Ultra Vanilla Cupcakes - Vanilla vs. Vanillin

It's been a long and demanding academic year... and now I'm done. I finished all my exams and coursework and will be graduating from he University of Nottingham this July with a MSci Neuroscience degree. I can't believe my student years are most likely officially over...
Despite the long hours spent revising and writing abstracts, grant proposal and dissertation, I found some time, every now and then, to do some cooking and baking. Nevertheless, I didn't post any of my recipes. There has been a demand for them, and I apologise that it's only now that I'm getting to it. Throughout the year, I came up with some very exciting flavours, however I have decided to start with a very traditional one - vanilla. First, this is a recipe that can be build upon and I'm probably going to refer to it fairly often; and second, there can never be enough vanilla - yes, it's my favourite flavour. It works well with light fruity fillings and frostings as well as with intense chocolatey and coffee mixtures.
You might have noticed that all of my recipes containing vanilla extract have a note attached saying that you shouldn't use the clear essence (in CZ and SK, Dr.Oetker is the one commonly found in stores). Also, when buying vanilla-flavoured sugar, you should double-check whether you're buying the real thing, or just the cheaper vanillin-flavoured one. A hint - if it's cheap, it's most likely the artificial vanillin version. A spoonful of vanillin in your cupcake/cake/whatever batter will most likely result in a very artificial, chemical and unpleasant taste. If you don't have the natural vanilla extract or seeds or vanilla-flavoured sugar and are thinking about using the artificial version, please don't. Your batter, for any cupcakes except for the vanilla ones, will be just fine without it. For the ultra vanilla cupcakes, recipe for which you can find below, you really need to use the real thing!

My humble collection

OK, let's get a bit geeky again!
Most of the vanilla-flavoured foods have a picture of a long dark brown bean and sometimes a yellow blossom next to it... That blossom is typical for the orchids of the genus Vanilla, the fruits of which are the oily long dark brown seed pods. Vanilla orchids grow like vine, climbing up trees or other support. For each blossom, if properly pollinated, there is exactly one pod. Even though the "most famous" vanilla nowadays is the one grown at Madagascar island, the so called Bourbon vanilla, the Vanilla genus originally comes from Mexico. Vanilla's journey from Mexico to other countries wasn't easy. The plant can only be naturally pollinated by bees of the Malipona genus, found exclusively in Mexico (mountain bees). Attempts to bring the mountain bees outside its natural territory failed, and only after artificial hand pollination was introduced in 1841 could vanilla pods be grown and harvested around the world (in suitable climates). Vanilla growers have to inspect their orchids at least once every day to be able to hand-pollinate, as the flower only lasts about one day, or even less. It is therefore no surprise that vanilla is considered the second most expensive spice, after saffron.

Despite its costs, vanilla flavour is abundantly used in the food industry. Nevertheless, to make the production of vanilla-flavoured food more affordable, artificial synthetic vanillin obtained by chemical synthesis from the petrochemical guaiacol is mostly used to generate this favourite flavour. Although vanillin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde or O8H8O3) is a major contributor to the characteristic aroma of vanilla, its contribution is still less than 50%. There are hundreds of flavour compounds found in the vanilla pod, combination of which results in the specific smell and flavour called vanilla. 

In conclusion, vanilla essence usually comes in two forms. The real seedpod extract containing several hundred different chemicals, including acetaldehyde, acetic acid, furfural hexanoic acid, eugenol, and methyl cinnamate; and the synthetic essence consisting purely of synthetic vanillin in ethanol.
(Don't be fooled by a brown or amber colour of the essence, some manufacturers add colourings to make it look like the real thing!)

Ultra Vanilla Cupcakes with Frosting Inspired by my Great-grandmother

Just a few notes to this recipe...
The frosting recipe was inspired by my great-grandmother's egg-yolk vanilla cream which she used as a filling for various pastries, my favourite being mini žloutkové věnečky (mini egg-yolk chaplets).
I used my home-made vanilla sugar (both granulated and powdered). It's very easy to make your own - just take a jar and fill (3/4) with sugar then take vanilla pods split in two (I usually recycle, so that I use the seeds for baking/cooking and than take the "empty" pods) and stick them in the jar so that they are all covered in sugar. Shake the jar a few times and leave it closed for several days. Tadaaa - after a few days you can open the jar a enjoy the rich vanilla smell - just like that you made your own vanilla sugar. 

