Friday, December 14, 2012

Christmas cupcakes / Cupcakes de Natal

Tonight we'll be decorating the Christmas tree. I love the spirit! It's something way more important than a religious celebration: to me is the return to my childhood. I even have chocolate Santas around the house, to remind me of that time.

One of the must-have Portuguese cakes during this season is the "bolo rei" (fruit cake). Traditionally, it used to have a tiny gift inside (recently forbidden, as anyone who ate it could choke on it) and a bean. Whoever got the gift was supposed to be lucky throughout the following year. Those who got the bean were supposed to pay for the next cake.

That's why I decided to bake some Christmas Cupcakes inspired in the fruit cake recipe. I found the recipe online a while ago.

Base ingredients:

125g of flour, candied fruit, 150g of icing sugar
2 eggs, 2cl of lemon juice, lemon zest, 125g of caster sugar, 125g of butter
You'll be needing some of these, too. The recipe was enough for 12.






Whisk 2 eggs and 125g of caster sugar. Slowly add 125g of butter and 125g of flour and whisk. Add candied fruit to taste.
Pour the mixture into the cupcake molds and let it cook in the oven to 180ºC for 15 minutes.


Let the cupcakes cool for a bit before you take the paper cases out of the tray. Then let them cool before icing. For the icing mixture, simply whisk 2cl of lemon juice and 150g of icing sugar. I decorated my cupcakes with some lemon zest and some candied fruit in the Portuguese colours: green, yellow and red.


 ENJOY THE HOLIDAY SEASON!

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Hoje à noite vamos decorar a árvore de natal. Adoro este espírito! É algo mais importante que uma celebração religiosa: para mim é o regresso à infância. Até Pais Natal de chocolate tenho espalhados pela casa, para me lembrar desse tempo.

Um dos bolos portugueses indispensáveis nesta época é o bolo rei. Tradicionalmente, costumava ter um brinde (recentemente proibido, porque alguém que o engolisse podia sufocar) e uma fava. A quem calhasse o brinde, diz-se que teria sorte no ano seguinte. A quem calhasse a fava, calhavam as honras de pagar o próximo bolo.

Por isso decidi fazer esta tarde uns Cupcakes de Natal inspirados na receita do bolo rei. A receita encontrei-a há algum tempo na Internet.

Ingredientes-base: 125g de farinha, fruta cristalizada, 150g de açúcar em pó, 2 ovos, 2cl de sumo de limão e raspa de limão, 125g de açúcar, 125g de manteiga.

Bate 2 ovos e 125g de açúcar. Lentamente adiciona 125g de manteiga e 125g de farinha e bate. Junta fruta cristalizada a gosto.
Verte a mistura nas forminhas de cupcake e cozinha no forno a 180ºC durante 15 minutos

Deixa os cupcakes arrefecerem um pouco antes de tirares as forminhas de papel do tabuleiro. Depois deixa-os arrefecer antes de passares à fase de cobertura. Para a mistura da cobertura, simplesmente bate 2cl de sumo de limão e 150g de açúcar em pó. Decorei os meus cupcakes com raspa de limão e fruta cristalizada nas cores portuguesas: verde, amarelo e vermelho.

  BOAS FESTAS!

19 comments:

  1. Your cupcakes look yummy. I love to carry on traditions from my childhood and I hope my children will carry on the traditions to the next generation.

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    1. Thank you! I agree with you, tradition is a sort of glue that keeps us together.

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  2. What yummy christmas cupcakes :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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    1. Thank you! Having one right now with a [plastic]cup of coffee and President cream.

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  3. Alex, que cupcakes mais lindos!!! Adorei o glacé de açúcar, bem perfeitinho! Fazes muito bem em manter esse espírito, é mesmo um regresso a quando éramos pequenas ;)
    Beijinhos e bom sábado!
    Madalena

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    1. Obrigada! E têm sido degustados com todo o melhor espírito natalício! ;)

      Bom sábado também, Madalena!

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  4. Replies
    1. Thank you. And Portuguese-looking! ;) Have a great weekend!

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  5. Hi Alex, your Christmas cupcakes look lovely. What a way to start the Christmas treats!

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  6. Thank you. :) Let the cooking games begin. ;)

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  7. Olá Alex: ficaram lindos estes cupcakes e muito bem decorados,mesmo a reproduzir o espírito de Natal.
    Bjs e boas festas
    Márcia

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    1. Obrigada! E que venha aí o round 2 das festas! ;)

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  8. Fabulous little festive cakes here! I really like the way that you decorated them too :D

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    1. Thank you! Always look on the bright side of life. ;)

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  9. what festive cuppies...love! Merry Christmas!!

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    1. And I did two batches this Xmas: went in 2 seconds. :P

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  10. These look totally delish. Wonderful for Christmas. Speaking of which, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

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    1. It was wonderful, thank you. Mostly spent at the table with the family. :) Hope yours was great, too!

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  11. they look so festive! merry christmas and a wonderful great year 2013!

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