Spicy Fennel Cupcakes with Date Buttercream Icing

I came up with the idea for these cupcakes when I saw the theme of this cupcake roundup: "Re-Invention". I had just made the lamb tagine, and when I saw the theme it occurred to me that the date and fennel flavors in the tagine might actually translate well to a dessert. If you've been following my blog, you'll recall that the first time I experimented with a baking recipe wasn't that long ago. So, I approached the project of creating my own cupcake recipe with excitement and a bit of trepidation.

I began by doing a little research online to find out what mix of ingredients is usually used as a base for cupcakes. I discovered that most recipes have a similar proportion of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour, so I started out with that base as well. Since I love the spicy/sweet contrast of the tagine, I wanted that flavor to resonate in the cupcakes. To achieve this contrast, I decided to put fennel in the cake part, with some of the tagine spices, and to use the dates to enhance the sweet flavor of the icing.

I ended up trying this cupcake recipe 3 times before settling on a version that I liked. You may think I'm crazy, but one of the biggest surprises to me was that none of the tries actually flopped! I mean, I was always taught that you need to be very careful about measuring everything when you bake, but the more I experiment the more I realize that you can play around with many of the ingredients without compromising the end result.

The biggest challenge for me in making this recipe was creating the flavor profile that I wanted. For example, a decision I struggled with was which spices I should add to the cake. Ginger and cinnamon seemed like obvious choices, as they are commonly found in Moroccan food, and they are also often used in sweet recipes. I was pretty hesitant at first with spices like coriander and cumin, since I wasn't really sure they belonged in a dessert. However, I ended up increasing the amount of these spices as I tested the recipe, since I found that they made the final product really unique and spicy.

Another important decision was how to incorporate the fennel and date into the cupcake. One of the things I've heard about fennel is that roasting it can really bring out the flavor, so I decided to roast the fennel before adding it to the cupcake. I pureed the fennel in a bit of milk, which helped to incorporate it into the cupcake. For the date, I didn't want the peel to interfere with the smooth texture of the icing, so I ended up making a date puree.

One idea I had didn't work. You guessed it - I tried throwing some cilantro into the cake. Unfortunately, I found that the baking process dilutes the flavor to the point where you can't even taste the cilantro anymore, so I removed it from the recipe.

I think the color of these cupcakes could use some work. However, overall I was very pleased with the result of my first very own cupcake recipe!

Spicy Fennel Cupcakes with Date Buttercream Icing
(makes 12 cupcakes)

For the fennel cake:
2 fennel bulbs, about 1 1/2 cups after roasting
olive oil, enough to coat the fennel before roasting
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon

For the icing:
5-6 dates, chopped into large pieces, about 1/2 cup after chopping
1/4 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
1 stick butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners sugar, or less if you don't like very sweet icing
1/2 tsp vanilla

First, roast the fennel. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Chop the fennel bulb in half and then into chunks about 1/2 inch thick. Place on a baking pan and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Mix to fully coat in olive oil. Cook for 15-20 minutes, turning the fennel pieces over halfway through, until the fennel is soft and beginning to brown.

After the fennel cools, it needs to be chopped before adding to the cupcakes. Put the fennel in a food processor and pulse it several times while adding the milk. If you don't have a food processor, you can also chop by hand.

While the fennel is cooling, begin the batter for the cupcakes. Mix the butter and sugar and beat on high speed for a couple of minutes, until the butter begins to lighten in color and the texture becomes smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until fully combined.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees for the cupcakes.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices in a separate bowl. On low speed, add the dry ingredients to the batter, mixing until just combined. Now add the fennel and milk mixture, stirring until just combined.

Use an ice cream scoop to portion the batter into 12 cupcakes. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the icing, first make the date puree. Put the chopped dates, water, and cinnamon stick in a small pot. Cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the dates begin to break down and fall apart. Set aside to cool.

For the icing, combine the butter, confectioners sugar, and vanilla and beat on high speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy, stopping a couple of times to wipe down the sides of the bowl.

After the date mixture is cool, pass the mixture through a sieve. You should end up with about 1/3 cup of date puree that passes through the sieve. Add the date puree to the icing and stir just until combined.

After the cupcakes cool, ice them and enjoy!

Not-so-red Velvet Cupcakes

I have to confess that I have been a bit obsessed with cupcakes lately. It started when I went to the local bakery and had an amazing carrot cupcake. Then I had a very tasty vanilla cupcake at Kara's Cupcakes in Ghirardelli Square. I even made a special trip to Magnolia when I was in New York City about a month ago, just to see why it is so popular. (Honestly, I still don't get why Magnolia is so famous - they weren't my favorite, although the icing was good.)

Then I saw a Paula Deen show on red velvet cupcakes. Paula Deen is a food network personality who is well known for her southern comfort food recipes, many of which involve a stick of butter or a package of cream cheese. Most of her food is too rich for my taste, but I figured that if anybody would know how to make a decadent dessert, it would be her. So, I decided to try out her recipe for red velvet cupcakes.

The result? The cupcakes were fluffy and moist, and the icing was just sinful. However, I couldn't taste the cocoa in the cake and they left me with a bit of a greasy/oily feeling. (As a side note I also noticed that they left a sizable puddle of oil in the cupcake pan, which is not all that surprising considering how much oil is in the recipe.)

Upon offering some of the cupcakes to my friends, they were generally well received, but I inevitably heard "Wow, what makes them so red??" and was somewhat ashamed to admit that it involved food coloring.

All of this left me thinking that I could probably improve upon the initial recipe. I've always been afraid to experiment when baking though. I mean, when you are cooking something savory, no big deal. Double the garlic, throw in a few extra spices, swap some ingredients, it all works out in the end. But with baking, I'm always afraid that I'll end up with a dense cake that doesn't rise.

I decided to give it a shot, while trying to be conservative about how much I changed in the recipe. I reduced the oil by 1/3 and added a couple of tablespoons of butter instead, hoping that this would give it a less greasy feel. I also decided to increase the cocoa powder, to allow for more of the chocolate flavor to come through, and I doubled the vanilla extract for more flavor. Finally, I ditched the food coloring, deciding that despite the southern tradition it was pretty unnecessary. Instead I topped with red crystallized sugar.

The result? The cupcake was definitely less oily and didn't leave me with a greasy feel like the original recipe. The cake did lose a bit of the light, airy feel that the original version had, though. This is possibly because of the butter substitution and possibly because I reduced the overall proportion of wet ingredients in the recipe. I think I might continue to experiment with this one, but not half bad for a first try! Any advice from baking experts out there??

Here is the finished product:


And here is the recipe:

Not-so-red Velvet Cupcakes
(makes 12 cupcakes)

Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/2 lb. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

red crystallized sugar, to top

For the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake papers.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pan once, half way through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
Be sure all your ingredients are at room temperature! That means leaving the butter and cream cheese out for at least a couple of hours. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy. You'll see the the icing lighten in color and increase in volume.

Frost the cupcakes, sprinkle with the crystallized sugar, and enjoy! The frosted cupcakes will keep in the fridge for several days.