Ingredients (makes for about 18 cupcakes)

     Cupcakes
115 g butter
1&2/3 cup plain flour
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup full fat milk
1/4 cup white yogurt
0.5 tsp. baking powder
0.25 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (now you know which one to pick)
2 large egg whites (save the yolks for the frosting)
seeds from 1 vanilla bean

     Vanilla Frosting
250 g mascarpone cheese
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
seeds from 1 vanilla bean
powdered sugar

Directions
      Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Beat egg whites with sugar
3. Add melted butter and yogurt and mix thoroughly
4. Add vanilla extract and seeds and mix
5. Mix the remaining dry ingredients and slowly add the dry mixture and milk to the wet mixture and mix thoroughly until smooth
6. Line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake cases and fill each one a bit over 1/2 full
Bake for about 20 minutes (toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean)

     Vanilla Frosting
1. Mix the mascarpone with egg yolks
2. Add powdered sugar (to taste) and vanilla extract and seeds and beat thoroughly until smooth and creamy

The Unofficial Schwazwälder Cupcakes

Long time no see... ! I'm enjoying my (probably) last long summer holiday, and although I still find time for cooking and baking, I moved, left my kitchen behind and had to start adjusting to a new one. Fun. As I'm moving long-distance, I got to do some shopping - new trays, cupcake cases, mixer, measuring cups... and I also got to know my new neighbour who seems to be interested in tasting my culinary experiments, and,  in exchange, offered to supply me with his home-grown tomatoes.

Since my mum and grandma love to make cherry jam and the pantry at my parents' house is slowly filling up with dark red jamjars, I got inspired... I've decided to bake some Black forest (Schwarzwälder) cupcakes for my high school reunion and for Honza's gaming session.

Little did I know that my cupcakes cannot be officially called "Black forest"... The original Black forest cake has to contain cherry brandy, at least that's what the German Leitsätze für Feine Backwaren (Guidelines for Fine Bakery Products) say. According to these "guidelines", the cherry brandy flavour has to be "clearly distinguishable" if the "fine bakery product" is to be called schwarzwälder. 

My cupcakes don't contain any cherry brandy or cherry brandy flavourings... Be aware that the bellow described recipe cannot therefore be officially considered "black forestish". Nonetheless, despite my ignorance of German traditions and guidelines, the cupcakes met with positive critique.

Schwarzwälder Choco-Cherry Cupcakes with Sour Cream Stracciatella Frosting
- picture taken by Honza -

Ingredients (makes for about 12 medium cupcakes)

     Cupcakes
75 g plain flour
70 g butter
60 g quality dark chocolate
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup full fat milk
12 tsp. sour cherry jam
0.5 tsp. baking soda
0.5 tsp. baking powder
0.5 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract* (not the Dr.Oetker clear essence!)
1 large egg
*the only good vanilla extract I discovered in CZ/SK so far is the one from Marks and Spencers, in the UK I like the one from Dr.Oetker (brownish and thick, available with, or without the vanilla seeds)

     Sour Cream Stracciatella Frosting
150 g sour cream (30% fat)
100 g mascarpone cheese
75 g quality dark chocolate (grated)
1/3 cup powdered sugar
3 dark cherries for decoration

Directions
      Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Beat egg with sugar
3. Melt butter with chocolate and add it to the egg and sugar mixture
4. Mix the remaining dry ingredients and slowly add the dry mixture and milk to the egg and sugar mixture and mix thoroughly until smooth
5. Line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake cases and fill each one a bit over 1/2 full
6. Bake for about 20 minutes (toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean)
7. Let the cupcakes cool and use a small paring knife to cut a cone out of the center of each cupcake, save the top part
8. Fill each cupcake with a spoonful of sour cherry jam and top with the piece you removed

     Sour Cream Stracciatella Frosting
1. Mix the sour cream with mascarpone
2. Add powdered sugar and beat thoroughly until smooth
3. Gently fold in the finely grated chocolate
4. Refrigerate for at least 30 min before frosting the cupcakes

Savoury Zucchini Cupcakes - Baking the Stress Away

Well... I'm absolutely stressed out, constantly nervous and panicking... and in no mood to write anything sciency... Too bad, because all the deadlines are rapidly approaching... As I'm trying to focus all my energy on my dissertation, I didn't post any of my stress-relief baking creations, but this one really deserves it. I'm, however, going to omit all the scientific jibber-jabber today.

