Can a Cupcake be Evocative?

Indeed!

Special occasions deserve desserts that are a little more special than every day.  Most people do not have desert daily but in the residential home, dessert is served at lunch and at dinner.  Fruit salad, apple sauce, jello, pudding, cake squares are a common occurrence.  To make a special dessert for the residents, we need to consider the occasion. My residents get particularly excited about rosette frosted cupcakes.  For the kitchen, this is an easy treat to create because its the flair of the rosette that gets the diners all excited.

I made these Maple Chestnut cupcakes and I think the flavours remind me of Christmas.  The creamy frosting is smooth and super soft and quite easy to produce from scratch or in combination with other pre-made frostings or mixes.  We use a product from Rich’s that is like a very light buttercream frosting.  Beat it with soft cream cheese and icing sugar to make one variation of the frosting.  You can also use the cans of Betty Crocker Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting.  These sometimes appear at the grocery store for $1, so they can fit the budget of a small residence. I will still add a little extra icing sugar to add some body to the Betty Crocker cans.

The cupcake batter is from scratch but could be created using a basic boxed white or vanilla cake with the Chestnut Puree added.  My recipe is an adaptation of one I found on The Huffington Post and my altered version produces a light and very very tender cake that seems to defy the weightiness of its ingredients.  You can even cut back on the sugar a bit, but as I have mentioned, sweet is a popular taste for seniors. To use a cake mix, prepare as the package recommends and then mix in some chestnut puree to match the numbers (my recipe makes 48 cupcakes).  Again, you may find occasional bargains on cake mixes for $1 at local low cost grocers.

Maple Chestnut Cupcakes:

(scroll down further for the easy version)

• 1 lb Roasted and Peeled Italian Chestnuts
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup Amber or Dark Maple Syrup
• 1 lb (2 cups) softened butter
• 2 cups white granulated sugar
• 2 cups light brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 cups Cake & Pastry flour
• 2 tsp baking soda

1. Put peeled chestnuts into a saucepan and cover with milk.
2. Add maple syrup and simmer covered for 10 minutes.  Do not let the liquid evaporate.
3. Remove the chestnuts and mash by hand or in a food processor.  Add some milk back into the mash if needed.  Set the chestnut mash aside.
4. Set the remaining milk aside.
5. Cream together butter with sugars and beat until evenly blended.
6. Beat in eggs, one at a time until incorporated and then beat until fluffy.
7. Beat in remaining milk, vanilla extract, and lemon juice.
8. Add in the Chestnut Mash and mix well until fully incorporated.
9. Combine Flour and Baking Soda in another bowl and whisk well to mix thoroughly
10. Carefully incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and thoroughly combine.
11. Fill paper lined cupcake tins 3/4 with batter.
12. Bake at 350 (325 convection) until golden (about 20 mins).  You can check doneness by looking for the tops to spring back when touched or when a toothpick inserted in a cupcake comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 lb softened cream cheese
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar

1. Beat together butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy
2. Beat in powdered sugar
3. Beat on high until fluffy and smooth

Easy Version  (makes up to 48 cupcakes)

Maple Chestnut Cupcakes:

• 1 lb Roasted and Peeled Italian Chestnuts
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup Amber or Dark Maple Syrup
• 2 boxes vanilla or white cake mix  (to make 48 cupcakes total)

1. Put peeled chestnuts into a saucepan and cover with milk.
2. Add maple syrup and simmer covered for 10 minutes.  Do not let the liquid evaporate.
3. Remove the chestnuts and mash by hand or in a food processor.  Add some milk back into the mash if needed.  Set the chestnut mash aside.
4. Set the remaining milk aside.
5. Prepare cake mix according to instructions BUT use the remaining maple chestnut milk in place of the milk or water in the instructions.  If you need extra liquid just top it up with more milk or water.
6. Add in the Chestnut Mash and mix well until fully incorporated.
7. Fill paper lined cupcake tins 3/4 with batter.
8. Bake according to the cake mix directions.  You can check doneness by looking for the tops to spring back when touched or when a toothpick inserted in a cupcake comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/2 lb softened cream cheese
• 2 containers (4 cups) of ‘canned’ vanilla frosting
• powdered sugar (optional)

1. Put canned frosting into a bowl with softened cream cheese
2. Beat until combined and smooth
3. Beat on high until fluffy and smooth
4. Beat in extra powdered sugar until frosting reaches desired consistency

So, the easy recipe has a very rough pricing of $2 for cake mix, $2 for frosting, $3 for cream cheese, and then the chestnuts say $4 per pound.  That’s about $11 for 4 dozen full sized cupcakes with frosting for a special occasion.  Compare the $0.23 cents each to the 10 cents for an average dessert and it’s still affordable.