If someone ever asked me what I miss most about summer, my answer would be the daylight and BERRIES! With the evenings getting colder and darkness setting in by mid afternoon, I am almost ready to retreat into a hibernating mode. While Summer is nowhere near and little that I can do about daylight, there is technology and there are Berries. If not fresh, then frozen!
As much as I love the colourful little jewels of deliciousness, I have always shied away from freezing them or buying frozen pre-packs. There is definitely a freshness that seasonal berries would contribute but I realised there is a lot that can be done with frozen ones. Looking at the prices of fresh raspberries at this time of the year, I finally convinced myself to get a frozen pack. And since then, I have been reading up on how to freeze berries during season.
Buying fruits in bulk during season and preserving them is not only a great way of saving money but allows you to enjoy your favourite fruits all year-long. Honestly, with whatever I have read, it is a simple process with no fancy equipment.
Pretty pleased with the way my cupcakes turned out I made 2 more desserts and I thought they looked spectacular and tasted just as good. I can’t wait to post them all. The cupcakes by themselves were great but I wanted to turn it into a raspberry celebration so I made a white chocolate ganache frosting and drizzled some home-made raspberry sauce. So, there you go..my raspberry celebration cupcakes!
Sorbets, mousse, smoothies, jams, sauces, fillings for cookies and cupcakes there is so much that can be done with frozen berries. There is a lot of information available on the net on freezing fruits too. The forthcoming summer, I am looking forward to freezing and stocking up my berries and using them in every possible way. How about you?
I also wanted to give you a little heads up on some progress I have made with the software part on my blog. I have finally manged to import my Tastespotting, Foodgawker badges. Also, subscriptions are available through Feedburner now. For existing subscribers, I have already moved it manually. Let me know if you are facing any issues. My Recipe Index page is updated too. I cannot tell you how relieved I am at the moment. Now, all I need is to bite into my little red cupcakes.
And Celebrate…
Raspberry Celebration Cupcakes with White Chocolate Ganache Frosting
The recipe can be totally adapted to use fresh raspberries
Raspberry Cupcakes (cupcakes adapted from Coles recipes)
Serves 10
100 g Butter, at room temperature, chopped
1/2 cup Caster Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
2 Eggs
1 cup Self-raising Flour (or 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 1 tsp baking powder)
1/3 cup Milk
1 cup Frozen Raspberries, thawed
Preheat oven to 170°C or 150°C fan forced and line 10 medium muffin tins with paper cases. Using electric beaters, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Fold in half the flour, then all the milk, then remaining flour, until just combined. Fold through raspberries. Spoon into prepared cases. Bake for 20 mins, or until the cakes are springy to a light touch. Leave in tin for 5 mins, then lift out onto a wire rack to cool.
To serve, pipe swirls with white chocolate frosting (recipe below) or spoon frosting over cupcakes. drizzle with raspberry sauce (recipe below)
White Chocolate Ganache Frosting
200 g white chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup thickened cream
100 g butter, chopped
Place white chocolate and cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high, stirring every minute, until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Add butter and stir until it melts and the mixture is smooth. Refrigerate for 1 1/2-2 hours or until the mixture is thick and spreadable. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.
Raspberry Sauce
Makes about 3/4 cup
250 g frozen Raspberries
2 tbsp Castor sugar
1 tsp lemon juice (optional)
Place frozen Raspberries and sugar into a large non-stick frying pan. Stir to combine. Heat over medium heat until bubbling. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes or it takes a thick syrupy consistency. Using a metal spoon, crush Raspberries until pureed.
Remove from heat and set aside to cool. (If you do not like the seeds, strain the mixture once pureed)
Pleased? You should be ecstatic – this looks stunning 😀
Cheers
CCU
Thank you so much Uru!
Yummmmy!!! Cup cake looks fresh, perfect, colorful and simply spectacular! I must say, it is an exciting dessert! Love the red cup, goes very well with the cup cake. Ganache frothing looks mouth watering…The clicks are perfect as always! Can’t wait for the other 2 more desserts that you have prepared!
Foremost, I should invest in a conventional oven, only then I can think about baking 🙁
Oh the subscription part, I got a mail from feedburner and I subscribed following their link.
Thank you Pavithra. I love the red liners too and have been holding onto them for a while. Once you start baking, you will get addicted:-)
They look gorgeous Sonali! And I bet they taste fantastic too! I love frozen berries and always have some in the freezer. Many a times, the frozen organic berries are much cheaper especially at those big warehouse stores. My kids use them for smoothies and I use them for baking.
Nazneen
You are so right Nazneen! Off season frozen berries are a better deal. Can’t wait for it to be summer out here:-)
Splendid and can’t take my eyes away from the beautiful visuals. Fresh and frozens berries can be expensive over here. I seldom buy and prefer to use local fruits.
Been looking through the ingredients and thinking hard on which local fruit can replace the berries.
Thanks Nava. Mangoes should work well. The bright orange colour will look fantastic. You have given me a few ideas now:-)
I love buying the fresh berries then freezing them myself. But I take advantage when the prices are low and make/bake everything that week of the berry of choice. I’ve seen raspberries out at the store…now I know what to make with them! (Love chocolate and raspberry together.) You did an amazing job on these cupcakes…so pretty!
Yes, I have to start doing it myself too. Berries just make everything look and taste beautiful. Thanks Gloria!
they’re cute and sound yummy!
Thank you Dina!
Cupcakes look delicious and awesome.. Fantastic clicks Sonali 🙂
Thank you Nilu!
I always have it in my head that I’m going to buy a ton of fresh fruit from the farmer’s market every summer and freeze it to enjoy year round and somehow I wait too long or forget. 🙁 I love that you reminded me that I need to do that this time around, though!! Your cupcakes are gorgeous and I bet the flavors are amazing!
I must remember to do it this Summer, otherwise there are frozen ones in stores of course. Thank you Julia.
Lovely work! Would you be happy to link it in to the current Food on Friday which is collecting snacks and treats? This is the link . I do hope to see you there. There are already quite a lot of links for you to check out. Cheers
Thank you for stopping by Carole. Would love to link up. Can’t wait to check out the others too.
Sonali, so glad you stopped by and added these great treats to the table. Hope to see you again soon. Cheers
Linked up again Carole:-) Thank you for the wonderful Friday fun!
They look beautiful and quite yummy!!! I wish I had these beauties for snack.
Thank you Denise. Me too!
G’day! Love your recipe and staging of your photos, true!
I could go for one of these now too!
Cheers! Joanne
http://www.facebook.com/whatsonthelist.net
Thank you for stopping by Joanne and your lovely comment!
Look at how tall that tower of frosting is! Love it. Definitely screams celebration. Also loving the new look of the site! (Might not be that new anymore, I’m a bit behind in the food blogging world, oops.)
Nice to hear from you again Li! I have taken a number of breaks from blogging so I understand. Thank you for your kind words:-)
Ooh love that tall tower of gorgeous frosting on your cupcakes!!Love the white chocolate ganache and the raspberry sauce sounds so so good!Cannot wait to try 🙂
Beautiful, beautiful photography and food styling. Anyone would be proud to have these on their celebratory table! I love the idea of the white chocolate buttercream. Yum!
Your Raspberry Celebration Cupcakes with White Chocolate Ganache Frosting are gorgeous. I agree with you, freezing your own berries when they’re in season is the way to go. You can use them to make jams or sauces later on too. 😉