21 February 2010

Lemon Lime Bitters Cupcakes - a healthier take

This recipe marks the completion of my February cupcakes - the flavours have been taken from the classic Lemon Lime and Bitters cocktail. I used low GI sugar (yes it does exist! In Australia, it's sold under the brand name Logicane) and almond meal, which is full of protein, to make these low GI cupcakes. The best part was that they were moist, sweet and zesty - and tasted all together decadent.

Logicane looks a bit like raw sugar - the crystals are a bit tricky to dissolve (hence why I dissolved them in the hot lime juice rather than creaming with the eggs) - but its molassesey flavour and stickiness make it perfect for making SMBC - I actually thinks it makes a much better buttercream than caster sugar! The egg whites thicken up much more quickly than with other sugars.

These cupcakes have been (heavily!) adapted from this recipe.

Lemon Lime and Bitters Cupcakes with Lemon SMBC

You will need:

3 ripe limes
3 eggs
1 C Logicane sugar (or any low GI sugar)
3 C (300 g) almond meal
1 tsp gluten free baking powder.

1 lemon
1/2 C Logicane sugar
1/2 tsp aromatic bitters

2 egg whites
1/2 C Logicane sugar
125 g butter
  1. Preheat oven to 170 C and line 12 cake cupcake tin with patty pans.
  2. Zest and juice the limes (to ensure you've got every drop, microwave the limes for 10 seconds - it really frees up the juice!). Heat in the microwave (or over the stove) until body temperature. Dissolve 1/2 C Logicane in the juice (you may have to heat it a bit more! Just keep stirring and heating until its all dissolved).
  3. Separate the eggs.
  4. Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form.
  5. Using the electric beater, whisk the yolks and 1/2 C Logicane until pale and creamy. Dissolve as much of the sugar as possible.
  6. Fold almond meal and baking powder into lime juice and zest.
  7. Fold whipped sugared yolks into almond meal mixture.
  8. Gently fold in whipped egg whites into almond meal mixture.
  9. Spoon mix into cupcake tin.
  10. Bake at 170 C for 20-30 minutes or until skewer inserted in centre of cakes comes out clean. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
  11. Zest and juice lemon. Combine zest, juice and 1/2 C Logicane in a small saucepan. Boil and stir until sugar is dissolved and syrup has thickened. Set half aside.
  12. Add bitters to remaining syrup in the pan. You really just want to get the aroma of the bitters, not the horrible bitter taste! Cook for 30 seconds - this will boil off any alcohol.
  13. Using a toothpick, prick holes in the tops of the cakes. Spoon bitters infused syrup over tops of the cakes. (Put a paper towel underneath when you do this - that way if you have accidentally pierced through the patty pan, you won't get syrup all over your benchtop!)
  14. Put 2 egg whites and 1/2 C Logicane into the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 70 C).
  15. Pour heated egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 7 minutes.
  16. With mixer on medium-low, add butter two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Increase speed to medium-high; continue beating until SMBC appears thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add lemon syrup and continue beating 2 minutes to eliminate air bubbles. Top cupcakes with buttercream.

Done! Moist, fluffy and zingy. Absolutely delicious, and worth every second. And you can feel a bit less guilty about eating them, too!

2 comments:

  1. There's nothing like a LLB to drink, so in cupcake form, I am sure it tastes sensational. These look so good.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I Love the recipe that contain lemon juice, the taste is really wonderful and delicious. this is my favorite fruit and i enjoy preparing recipes. My boyfriend always enjoy all my recipe. He is really happy.
    Actually I was looking for information how to buy viagra by internet and I saw this blog, so I prefered to read about it.

    ReplyDelete