Saturday 7 July 2012

Wasabi and White Chocolate Cupcakes


This month is the 6 month anniversary of AlphaBakes. When Caroline and I started it back in Feb we would never have imagined the amazing response and support for our little blogging challenge - THANK YOU to everyone who has entered especially to our regular bakers.  We've had a lot of fun hosting these challenges and being awed and inspired each month with your creativity. As a special thank you and to celebrate our 6 months we have a giveaway for one lucky AlphaBakes entrant this month. Check out Caroline's blog for more details.  Here's a sneak preview of what you can win so get baking as the deadline is 25th July 2012. 


I recently posted Chocolate Whoopie pies as my first entry to this month's AlphaBakes as the letter is W. Not many ingredients or bakes start with or contain the letter W and initially I only came up with walnuts, white chocolate and whisky.  Then, inspiration struck and I thought W for Wasabi! Question is can I bake it into a cake? The answer is yes! It's already been done and I found this recipe on bakingmad.com

I have to say I was definitely sceptical about using wasabi in cake. I associate it with eating sushi, not baking! It was interesting to get everyone to guess what the key ingredient was.  Needless to say no one guessed correctly even when I hinted that the green frosting was a clue.  You can definitely smell the wasabi in the cake but the taste is very subtle. There is a slight aftertaste which you will recognise if you've ever tried wasabi.  The cake itself was moist and the white chocolate really complemented the wasabi well. If you are adventurous, I'd recommend adding an extra teaspoon of wasabi to the batter or even in the frosting for an extra kick! I may try it with salted caramel icing next time ala Marian Keyes in her book Saved by Cake.


I'm also entering these to Tea Time Treats hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Kate from What Kate Baked.  The theme for this month is cake stall cakes & bakes so I think these little cupcakes would be perfect. They may raise a few eyebrows though!


Finally, I'm entering them to Cupcake Tuesday hosted by Liz from Hoosier Homemade




  My key ingredients - wasabi and white chocolate.

After melting the white chocolate and butter - the fat will separate but don't worry, it will all come together I promise!

This is what it looks like after beating for a few minutes. Add the eggs then the dry ingredients.


Then a tablespoon of wasabi paste or a little more if you are feeling adventurous :)



Fresh from the oven - smells amazing and the cakes have a light, springy texture. 


I made a vanilla buttercream frosting and tinted it green and finished it with some green sugar sprinkles.


Recipe adapted slightly from bakingmad.com
Makes 10 cupcakes

For the cupcake

100g butter
100g white chocolate chips
100g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
75g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon wasabi paste

For the frosting

150g butter
350 - 400g icing sugar, sifted
1 heaped teaspoon vanilla bean paste
green food colouring


  • Preheat the oven to 180C.
  • Place the chocolate chips in a medium sized pan and heat gently over low heat.
  • Stir in the butter in cubes and continue stirring until it's all melted. 
  • Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar.
  • Allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
  • The mixture will look 'strange' as shown as the fat separates but don't worry it's normal for it to look like this!
  • Use an electric mixer or a handheld mixer to beat for about 10 minutes and it should become a smooth lump.
  • Add in the eggs one at a time and mix well between each addition.
  • Add in the vanilla extract, flour and baking powder and mix well.
  • Finally stir in the wasabi paste.
  • Scoop the dough into cupcake cases and bake for approximately 20 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  • Allow to cool completely on wire racks.
  • To make the frosting, beat all the ingredients together in an electric mixer until smooth.
  • Add the green food colouring at the end, a little at a time until you get the colour you want. 
  • Pipe the frosting on to the cooled cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles.























































































































62 comments:

  1. An unique flavour combo! It sure looks pretty!

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    1. Thanks! I'm pleased it worked and I've had repeat request to make them again :)

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  2. Wow that is a great W. I certainly did not think of Wasabi. Very unique cupcakes!

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    1. I was so pleased when I thought of Wasabi and that it tasted good!

