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Sunday, June 25, 2006

Thai Tea Cupcakes

thai tea cupcake


I really, really want a solid Thai Tea cupcake recipe. I have been playing around with just about every product I could get my hands on and trying a variety of recipes and approaches. Getting the Thai tea flavor in the baked good was just not working. While the cake tasted fine... in most cases ended up tasting like corn and not Thai tea.

I finally decided to skip the flavor in the cake and focus it in the filling and frosting. I also used yet another new product and this one is my favorite so far. I made Thai Ice Tea per the directions and the result is most definitely whatever I am being served in San Francisco Thai restaurants... the Thai Tea flavor I am accustomed to and love.

These cupcakes tasted luscious - no funky after tastes, no cloying sweetness. The cake is the not-too-sweet balance to the creamy sweetness of the filling and frosting. We tried these soon after assembly and they just sort of burst into a creamy mass. I think with some time in the refrigerator the flavors will deepen, the filling will become one with the cake, and the experience should be equally as good, perhaps a little better, and definitely a bit neater.

I don't know if this is the end of my search, but I am definitely pleased with what transpired today.

Cupcakes
15 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 large egg whites

1. Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds.
2. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
4. Measure out vanilla and milk together.
5. Add about a third of the flour to the butter/sugar mixture and beat to combine.
6. Add about one half the milk mixture and beat until combined.
7. Repeat above, alternating flour and milk and ending with the flour mixture. Transfer to a bowl. Clean mixer bowl well and dry thoroughly.
8. Whip egg whites until soft peaks form.
9. Mix in about a half cup of egg whites in to the batter, then fold the batter into the egg whites, gently until all egg whites streaks are gone.
10. Scoop into cupcake papers about two thirds full.
11. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.


mise en place
mise en place


batter
batter


Thai Tea Creamy Filling

3/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup Thai Tea syrup
4 large egg yolks

1. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix sugar, flour, and salt together and set aside.
3. In a small saucepan, bring milk and Thai Tea syrup to simmer over medium-low heat.
4. Pour about a half cup of the milk over the dry mixture and mix to combine.
5. Transfer back into the pan and continue cooking over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. About 5 minutes.
6. Slowly add a small amount of the hot mixture to the eggs and mix to combine. Transfer back into the pan and continue cooking over medium-low heat, stirring constantly for 3 minutes.
7. Transfer to a bowl, let cool for 10 minutes. Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool.

Note: You will have extra filling. I decided against splitting the recipe in half as it uses the 4 egg yolks for the 4 whites in the cake recipe. If you don't want extra, try cutting the recipe in half.


thai tea syrup
thai tea syrup


Thai Tea Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 8-ounce package Phili cream cheese
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Thai Tea syrup
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1. Bring cheese and butter to room temperature by letting it sit out for 1 or 2 hours.
2. Sift powdered sugar into a bowl or onto parchment.
3. Beat butter and cheese at medium speed until creamy.
4. Add half of the sugar and 1/4 cup of Thai tea syrup. Beat until combined.
5. Gradually add remaining sugar (more if you have to) until you get to the consistency and sweetness you like. Add more syrup to get to the flavor you want. I added 2 more tablespoons.


the cone
the cone

thai tea cream filling
thai tea cream filling

tops back on
replaced top


Assemble
1. Using a small pairing knife, cut off the top of the cupcake in the shape of a cone. Flip the top over and cut off the cone.
2. Fill the cavity with a teaspoon of cream filling.
3. Replace the top of the cone.
4. Frost then sprinkle with crushed Thai tea leaves.


thai tea cupcake and thai iced tea

30 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, nice work! These look lovely. I love the orangeyness, not too orange, but bright enough to be cheery.

6/26/2006 8:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ooh! i have always thought that thai tea would be a glorious flavor for a bite sized delight. bravo for your stellar work in the field of cupcakery!

deliciously yours,

monkey

6/26/2006 9:26 AM  
Blogger Alpineberry Mary said...

They looked great! I hope this will be the successful (and delicious) end to your search for your perfect Thai tea cupcake.

6/26/2006 10:58 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh I like the idea of the flavouring in the frosting. I also like the little surprise cone you created. Thank goodness these are just cupcakes though, I'll have to freeze the rest so that I won't eat them all at once.

6/26/2006 11:29 AM  
Blogger Papilles et Pupilles said...

oh my God ! They are so lovely :

6/26/2006 12:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love your creativity, the cupcakes look lovely! You know what, I was wondering since you're so good at baking, have you ever tried the Creamy French bread at Gran d'Or now known as Anderssen Bakery? The filling is just so tasty, but I can't figure out what's in their recipe

6/26/2006 2:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This tasted Great. I just took the last one off tray. I am not a tea fan and I loved it.

YUM.

Sandi

6/26/2006 3:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I always love coming to your site. You are such an inspiration for me to try new things.
Those cupcakes look amazing.

6/26/2006 4:42 PM  
Blogger aliastriona said...

That looks and sounds so good...and I really shouldn't visit your blog when I'm hungry, cause now I need some cupcakes...

6/26/2006 6:57 PM  
Blogger Vintage Wine said...

