Cuppycakes galore

Is there a discernable difference between Madagascar, Mexican and Tahitian vanilla when whipping up a big cake or little cupcakes?

Oh gawd...I can't believe I actually wrote that. Wonder what Pete Wells would think of that...no wait I know ... and I agree :)

I’m not going to kid you…most other people don’t stay up worrying about this stuff and, quite honestly, neither do I.

This month’s vanilla post is just a good excuse to make and eat iced fairy cakes …

ummmm…

I mean, this moment in time presents me an excellent opportunity to compare the phenolic qualities of vanilla varietals in extract form.

Yeah right.

I wouldn’t dare call this a scientific study. It’s more of a “what’s yummy?” question with “yummy” loosely defined.

As luck would have it, the taste-test was also an exercise in “will a six-year old girl resist the lure of pink cupcakes when presented with yellow and blue ones?” (the answer is no—she chose pink as both her answers).

Using vanilla beans (instead of extracts) in cakes and biscuits provides a much better vanilla-y flavour. Heat, of course, evaporates alcohol and whatever flavour it carries. Seeds will continue to emit their flavours for days, increasing the treat’s deliciousness.

I made some vanilla-bean cuppycakes as a general “how great is the difference in flavour intensity between bean and extract”…but (and I’m embarrassed to admit this) I forgot about them after I baked them (crazy, scary, hectic time). When I rediscovered them, they were really quite stale.

But trust me... a cake made with a vanilla pod’s seeds is more flavourful than one made with one dessertspoon of extract. If you can afford to buy beans whenever you bake, then do so. My “everyday” cakes are made with extract and vanilla sugar—not quite as intense as with a pod’s black gold, but much more affordable.

I didn’t screw up testing cupcakes and icings made with extracts. Really.

Here’s what I did
I mixed one batch of vanilla-less batter. I divided it (by weight) into thirds and added one teaspoon of extract per batch. After they were baked and cooled, I colour-matched the icing flavours to the cases—same block of butter, same packet of icing sugar, same milk container, so the only flavour difference should be the extract. Mexican vanilla cuppycakes were in yellow cases, Tahitian were in blue and Madagascar in pink; they all baked in the same 12-cup tin.

The testers: me, the exbf, The Fussy Eater, Kim and her daughter Isabel…two adult males, two adult females and one pink-obsessed girl…three are bakers and home-cooks (Kim, the exbf and me) all five love cakes...

The testers were asked to let me know what colour of cake and what colour of icing they preferred. I was the only one who knew the colour coding.

Here are the results:
Cakes:
Madagascar -1
Mexican - 0
Tahitian – 0
No difference: 4

Icing
Madagascar – 1
Mexican – 2
Tahitian – 2

So…what does this prove? Not much. In heated preparations, there really doesn’t seem to be a flavour difference; Mexican and Tahitian vanillas were preferred in cold preparations (okay, ‘bel liked the Madagascar varietal…but it was, well…pink). I must admit that I was half-expecting things to work out like this.

But that’s okay…because I was able to nibble on cuppycakes for a good cause.

Here’s my standard vanilla cupcake recipe—it started life out as Nigella Lawson’s Fairy Cake recipe on p40 of How to Be a Domestic Goddess.

Ingredients
125g ap flour
2tsp baking powder
pinch of vanilla salt
125g butter
125g vanilla sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
60ml milk

Putting it together
Preheat oven to 400F and paper a twelve-bowl muffin tin.

Sift together dry ingredients and set aside.

In separate bowl, cream together butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs and mix well. Mix in sifted ingredients. Add in enough milk for a soft, luscious consistency. Quite honestly, at this point I always find it a shame to actually bake the cake…the raw batter on its own is so wonderful.

Divide out the batter between the muffin bowls. Give the tray a tap and then bake for 15-20 minutes or until done. Cool in tin for about five or ten minutes and then remove to a rack.

Eat them plain or tart them up as you will.


cheers!
jasmine


Timmys count:
Before the nonsense: 44 cups; 3 free coffees, 1 free doughnut
Now: 11 cups, 0 winnings