Its official, my new favourite cupcake is Pecan Maple. I am feeling a sense of déjà vu wash over me so it is possible that I have said this about another cupcake (or multiple cupcakes) but this time I am certain it is true and enduring LOVE!
I have been wanting to make Pecan Pie Cupcakes for a long time and I finally wrote a recipe which turned out ok but I wasn’t completely happy with the cupcakes. I decided to simplify and make a Pecan Maple cupcake and I love it so much!!
Pecans and Maple syrup are pretty spectacular together.
I wanted to pack as much pecan and maple flavours into the cupcakes as possible. The cake is made with pecan meal and maple syrup with pecan pieces and the maple flavoured icing is topped with a thin pecan maple crisp.
I’m not sure that I have ever seen pecan meal in a shop. Almond meal & hazelnut meal, but never pecan meal. Even if it was easy to get, I would still make it myself & I would always roast the pecans first. Using the meal after the nuts have been freshly roasted brings a much stronger flavour. I discovered this when I made Choc Hazelnut Biscuits (cookies) using my own homemade meal & then next time I used store bought meal. The first batch was absolutely delicious but the second batch was bland.
Another step that I wouldn’t suggest skipping is the Pecan Crisp. This wafer thin, lacy, crispy little piece of deliciousness is amazing!! There is so much flavour and it just snaps beautifully. You do have to watch it cook carefully though. I have gotten these out of the oven too soon a couple times and even though they still taste amazing, they aren’t crisp. The other danger is leaving them in too long because if they brown too much, they become bitter.
BAKING TIPS
Flax Meal
My preference is for Golden flax meal. I feel like it works better in the cake batter but that could be my imagination. It definitely looks better in a light coloured cake because the brown flax meal can leave flecks of brown which you can see.
I usually get golden flax meal from a health food shop but when I couldn’t find the one I like recently, I bought Golden Flax seeds from my local IGA supermarket (Australia) and ground them myself in my coffee grinder. I am so happy with how my cakes turned out, that I am going to grind my own from now one. It takes a few seconds in an electric coffee grinder and the meal is nice and fine.
Cupcake Wrappers
I also prefer to use the more upright cupcake wrappers in a thin cardboard rather than the traditional wrappers. The reason is that the traditional wrappers can be very fickle about peeling back from the cooked cake. If you undercook slightly then do it. If you keep them in a sealed plastic container, they do it. It doesn’t always happen but with the wrappers than I now use, it never happens and that make me happy! The other great advantage of these wrappers is that you don’t have to use a special pan. Then just sit on a flat tray and won’t lose their shape.
I hope you love these as much as I do. xo
- Cupcakes
- 300g self-raising flour
- 150g pecan meal (homemade)
- 165g brown sugar
- 100g maple syrup
- ½ tsp bi-carbonate soda
- 2 flax eggs (30g golden flax meal & ⅓ cup water)
- 1½ cups almond milk
- 150g vegan margarine (melted)
- 100g pecan pieces
- Maple Pecan Crisps
- 50g Maple Syrup
- 50g Vegan Margarine
- 50g Brown Sugar
- 50g pecan meal
- 20G plain flour
- Icing - Ermine Frosting
- 400g castor sugar
- 90g plain flour
- 450ml almond milk
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 450g vegan margarine
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- Pinch Sea salt
- Pre heat oven to 175°C (347°F)
TOAST PECANS- Place pecan pieces on a baking tray and put in an oven pre-heated to 180°C.
- Cook for approximately 8 mins until slightly golden and you can smell the pecans.
- Keep an eye on them though because they can burn really quickly which makes them bitter and unusable. If you don’t think that they are ready after 8 minutes, check every minute after that.
- Put 100g aside for the cake batter and use 200g for your pecan meal.
PECAN MEAL- Cool roasted pecans and then blitz 200g of them until all pieces are broken down and it is a meal consistency. It will smell amazing!!
CUPCAKES- Sift flour & add all dry ingredients (except flax) to a large mixing bowl and mix well.
- Pour melted margarine, milk & maple syrup into mix, add vanilla and beat until combined.
- To make the flax egg, mix golden flax and water into a small bowl and mix well. Do this just before you add it to the cake batter otherwise it becomes too thick. Add to batter just as it is thickening.
- Beat until just combined – don’t over beat.
- In a small bowl, sprinkle about 1 tbsp of plain flour over the pecan pieces and mix it through so they are all covered. The flour stops then from sinking to the bottom of the cupcakes.
- Use a spatula to stir through the batter.
- Using an ice-cream scoop, add one scoop to each cupcake wrapper.
- If you are using the cardboard wrappers like I do, lift each once slightly off the tray and then drop. This ensures that the batter rises evenly.
- Bake for 20 minutes but check after 15 minutes as ovens can vary.
- Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack until room temperature.
- Once cooled, use a piping bag to create a thick icing swirl on top of each cupcake and either stand the pecan crisp vertically in the icing or lie it horizontally on top of the icing.
ICING – ERMINE FROSTING- Add flour and sugar to a medium saucepan and place over medium to high heat.
- Gradually add milk and using a large whisk, whisk continuously until the mix is a pudding like consistency. I usually add milk in thirds. It takes up to 5 minutes at the most until it becomes pudding like.
- Transfer to a container and cover with cling wrap – press the wrap onto the pudding mix to make sure that a skin doesn’t form then cover container with a lid. If you aren’t using it until the next day, and place in fridge overnight.
- It is very important that both the pudding and the butter/margarine are room temperature before you beat them together. This will produce the smoothest, most silky, delicious icing. If they aren’t at room temp, sometimes you will fluke it and the icing will be ok but then there are other times that your icing will separate and look disgusting. Learn from my mistakes – room temperature is the way to go!
- Once cooled, beat butter until smooth with the paddle attachment on your mixmaster. Mix for a couple of minutes. I don’t know the science behind whipping it for longer (maybe extra aeration makes the icing lighter) – but it definitely makes a difference to the final product. You can use an electric hand mixer if you don’t have a mixmaster.
- Gradually add pudding & maple syrup while mixing. Add vanilla and salt & mix.
- Using vegan margarine, the icing will be quite soft. You will still be able to create a soft swirl of icing but if you want to make icing petals, it will be too soft. You can swap half of the margarine for vegetable shortening if you like.
PECAN MAPLE CRISPS- Pre-heat the oven to 175°C (347°F)
- Put maple syrup, margarine & brown sugar into a small saucepan and melt, whilst stirring on the stove.
- Once melted, add the pecan meal and plain flour together and mix until well combined.
- Place baking paper on a large oven tray or 2 smaller trays. Add 1 tbsp of mix to tray and smooth with the back of the spoon until you have created a very thin circle. Continue doing this until you have used all of the mix. Leave maybe an inch between each one but if your mixture is spread thinly, it shouldn’t spread too much.
- Place in oven and cook for 8 – 10 minutes. After 8 minutes, start to watch carefully. If it looks like there are still uncooked patches (usually in the centre) cook for another minute and check. If you get them out too soon, they won’t be crisp (but still delicious) & if you let them brown too much, they will be bitter.
- Once cooked, remove from oven and place baking paper with crisps on the benchtop or large chopping board. Allow to cool slightly but only until they start to firm. This might only take a couple of minutes. Once they are firm enough to cut, use a sharp knife to cut diagonally across the circles a few times until you have little triangular wedges. Leave on paper until completely cool and if they have been cooked for long enough, they will be very crispy.
- Store in a plastic container in layers separated by paper towel. I don’t put them into the cupcakes until I am serving the cupcakes because the icing and refrigeration will make them go soft. They will last a few days in a sealed container out of the fridge.
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