Your blog is amazing, but dangerous for someone who loves cupcakes ;-)

6/27/2006 10:19 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It looks like you're using a kind of pudding for the creamy center of your cupcakes. While the eggs provide a lot of fat to carry the flavor, I was wondering if you'd tried doing a kind of molten center using a ganache base (with heavy cream) that can be baked along with the cupcakes? I haven't sifted through your archives enough to see if you've experimented with that kind of filling before...

6/27/2006 3:44 PM  
Blogger Kim said...

Is the 'cake' part of this ensemble a vanilla cupcake?

I am trying to come up with a perfect vanilla cupcake. I have tried a few recipes from the Cake Bible (my favorite) and wondered if you have a favorite vanilla recipe?

Kim

6/27/2006 6:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I had the most delicious earl grey ice cream over the weekend in New Orleans. It was a compliment to a little chocolate cake, paired with earl- grey-soaked cherries, but the cake took a back seat to the ice cream.

If you're going down the road of tea-inspired cupcakes, I'd bet an earl grey creme would be delicious - and maybe incorporate cherries?

6/28/2006 12:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

since flavors not so different, "monin chai tea syrup" can be a good solution too http://www.monin.com/us/en/chaitea.html heh! they even have thai coffee syrup :D OR instead of syrups you can try "chai tea extract" ;)

6/28/2006 7:02 PM  
Blogger Mimitchi said...

Hi chockylit! I'm in thailand right now - how about that? I wanted to share this with you. I've been experimenting with your recipe but with malaysian/indian tea (non-chai) and I found that making the tea and incorporating it as a wet ingredient didn't yield a strong enough flavour and tended to curdle the batter even when it was incorporated slowly. so I tried it with dry instant mix (3 sachets) (you might have to reduce the amount of sugar if your mix has sugar) and if you have the actual thai tea leaves, try grinding it to a very fine texture in a food processor and adding a tablespoon of it into the batter. I also added condensed milk (1 tablespoon, and about 1/4 cup of milk) to balance out the dry ingredients. The result - a stronger tea-tasting flavour in the cake and no tea leaves to spit out, don't worry!... You can also throw in some of the fine-ground tea leaves in the condensed milk buttercream and it adds a pretty speckle to it. Please let me know what you think...

cheers!

6/28/2006 11:19 PM  
Blogger lara stein pardo said...

OMG. I love the last photo with the cupcake and thai tea. It's precious!

6/29/2006 7:14 AM  
Blogger chockylit said...

sorry for the lack of responses, but i have been busy getting ready to go on vacation. i shall be gone for 2 weeks, but will be working on a new recipe where i am going.

take care!

6/30/2006 1:04 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hmmmm! the filling just look like perfect! It's a really nice secret if you don't tell your guests before they bite ;-) Thank you very much for these great ideas!

7/01/2006 11:08 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Love the way you put the filling in! I would never have thought of that. I always use a pastry bag with an extra long needle point tip but it doesn't really always work as well as simply cutting off the top and replacing it would because you can't always get enough filling squeezed in to make it worth it without blowing out the side of the cupcake. I loved your idea. Simple and perfect. They're beautiful! Great job!

7/02/2006 2:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi! I love your site, and wanted to let you know that I used your Ice Cream Cone Cupcake recipe to make World Cup Cakes (http://yumbrosia.com/2006/07/01/world-cup-cakes) They worked out great and were delicious. Thanks so much!

7/02/2006 8:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

oooh! i can't wait to try these! the other batch i made was good but these look divine!!!

you are one inspiring cupcake master! i bow to you!

~jek

7/04/2006 7:29 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Chockylit,
Your strange and exotic cupcake flavors are the perfect beginning for my passion, which is taking a cupcake and dressing it up in strange and exotic fashions. Please visit my blog if you have a chance:
sfsweettooth.blogspot.com

A dedicated Cupcake Bakeshop subscriber,
marilyn

7/08/2006 6:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have a favorite cake which I always make for christmas or my birthday and I would love to see how you 'cupcake' it. It is adapted from one I tasted from the 'Guilt Tripp' bakery in Jamaica. It consists of chocolate genoise, sliced poached pears, coffee flavored french buttercream (not too sweet)and ginger cream (I use whipping cream, chrystalized ginger and Thai instant ginger tea), in delectable layers. Yummm!

7/09/2006 5:57 AM  
Blogger Fran said...

What a wonderful creation! I love your posts. Beautiful.

7/09/2006 8:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

these look yummy! have you ever tried making a chocolate earl grey cupcake?

7/09/2006 9:45 PM  
Blogger J. Lo said...

your site is a godsend! i've been reading it even before i started my own food blog. my a cappella group was looking for a devil's food cake recipe and we turned to your site for some advice. suffice it to say, we made a fantastic batch of nutella cupcakes that night. so thanks for that! and thanks for this wonderful new recipe which i will be sure to try!!! (the great part is all your recipes work out, unlike some cookbooks i've found)

7/10/2006 5:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can't wait to try this recipe!

7/10/2006 4:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm not a very good cook (or baker for that matter), but isn't Star Anise what gives the tea leaves their flavor in Thai tea? I found a recipe for just the tea that you might find usefull:

http://www.blueray.com/thaitea/recipes.html

7/19/2006 2:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It has almost been a month! Where are you Chockylit? We miss you!

7/22/2006 9:37 AM  
Blogger chockylit said...

I know! I just got back from vacation. in Portugal. I am working on a Portugal inspire recipe this weekend and will post on Sunday!

7/22/2006 10:17 AM  

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