Cheesy Zucchini Cupcakes with Chives and Bacon

Ingredients (makes for about 10 cupcakes)

     Cupcakes
50 g bacon (cooked crisp and crumbled)
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup whole milk
1/8 cup butter (melted)
1/8 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp. salt
0.75 tbsp. baking powder
0.5 tsp. baking soda
1 large egg
1 clove garlic (shredded)
1 handful of chives (cut)
1 handful of pumpkin seeds

    Cream Cheese Frosting
200 g cream cheese
50 g bacon (cooked crisp and crumbled)
0.5 tsp. salt
1/2 spring onion (the green part)

Directions
      Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Whisk together the melted butter, egg, milk, zucchini, chives and garlic
3. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk thoroughly until smooth
4. Fold in the cheddar and parmesan cheese, and bacon
7. Line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake cases and fill each one about 3/4 full
8. Sprinkle the top of each cupcake with a few pumpkin seeds
9. Bake for about 20 minutes (toothpick inserted in the centre should come out mostly clean)

     Cream Cheese Frosting
1. Combine the cheese with crumbled bacon and finely chopped spring onion
2. Add salt to taste
3. If too thick, add a little milk

Crying in the Kitchen - Caramelized Onion Quiche

I cried last week... It was a long week, exhausting and tiring... But it wasn't the sleep deprivation that made me cry. It was onion.

A relatively volatile compound, propanethial S-oxide, is a lachrymator (not a nice word at all). Upon meeting the cornea, it is detected by the nervous system and triggers response from the tear (lachrymal) glands. The burning sensation is caused by the contact of the vapours with the moist surface of the eyes that results in the formation of sulfuric acid.

However, onions do not contain propanethial S-oxide. They only produce it when damaged, and its primary purpose is not to make humans cry, but to protect the plant from herbivores. The irritant is a product of a series of chemical reactions. When the onion is cut, its cells are broken open and this releases an enzyme called alliinase and water, both of which react with S-1-propenyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide forming a variety of products. These are precursors of different compounds which form the flavour of onion. They also include 1-propenyl sulfenic acid that reacts with an enzyme named lachrymatory-factor synthase (yes, I'm nearly finished), and gives rise to the evil propanethial S-oxide.

Well, the crying was worth it, my onion quiche was yummy...

Caramelized Onion Quiche with Cheese and Bacon

Ingredients
     Dough
300 g plain flour
125 g butter (softened)
100 ml water
pinch of salt

     Filling
150 g grated cheese (gouda/chedar/...)
150 g diced bacon
6 big onions
2 eggs
4 tsp. herbs de Provence
3 tbsp. brown sugar
olive oil
pepper
salt

Directions
1. Mix flour, butter, water and salt, and knead them into dough. Let the dough cool in the fridge while you prepare the filling.  
2. Preheat oven to 180°C.
3. Slice the onions, and slowly fry them in olive oil. When lightly browned, add the sugar and let caramelize a bit. Add the bacon and continue frying until the onion is soft and sweet.
4. Put the onion into a large bowl and let cool for a while.
5. Roll out the dough and line an oiled pie pan with it. Save the unused dough in the fridge.
6. Mix the eggs, cheese and herbs with the onion and add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Pour the filling into the lined pie pan.
8. Use the leftover dough to make a lattice top for the quiche crust.
9. Bake for about 35 minutes until the dough is golden-brown.

CNS Stimulating Mocha Cupcakes

Ivka, one of my lab friends, celebrated her birthday yesterday. She, as well as the rest of the serious scientists, cannot imagine a day without coffee. It is understandable, considering the hours spent in dark rooms, sterile environment without windows, and late afternoon and evening shifts... From all the different flavours of cupcakes, Ivka likes the mocha ones with espresso mascarpone frosting the most, and it was therefore the obvious choice for our little "lab-rat" celebration... 

C2H10N4O2, or caffeine, is a xanthine alkaloid compound found in the leaves and beans of coffee plant. It acts as a CNS stimulant in humans and, as such, it has the power to temporarily ward off drowsiness and restore alertness. Caffeine has several other names which are often mentioned when talking about its different sources. These include guaranine, mateine, or theine found in guarana berries, verba mate, and tea, respectively. From the evolutionary perspective, caffeine, commonly found in over 60 plant species worldwide, is believed to have a protective role, as it acts as a natural pesticide which paralyses and kills various insects.

Apart from caffeine, coffee also contains trigonelline, a bitter alkaloid which has a significant role in the development of flavours and aromas during roasting. During the roasting process, trigonelline decomposes and gives rise to a large class of aromatic compounds (pyridines). These are responsible for producing the sweet/caramel/earthy-like aromas.