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  3. OMG OMG These are so creative and I really like the idea and concept definitely going to try! YAY! I didn't know it was the letter W this month sorry haven't had time to check up on Alphabakes but can't wait to bake something for it :)

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    1. Thanks! It was sudden moment of inspiration and I was really pleased with how they turned out. Can't wait to see what you make for us :)

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  4. You are very brave using Wasabi! Well done! They look good!

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    1. Thanks I was so pleased they turned out. I'm definitely making these again :)

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  5. A brilliant 'W'...and after our conversation the other day...it wasn't the one I had in mind...phew!!! :-) These look great though and fun to get the tasters to guess the ingredient!

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    1. Thanks and I'm glad its not the same idea :) I cant wait to see what you come up with. I'm definitely making it again as I really enjoyed the flavour combination. Plus I still have a lot of wasabi and I'm not making my own sushi!

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  6. such a brilliant and unusual W... I'm not convinced but i'm sure if you sent me one I may be persuaded!!... the colour is great however... now I have to get my act together and get baking!... where's that bottle of Whisky?

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    1. Thanks Dom! Sending one over now :) Try not to drink all the whisky - save some for the cake! ;-)

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  7. what interesting you used wasabi!!! Look delicious!!! and nice!

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  8. What a good idea for W! Where did you get the tube of wasabi paste?

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    1. Thanks! You can buy it from Chinatown or I'm sure Tesco sells it as well. I got mine from a Japanese food shop.

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  9. Gosh, never seen anything like that before. How brave you were to try this recipe. Hoping to get my bake done tomorrow :)

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    1. I'm so pleased it turned out otherwise it would have been a waste of cake! I admit I was quite tentative with my initial tasting! Look forward to seeing what you've made.

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  10. They look very pretty - I don't think I've ever had wasabi so would be intrigued to see what these tasted like!

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    1. The wasabi taste is quite subtle but you can definitely smell it. Its a combination of sweet and salty and was honestly very tasty!

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  11. wow they look pretty! so interesting!

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  12. Ros you are SO creative. OMG what a unique combo of flavours. You rock girl! M curious how they tasted. I guess I'll have to make them to know. Bookmarked!
    Have a great day
    xo
    Anuja

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    1. Thanks Anuja :) I hope you give them a try. Do let me know what you think.

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  13. Love both these flavours but cannot imagine them together - I'd love to try though!

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    1. They work really well together! The wasabi taste is very subtle but you can definitely smell it!

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  14. This is a really unusual recipe and the cupcakes sound very interesting. I'm curious as to how they taste. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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    1. Thanks I'm really pleased I tried it and that it turned out successfully. See above comment re taste.

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  15. I have to admit, I can't imagine liking them. although, I know sweet and hot can work, like chili chocolate. maybe I just think of fish when I think of it!

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    1. It's quite hard to get your head round it but my blind taste tester enjoyed it then when they found out, some of them made a face!

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  16. OMG! These would raise eyebrows and also titillate the taste buds too...GREAT entry thanks and maybe a warning need to come with these wee cakes! LOL! Karen

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    1. I'm glad you like them Karen. Yes definitely need a little warning with them :)

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  17. I tried making these a couple of months ago but I couldn't deal with how they smelt. Yours look v pretty - I didn't get as far as icing mine as they went in the bin :-(

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    1. Oh dear :( Mine didn't smell too bad and the wasabi taste was quite subtle. They are definitely not everyone's cup of tea!

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  18. Wow, what a fantastic W for Alphabakes. Must admit, I can't quite get my head around the flavour combination, but would definitely give tasting a go! :)

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    1. Thanks! I was quite pleased when I thought of wasabi. I'm glad I tried it :)

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  19. I love wasabi both for it's taste and colour and have tried it in flavoured dark chocolate before. I love it for it's kick. So, this is a recipe I know I would love. I let my children try the chocolate flavoured with wasabi and they thought it was disgusting so this for me will remain an adult treat until they are a little older!

