Simple, Sweet Cupcakes for Valentine’s Day
Valentine's Day is coming soon. Today, I will use the air fryer to make a Valentine's Day limited edition strawberry cupcake. It has a soft and delicate texture, does not crack or collapse, and is delicious and not greasy!
Why You Love This Cupcake Recipe
Festive atmosphere - This Valentine's Day cupcake is so fun! The ingredients used are also very simple and can be made quickly! You can complete it with your loved one!
DELICIOUS - Who doesn't love moist cupcakes with cream cheese frosting? With their rich strawberry flavor, these cupcakes will capture the hearts of everyone who receives them.
FUN - Make this Valentine's Day cupcake for Valentine's Day. This is a fun and easy activity for families or kids. Use different colored frosting and fun Valentine's Day sprinkles.
Gift giving - On this special day of Valentine's Day, making a cupcake by hand and giving it to your significant other can convey more sincere love than ordinary gifts. Every bite that the other person tastes is full of sweetness, and the sense of ritual is maximized.
Required Equipment
Air fryer: The air fryer can adjust the wind speed and match the three cooking modes of " tender frying, crispy roasting, and baking " according to the food . The upper and lower double tubes heat at the same time, so the food is heated more evenly.
Paper cup: an indispensable material for making cupcakes, used to hold the cake base.
Egg beater: You can choose a smart egg beater, which can help save a lot of effort. If you don’t have one, you can choose to beat it manually.
Needed and Substitutions
Main Ingredients
Eggs: They are important leavening agents and structural support, providing a fluffy texture to the cake.
Low-gluten flour: One of the main ingredients, it forms a loose cake structure, making the cake soft in texture.
Corn oil: provides oil to make the cake more moist and avoid being too dry and hard.
Milk: Increases the moisture content of the cake, making it more moist and soft.
Granulated sugar: increases the sweetness and makes the cake taste sweet and delicious. It also stabilizes the meringue, making it more delicate and lasting.
Lemon juice: neutralizes the alkalinity of egg whites, helps whip the egg whites, and makes the meringue more stable.
Cream cheese: adds rich and mellow milk flavor and enriches the taste of cream.
Whipped cream: It is the main raw material for cupcake decorating cream, providing a delicate and smooth taste.
Strawberry: Decorative ingredient. The bright red color matches the Valentine's Day atmosphere and adds a romantic touch.
Substitutions:
Corn oil: can be replaced with olive oil or butter (must be melted in advance).
Milk: Soy milk or coconut milk can be used instead.
Low-gluten flour: It can be replaced by mixing medium-gluten flour and corn starch in a ratio of 4:1.
Lemon juice: can be replaced with white vinegar.
Cream cheese: Mascarpone cheese can be used instead.
Whipping cream: can be replaced with vegetable cream.
Strawberry: can be replaced with red cherry, raspberry, etc.
INGREDIENTS
Main Ingredients
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·3 egg
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·48g cake flour
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·40g milk
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·100g cream cheese
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·200g whipping cream
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·6 strawberries
Seasonings
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·28g corn oil
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·50g fine sugar
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·A few drops lemon juice
COOKING STEP
Step 1
Separate the eggs:
Beat 3 eggs, carefully separate the egg white and yolk and set aside.
Step 2
Make egg yolk paste:
Pour 28g corn oil and 40g butter into a bowl and stir until emulsified.
Then sift in 48g of low-gluten flour and stir until there are no dry powder particles.
Then add 3 egg yolks, mix well and set aside.
Step 3
Whip the meringue:
Take another clean bowl, put in the egg white, add a few drops of lemon juice, and then add 30g of fine sugar.
Whip the meringue until it forms wet peaks.
Step 4
Mix the batter:
First, add one-third of the meringue into the egg yolk mixture and mix gently until evenly combined.
Then pour the mixed batter back into the remaining meringue and mix well using a folding technique to avoid defoaming.
Step 5
Baking cake:
Put the mixed cake batter into a piping bag and squeeze it into paper cups until 80% full.
Put the paper cups into the air fryer, bake at 110 degrees for 20 minutes, then adjust to 130 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.
After baking, take out and place on a wire rack to cool.
Step 6
Make the cream:
Add 100g cream cheese, 200g butter and 20g fine sugar into a bowl and beat until well combined.
