Strawberry and Lychee Cupcakes July 2007 For these cupcakes start with white boxed cake mix. Use the standard measurements for eggs and oil, but in place of the 1 cup of water you should use roughly 2/3 of a cup of strawberry juice (i.e. most of a can of defrosted strawberry daiquiri mix) and 1/3 cup lychee juice/syrup. I also sliced up about 6 lychee fruits (after removing the paper-like inner shell) and added the fruit to the batter. They didn't seem to make a huge impact in the finished product, but I like biting into the fruity bits of the cupcake. They smelled wonderful in the oven and baked up golden brown. When they had about five minutes left I brushed the tops with the reserve lychee syrup for a little kick. use a light frosting that won't detract from the cake. I went with whipped topping mixed with additional confectioners sugar (for sweetness and consistency). I bet cream cheese icing would also be delicious, but slightly heavier. To decorate this batch I made a mixture of lychee juice, confectioners sugar and gel color. The juice-based glaze gives yet another flavor kick when you bite into a line or dot. The chaotic pattern isn't very zen, but it looks great and tastes even better. This recipe is a keeper.
Lychees are kinda odd-looking- like they should be bland and slimy. But when you pop it in your mouth- delicious! Pour the can into a dish so you can reserve the juice & sugar syrup for making icing. (And/or use the leftovers in green tea or martinis.)
Directions:
Frosting:
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Strawberry Lychee Cupcakes
The countdown has begun for my trip to SE Asia. After reading several travel guides about the yummy and exotic fruits of the region I decided to try my hand at baking with one of them. The sweet, delicate flavor of lychee seemed like a perfect start for a summer cupcake. (What's a lychee you ask? Click here. What did we do before wikipedia?) Since the flavor is so subtle I am kicking it up with strawberry juice, another one of my favorite summer fruits.