The coffee aroma is perceived by two different mechanisms. We can sense the scent nasally via smelling the coffee through the nose, or retronasally, when we swallow the coffee or when it is present in our mouth and the volatile aromatic compounds drift upward into the nasal passage.

Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Mascarpone and Dark Chocolate Frosting - Notice the beautiful new cases! 

Ingredients (makes for about 12 cupcakes)

     Cupcakes
2/3 cup plain flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup strong black coffee
0.5 tbsp. baking powder
0.5 tsp. vanilla extract* (not the Dr.Oetker clear essence!)
0.25 tsp. salt
0.25 tsp. baking soda
1 large egg
*the only good vanilla extract I discovered in CZ/SK so far is the one from Marks and Spencers, in the UK I like the one from Dr.Oetker (brownish and thick, available with, or without the vanilla seeds)

     Espresso Mascarpone Frosting
200 g mascarpone cheese
6-8 tbsp. powdered sugar
2-3 tsp. instant coffee powder
(1-2 tbsp. heavy cream if the frosting turns out too thick)

     Dark Chocolate Frosting
40 g quality dark chocolate (melted)
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/3 cup heavy cream
4-6 tbsp. powdered sugar

Directions
      Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Whisk together sugar and softened butter
3. Add the egg and whisk to blend
4. Add tepid coffee, milk, and vanilla extract and mix thoroughly
5. Mix the dry ingredients and slowly add the dry mixture to the wet one, whisk thoroughly until smooth
6. Line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake cases and fill each one a about 2/3 full
8. Bake for about 20 minutes (toothpick inserted in the centre should come out mostly clean)

     Espresso Mascarpone Frosting
1. Whisk together mascarpone with the instant coffee powder
2. Add sugar (less if you like your coffee more bitter) and whisk to blend
3. If too thick, whisk in some cream

     Dark Chocolate Frosting
1. Whisk together the softened butter and cocoa powder
2. Add melted chocolate and cream and mix thoroughly
3. Stir in sugar and beat until smooth

Vernal Equinox Celebration - Blueberry Cupcakes

I'm not a big fan of Easter. Not only because I consider myself an atheist, but also because I resent the Czech traditions related to this holiday... The custom of often drunk men spanking women with willow rods and throwing cold water on them, and women rewarding them with decorated eggs doesn't really appeal to me... On the other hand, who wouldn't like a day off from work? So I decided to celebrate the end of winter, vernal equinox.

...and, about a week ago, I made these blueberry cupcakes with lemon mascarpone frosting, decorated them with chocolate candy eggs... and enjoyed a free Friday and Monday in Prague with Honza, visiting our grandmas and aunties.

By the way, blueberries are good for you. Apart from a lot of other phenols, they contain a chemical called chlorogenic acid, an esther of caffeic acid and L-quinic acid. It is a powerful antioxidant and, in spite of its name, it doesn't contain any chlorine. Its name comes from the Greek xλωρός (light green) and -ϒένος (a suffix which means "giving rise to") - when the chloronergic acid oxidizes, a green colour is produced. 

Blueberry-enriched diet was shown to provide cellular protection against oxidative stress and reduce a kainate-induced learning impairment in rats (Duffy et al., 2008). Antioxidant properties of natural polyphenols are also investigated for their therapeutic potential for Alzheimer's disease (Choi et al. 2012), as the fruit polyphenols have been shown to have beneficial effects on brain aging (Lau et al., 2005).

Vernal Equinox Blueberry Cupcakes with Lemon Mascarpone Frosting

Ingredients (makes for about 12 cupcakes)

     Cupcakes
45 g butter
1&1/2 cup plain flour
3/4 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup plain white yogurt
1/2 cup whole milk
1/8 cup vegetable oil
0.5 tbsp. baking powder
0.5 tsp. vanilla extract* (not the Dr.Oetker clear essence!)
0.5 tsp lemon zest
0.25 tsp. salt
0.25 tsp. baking soda
1 large egg
*the only good vanilla extract I discovered in CZ/SK so far is the one from Marks and Spencers, in the UK I like the one from Dr.Oetker (brownish and thick, available with, or without the vanilla seeds)

     Lemon Mascarpone Frosting
200 g mascarpone cheese
40 g unsalted butter (softened)
6-8 tbsp. powdered sugar
juice from 1/2 lemon
(10 g whipping cream stabilizer (CZ/SK smeta-fix Dr.Oetker) - only if the frosting turns out too runny)

