Coffee and Condensed Milk Cupcakes

I got inspired to make this one by Cupcake Bakeshop. The recipe is simple enough and very tasty. I haven't had good Vietnamese coffee in a while, so I thought I'd try it out :)

I used the same recipe to make the cake, but I omitted the pudding and used condensed milk buttercream as frosting. The overall result was very intense. The coffee taste came out nicely, without being too strong. The buttercream could have been more flavorful. Next time I will put the whole can of milk.

For the cake base, I thought 2 cups of sugar was too much, so I reduced it to 1 cup, then added 3 tablespoon of milk to retain the same moisture. My cake was lighter in color than Chockylit's, maybe because I didn't use Viet Coffee. The taste of coffee is still very much present.

Condensed Milk Buttercream


Ingredients:
5 egg yolks
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks ~250g), at room temperature
1/2 can condensed milk (~150ml)

• In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks until they become foamy and thick. This takes about 2 minutes with a hand-held mixer.

• Boil the condensed milk in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Careful here, the milk burns quite easily.

• Add the hot condensed milk to the egg yolks gradually while beating with your mixer. Beat until the mixture has cooled down.

• In another bowl, beat butter with a wooden spoon until it has become creamy and light. Combine the egg mixture and stir well.

• Refrigerate the cream for 5-10 minutes before spreading if it is too soft for decorating.
  

If you want to make the buttercream in advance, I suggest you keep it at the warmest place of your fridge, because once it becomes cold, it will become hard like butter. The best is to use it right away and consume it quickly. Otherwise, take your cupcakes out of the fridge 10-15 minutes before serving. The cream will remain soft and uniform after refrigeration.

Fresh Cheese

You should use a yogurt that does not have added thickeners or stabilizers, such as pectin, gelatine or starch. Make sure to read your label! I used Astro Balkan Plain Yogurt 6%M.F. , Phoenicia Plain Yogurt 2% and homemade yogurt from 2% milk. From my experience, Phoenicia’s yoghurt makes the nicest curds.

Fresh cheese can be used in recipes that need cream cheese. It can also be spread on bread and served with olive oil. I like to put it in green salads or couscous.

Ingredients:
2 tsps sugar
4 cups plain yogurt (2 lbs)

• Mix the sugar with the yogurt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for several minutes, until the curds begin to separate from the clear whey.

• Pour the boiled yogurt into a strainer lined with several layers of cheese cloth, or a large paper coffee filter. Let it drain for a few hours.

• Take the cheese out from the filter or cheesecloth. Keep it in an air-tight container in the fridge. It should keep for more than a week.

You can drain the cheese more if you want it to be harder. Wrap your cheese in cheesecloth, put it on down on a board, place a heavy plate on top of it, then add a weight on top. Let the cheese drain for a few hours.

You can also mix in spices such as paprika, black pepper or zaatar (spice mix with thyme), and serve with a dash of olive oil.