Bleeding Heart Cakes

Well it has been some time since I used my spike pan, so I decided to pull it out for another go round.  This particular recipe has a little bit more work to it than just regular cupcakes, but I think it is well worth it.

The batter comes together with a mix of blood orange juice and zest, ground pecans, cinnamon and orange liqueur.  The inside heart is a blood orange segment that is coated in a mix of cinnamon sugar and pecans.  On top is a dusting of confectioners sugar and piped lattice icing with the flavor of blood oranges and cinnamon.

I really do like the distinctive taste of blood oranges. These little cakes definitely give you a pop of that great flavor with the orange segment cooked inside. This recipe makes a little over 1 1/2 dozen.

Bleeding Heart Cakes
by flourtrader

Ingredients/Filling
13 blood orange segments, pith and membrane removed
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup ground pecans (I used a blender to grind mine)
1/4 cup sugar

To prepare your filling, line a baking sheet with waxed paper.  In a shallow bowl, mix together cinnamon, pecans and sugar.  Cut each segment in half, cutting the width.  Then roll each piece in the cinnamon mixture and place on the baking sheet.  Place in fridge while the rest is prepared.

Ingredients/ Cake batter
1/2 cup orange liqueur ( I used Grand Marnier)
1/2 cup blood orange juice
2 tbs blood orange zest
1/2 cup ground pecans
3/4 cup butter, room temp
3 eggs, whites and yolks separated
2 cups sugar
4 tsp baking powder
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare spike pans by greasing top edges of cavities and putting in cupcake liners, letting the spike poke through the center.

 In a medium size bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the ground nuts.  Set aside.  In another bowl, cream together the sugar, orange zest and butter.  Then beat in the egg yolks one by one.

In a small bowl stir together the orange liqueur and the orange juice.

Then fold in 1/3 of the sifted ingredients into the sugar mixture.  Mix in 1/2 of the orange liqueur and juice mixture.  Continue with the same mixing process, ending with the last third of the sifted ingredients.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Then fold the whites into the batter.  Using a scoop, fill each of the cupcake cavities with a heaping tablespoon of batter.  Then take the orange segments from the fridge and slide a piece onto the spike so it just touches the top of the batter.  Segment should be on its side rather than upright.  After all the segments are spiked, place another scoop of batter on top.  Cavity should be about 3/4 full.

Place pan in oven and bake for 12-18 minutes or until tester (poked outside of the orange segment in the center) comes out clean.  Mine took exactly 15 minutes.  Remove pan and let cool for 1 minute and then transfer to rack to finish cooling.

Ingredients/Lattice Icing
2-3 tbs blood orange juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbs grated zest
1 cup powdered sugar (more for dusting)
3-4 drops of red food coloring
Stir together cinnamon and zest in a small bowl.  Sift in the confectioners sugar, then add 1 tbs orange juice and stir.  Add red food coloring and more orange juice until it reaches the desired consistency and color.  I used a squirt bottle to make the lattice, so my icing was not as thick as you would need if you piped it.

Once cupcakes are cool, dust with powdered sugar and frost, making a design on top of the cupcake with the icing.

             LAST YEAR: Boardwalk Cinnamon Rolls

Blood Orange Chocolate Cupcakes

This recipe I have had for awhile, but I hesitated to make it because of the strange ingredients.  Two ingredients that I had never used in cupcakes was olive oil and coconut milk.  I was thinking that the texture might be greasy due to the olive oil or the flavor would be off.

How wrong I was!  The texture fell into that "crumb clump" category of moistness.  This is when you have pieces of the cake and you can take a fork and clump them together and they will remain in one clump.  Also, there was no strannge flavor due to the olive oil and the coconut milk did not impart any flavor either.  All you taste is the rich chocolate and notes of orange in the cake and then more tangy orange from the frosting.

The only issue I had was that I used some new cupcake wrappers that were sturdy enough to be baked without putting them in a tin.  However, the wrappers separated from some of the cupcakes.  Not sure if it was the wrappers or the cake, but this is the first time I had that issue.  I will probably make these again but go back to the regular paper liners.

Blood Orange Chocolate Cupcakes
adapted from Loveandoliveoil 

Ingredients/Cake
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbs almond meal
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp blood orange zest
1/3 cup olive oil

Ingredients/Frosting
3 tbs blood orange juice
1 tsp blood orange zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbs heavy cream (optional)
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease the top edges of muffin cavities and then line cavities with paper liners.

In a medium size bowl, beat coconut milk until smooth.  Add the vanilla extract, sugar, olive oil and zest.  Then beat at a low speed until all is blended.  Set aside.

Then you will need another bowl for the dry ingredients.  Sift together the cocoa powder, flour, salt, almond meal, baking powder and baking soda.  Then make a well in the center and pour in the coconut milk mixture.  Stir with a wooden spoon until no dry streaks remain.

Using a ice cream scoop, fill each of the 12  muffin cavities with about 3 tbs of batter.  They should not exceed the 2/3 mark.  The batter does raise a lot in baking, even though the cups do not look that full of batter.

Bake about 18-20 minutes or until tester comes out clean.  Remove pan and let cupcakes cool about 5 minutes and then transfer to rack to finish cooling.

To make the frosting, cream the butter with a mixer on medium speed.  Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and beat for 1 minute.  Then beat in the zest, vanilla and orange juice.  Continue to add powdered sugar in half cup increments and beat until desired consistency is met.  You may need less sugar or some cream, depending on your preference.
           **LAST YEAR: Toffee Temptations**