Directions
      Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Whisk together the melted butter and oil
3. Add the egg and whisk to blend
4. Add yogurt, milk, vanilla extract and lemon zest and mix thoroughly
5. Mix the dry ingredients and slowly add the dry mixture to the wet one and whisk thoroughly until smooth
6. Stir in the blueberries
7. Line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake cases and fill each one a about 3/4 full
8. Bake for about 20 minutes (toothpick inserted in the centre should come out mostly clean)

     Lemon Mascarpone Frosting
1. Beat butter with a mixer until pale and fluffy (about 3 min)
2. Combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice, if too runny, add some more sugar
3. Add the sugar-lemon mixture to the mascarpone, add butter and whisk until smooth and creamy
4. If too runny, add the whipping cream stabilizer

Apple Cupcakes with Caramel(an, en and in) Buttercream

From the "chemistry-science" perspective, caramel, or, to be more precise, the process of caramelization, seems pretty complicated... Although it is really cool to understand the chemistry behind this golden delight, it might scare you off from trying to cook it on your own. Nevertheless, after my first successful attempt, I can assure you it is actually easier than it looks. Although one must really pay attention to the tiniest details, it is a surprisingly quick process and the end product is definitely worth it.

It all starts with sugar dissolving in water (for the so called "wet caramelization"), and sucrose breaking down into fructose and glucose by hydrolysis. The second step, condensation, is very easy to detect, because you start noticing the aromas coming out of the pot. This signals that glucose and fructose started to break down into smaller, more volatile compounds. You might be able to smell the nutty aroma of furans, buttery smell of diacetyl, toasty fragrance of maltol, and fruity scent of ethyl acetate...  

This second step can be, in theory, accelerated, if you add a little lemon juice to the sugar mixture...the breakdown of fructose and glucose is acid catalyzed, thus adding an acid, such as the citric one, should enable the reaction to occur faster and at lower temperature. I have not tried that, so my recipe below does not include lemon juice... it could, however, be a nice experiment...

Oligomerization is the next step in caramelization process. These reactions further contribute to the development of brown colour and portions of the texture. First, dimerization occurs. In the case of fructose, the dimer is called di-D-fructose dianhydride. There are three different pathways on which these dimers can react further. These differ in the number of water molecules that are lost in the reaction. One of them results in the formation of caramelan (C12H12O9) aggregates of which form small, brown particles about 460 nm in size , another one can form caramelen (C36H18O24), a polymer that has aggregates of 950 nm in size, and the third one produces another polymer called caramelin (C24H26O13) which aggregates in particles that are darker in colour and are about 4333 nm in size. These oligomers assemble into particles and networks and create the unique texture of caramel. The presence of free radicals is believed to be partially responsible for the typical caramel stickiness.

Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients (makes for about 12 medium cupcakes)

     Cupcakes
1&1/2 cup plain flour
1 cup grated apples
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/8 cup lemon juice
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract* (not the Dr.Oetker clear essence!)
0.5 tsp. salt
0.5 tsp. cinnamon
2 large eggs
*the only good vanilla extract I discovered in CZ/SK so far is the one from Marks and Spencers, in the UK I like the one from Dr.Oetker (brownish and thick, available with, or without the vanilla seeds)

     Caramel Buttercream Frosting & Caramel Topping
170 g unsalted butter (softened)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup water
1/8 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
0.25 tsp. salt
2 large egg whites

Directions
      Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Beat together the eggs and sugar until creamy
3. Beat in the lemon juice, vanilla extract, and oil
4. Mix the remaining dry ingredients and slowly add the dry mixture to the wet one and beat thoroughly until smooth
5. Stir in the grated apples
6. Line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake cases and fill each one a about 3/4 full
7. Bake for about 20 minutes (toothpick inserted in the centre should come out mostly clean)

     Caramel/Caramel Topping
1. Bring 1/4 cup sugar and the water to boil, cook and stir with a wooden spoon occasionally until the caramel is dark amber
2. Remove from heat and add cream, salt and 0.5 tsp. vanilla extract, stir with a wooden spoon until smooth
3. Let cool
     Caramel Buttercream
1. Beat butter with a mixer until pale and fluffy (about 3 min)
2. Put the egg whites and 1/4 cup sugar in a heatproof  bowl and set it over a pot of simmering water
3. Whisk until sugar dissolves and remove from heat
4. Whisk the sugar-egg mixture on medium speed for about 5 min
5. Increase the speed to medium-high and whisk until stiff and glossy (about 6 min)
6. Reduce speed to minimum, slowly add beaten butter, whisking well after each addition
7. Whisk in vanilla extract and add about 1/3 (or more) of the caramel and beat until smooth (3-5 min)