FOOD: Green Fairy Cupcakes
"I thought it would be harsh and syrupy. But this... this is beautiful! It's so subtle I almost can't taste it at first, and then there was this note of-"
"Rupert. Am I to understand that you just threw back a glass of fine absinthe as if you were drinking cheap beer?"
Rupert's face darkened. "So? You suddenly following rules now?"
Dirty Creatures, by Daisee Chain
There was the bottle of absinthe, purchased from Liqueurs de France, as a gift.
Happenstance threw me the prompt for Giles, Ethan, and a bottle of absinthe, in the Drunken!Giles fest 2010.
And this weekend, we officially celebrated Lladnaar's birthday with some very good food, and some quite nice alcohol, followed by some very good alcohol
in some quite nice food.
Ladies & Gentlemen, I bring you Green Fairy Cupcakes!
No that has not been image manipulated - that really is green edible glitter you see before you. And over your face once you've eaten them (as Lladnaar can attest to). And all over your kitchen if you made them (kitchen looks like a kindergarten's worth of four year olds have visited with glitter and glue).
And here they are standing next to their proud papa.
They still need a little improvement as the base on some had risen along with the top, leaving a hollow bottom (bottoms up!). However should you feel the need to give them a go, here is one recipe for disaster Green Fairy Cupcakes:
Basic recipe (as stolen adapted from Eat Me!, by Cookie Girl)
110g unsalted butter
110g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
110g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp good quality Absinthe such as Nouvelle-Orleans
Heat oven to 180
oC. If using paper cups, place them in the muffin tray, otherwise grease it or spray it with cake release spray.
Cream butter and sugar. It will still be a bit grainy at the end because of the golden caster sugar, which has a slightly rougher texture.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
Sift the flour and baking powder together and add in dribs and drabs to the mix.
Add the Absinthe, one tablespoon at a time.
Fill the cups no more than half-full of the batter. Cook till golden on top and a skewer comes out clean. In my tiny oven this is about 22 minutes, but you know your own ovens better, so adjust the times to suit.
Icing:
Sifted icing sugar
Some melted unsalted butter
(note the precise measurements here)
Basically you want to make enough buttercream to cover all the cupcakes that are now completely cool and sitting naked on your counter, like the wanton temptresses they are.
When you have a slightly stiff mixture, add about a tablespoon of absinthe until the mix is creamy and spreads well with a spatula or palette knife. Do a sneaky taste test to see if you need to add any more, but be aware that alcohol in icing tends to strengthen in flavour as it sits.
Cover up those shameless hussies with absinthe frosting, spreading it on as you will. If the buttercream is soft enough, and you have enough of it, consider swirling it on using a piping bag. Then realise no one is going to care and that if you have leftover, people will probably just eat it anyway, so spread it on with a knife instead.
Now for the really fun part.
Get your little pots of glitter (available from many cake decorating suppliers) and a new, clean paintbrush. Dip the brush in the pot of glitter and flick it over the icing so it falls in random patterns. Keep going until you think the cupcakes (and yourself, and the kitchen) are glittery enough. For that extra sparkle, I used two shades of green, one with a slightly larger particle of glitter.
I lied. Now for the really fun part.
Eat them.