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    1. I've never tried wasabi flavoured chocolate but would like to try it now. I hope you give this recipe a go - I really enjoyed it :)

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  20. Ohh I've been thinking about making cakes with wasabi for a while, I was sure it would be great! I mean you have chilli and choclate so why not. I thought about a a white chocolate, wasabi and raspberry combo but noone seemed to be impressed with that idea so I haven't given it a go. Well done for being brave!

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    1. I think white chocolate, wasabi and raspberry would work really well - great idea! I can imagine the raspberry adding a lovely tartness to it all. Yum!

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  21. I have never tried wasabi before. Your cupcake looks wonderful!

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    1. Thanks! I've only ever had wasabi with sushi so this was a huge leap for me but I'm glad I tried it!

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  22. I'm stunned again, Ros - wasabi and white chocolate! That's an amazing mix and my tongue is still trying to figure out how they would taste, but so intriguing and creative...

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    1. Thanks! I'm glad I tried it as it was really tasty and the cake was so incredibly moist!

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  23. Thanks for the wasabi and white chocolate cupcakes recipe.
    I'll create one for sure, my kids are gonna like it :)
    If you don't mind, can you submit your wasabi and white chocolate cupcakes photo in http://www.foodporn.net ?
    It's a food photography site full of all DIY food pictures from members around the world. submit by yourself and let me know when you did, so I can share it.

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    1. Thanks for the invitation. I hope you try this recipe as it's really good. Do let me know what you think :)

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  24. Love the flavour combo! I once made a wasabi and white chocolate cheesecake and found them a great flavour pairing. I found a little bit of a cabbagey aftertaste with mine, but it was uncooked. Would love to try these flavours baked into a cake!

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    1. A cheesecake sounds good too! It might taste better baked in a cake so I hope you give it a try :)

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  25. nice posting.. thanks for sharing.

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  26. Wasabi? Oh, wow. How creative! Never would I think of using wasabi in my cupcakes. It looks pretty and delish but I am not sure how I am going to like it until I try it myself. I definitely want to try this and bake this I must. Cheers!

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    1. I hope you try this as it's really quite tasty. The taste is subtle and complements the white chocolate well.

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  27. Holy combination Ros! I can almost feel the tang of the Wasabi biting my tongue while enjoying the sweet smoothness of the white chocolate. Ingenious!!!

    Thanks so much for sharing...

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  28. This indeed a great recipe of wasabi. I've tried this few months ago & can't believe how delicious are these cupcakes! Love how you've frosted the cupcakes! LOVELY! :)

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    1. I'm so pleased you agree that they are delicious! I'm definitely making this again :)

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  29. My friend make a cake using wasabi for a clandestine cake club where the theme was 'mystery ingredient' - nobody could guess what it was! I think it was the Marian Keyes recipe she used. Definitely want to try baking with it myself, delicious!

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    1. This is the same recipe as Marian Keyes but she makes a salted caramel icing with hers which sounds interesting but I'm not sure how well the flavours would go together. I hope you give it a go as it's really tasty.

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  30. Just love the sound of these Ros. What a brilliant W. I love chilli in chocolate and bakes, so I suspect I'd quite like wasabi too. Great colour too. Do I need to get Marian Keyes's book as well? #nomoreroomonmyshelves

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    1. Thanks! I thought I've be brave and give it a go and really enjoyed it. So much that I'm planning to make them again. The Marian Keyes recipe is exactly the same as this one except that she uses a salted caramel icing. If you google it, someone else has posted it :) #nomoreroomonmyshelvesorflooreither

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  31. everyone who has entered especially to our regular bakers. We've had a lot of fun love language test hosting these challenges and being awed and inspired each month with your creativity. As a special thank you and to celebrate our 6 months we have a giveaway for one lucky AlphaBakes entrant this month. Check

    ReplyDelete

I've had to turn word verification back on as I've had a lot of problem with spam lately, Apologies! Please, please do leave a comment - I appreciate every one of them and will reply to all of them. Thanks!