Put the whipped cream into a piping bag and squeeze out your favorite flower shapes on the cooled cake.
Step 7
Decoration is completed:
Finally, garnish with strawberries and your delicious Valentine's Day cupcakes are ready!
Tips for Success
Ingredients preparation:
Choose eggs at room temperature as they are easier to whip. Separate the egg whites from the yolks, otherwise it will affect the whipping process.
Sift the low-gluten flour to remove lumps and make the cake texture finer.
Emulsification and stirring:
Beat corn oil and milk until emulsified and the cake has a more uniform texture.
Be gentle when stirring the egg yolk batter, but don’t overdo it to prevent the flour from forming gluten and affecting the fluffiness.
Whipping the meringue:
The container for beating egg whites should be free of water and oil, and lemon juice should be used to remove the fishy smell and stabilize the meringue.
Add granulated sugar in 2-3 batches, beat until soft foam is formed and the whisk has a small curved hook.
Batter Mixing:
Stir in a "J" shape or flip from bottom to top, quickly and gently to prevent degassing and keep the cake fluffy.
Extruding batter and baking:
Use a piping bag to squeeze the batter into a paper cup until it is 80% full, leaving room for expansion without overflowing.
The air fryer first uses low temperature to help it set, then heats up to bake it, making it evenly colored and fluffy.
Different fryers have different power, so adjust the time and temperature according to actual conditions.
Cream making:
Make the cream cheese soft in advance, and then beat it thoroughly with butter and granulated sugar. The texture should be clear and upright, and the shapes of the flowers should be stable and easy to decorate.
Decorative embellishments:
Choose strawberries of uniform size and bright color, and arrange the cake surface neatly or in a unique shape to create a more festive atmosphere and make it more ornamental.
More delicious desserts to try
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Delightful Fusion: Unveiling the Alluring Matcha Yogurt Daifuku Recipe
How to store
Storage at room temperature: If you want to eat it on the same day, you can store it in a greenhouse. Be careful not to store it in a place with too high temperature or direct sunlight.
Refrigerator: If you want to store it for a few more days, you can seal it in a fresh-keeping bag or an airtight box and store it in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.
Precautions
Cupcakes must be tightly sealed when stored in the refrigerator, otherwise the flavor will easily spread. They can usually be kept for 1-2 days.
It should not be stored for too long, because there is water in the cream, which will affect the taste and freshness.
If you want to keep them longer, you can freeze the finished cupcakes together with the cream, and take them out to thaw in advance when eating, but the taste of the cakes will change after freezing.
Serving Suggestions
Recommended pairing
Hot Chocolate: Rich and mellow hot chocolate goes perfectly with Valentine's Day cupcakes. Taking a bite of hot chocolate and a bite of cupcake, you'll feel like you're in an ocean of sweetness.
Coffee: If you like coffee, you can also pair it with a cup of fragrant coffee, which has a rich and layered taste.
Serving Suggestions
Eat while hot: Cupcakes taste best when they are freshly made. It is best to eat them while they are hot so that you can taste their most original and delicious taste.
How to eat: You can use a small fork or toothpick to gently break the cupcakes into small pieces and slowly savor each bite.
FAQs:
Secondly, if the baking temperature is too high, the surface of the cake will form a crust too early, while the inside will not be cooked through, and it will become concave after cooling.
In addition, excessive mixing when mixing the batter will cause severe defoaming of the egg whites and the cake will lose its expansion power.
Therefore, when making it, you must ensure that the egg whites are beaten thoroughly and reach a wet foaming state; bake strictly according to the recipe temperature, bake slowly at a low temperature in the early stage to help it set, and heat it up in the later stage to color it; use the correct method when mixing the batter to avoid over-mixing.
When baking, you can lower the temperature of the oven or air fryer appropriately and extend the baking time to allow the cake to be heated evenly and expand slowly.
If the temperature is too high, the cream is not easy to whip and the oil and water are easily separated; if the temperature is too low, the cream is too hard and difficult to whip evenly.
It is recommended to restore the cream and cream cheese to the appropriate temperature before whipping, generally around 10 - 15°C. Use an electric whisk when whipping, start at a low speed, gradually speed up, observe the state of the cream, and whip until it has obvious lines and is stiff.
Therefore, when making cakes, you should use fresh eggs and add appropriate amounts of lemon juice and other deodorizing ingredients according to the recipe requirements.
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