very little buttercream because the cake itself is pretty rich already. I just need that fruity flavor from the raspberry to balance it out.

The party of 7 ended up finishing half of the cake, which comforted me a little about failing on the 2nd tier. I also got some great compliments about the look of the cakes and the taste of it as well. I was also glad that Elle knew it was a cat! Yay! Happy Birthday Elle!

Orange Raspberry Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes awhile ago and decided to make some mini ones for potluck at work. These are inspired by Giada DeLaurentiis' Todd's Orange and Raspberry Cake recipe. I tried this recipe both in cupcakes, mini cupcakes and regular cake form. They all worked very well.



I also modified the recipe bit just a tiny bit. Instead of using creme fraiche, since it's hard to find sometimes, I use Greek yogurt. The texture of the frosting still turned out very smooth, velvety and tasty.

Here is the recipe from Giada if you like to try it out! Its super easy and delicious!