Recipe – Irresistible Ispahan Cupcakes

Pierre Hermé’s Ispahan is the greatest creation on Earth. It is a symphony of all my favourite flavours: rose, lychee and raspberry. The thought of it just makes my happy and I have been asking my baker friends when will they bake some Ispahan dessert for me?

But this time, I decided not to wait anymore and create my own Ispahan dessert. After some research, I settled on Ispahan cupcakes. It is pretty straightforward when you have all the ingredients ready. I am very happy with my first trial. When I shared it with a mooncake seller friend, he said it was very delicious and I can consider opening a cupcake business (just that I cannot bake mooncake to snatch his business). I really love this cupcake that I ate most of it myself.

Recipe: Ispahan Cupcakes (Makes 24)
Adapted from Tartelette

Ingredients:
1.5 cups self-rising flour
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup ground almonds
230g unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup milk
60ml rose water (20ml rose syrup with 40ml of water)
1 tsp rose essence
4 tbsp raspberry puree
24 whole lychees

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Spray 24 cupcake liners on a baking tray.

2. Combine the flours, sift and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour in small amount, alternating with the milk and rose water. Do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.

5. Add in ground almonds and rose essence, mix well.

6. Carefully spoon half the batter into the liners, place one lychee int he center and top with the remaining batter, leaving a two inch space to the top as the cupcake will rise.

7. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

Ingredients:
120g unsalted butter, softened
250g cream cheese, softened
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
1/2 cup raspberry puree (run enough fresh raspberries in the blender to make up 1/2 cup)
1/8 tsp rose essence

Method:
1. Beat the cream cheese and butter, on low speed, until very smooth with no lumps.

2. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat, on low speed, until fully incorporated and smooth.

3. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the frosting and pipe on the cupcakes. Top with a fresh raspberry.