In addition to going on this three week long adventure, us students are required to sit through a three hour a week class where we learn about the culture, history, and facts about these countries. It isn't as boring as it sounds...it is really exciting! The fact that I will be viewing this piece of art in the Louvre or that ruin in Italy in less than two months makes it very interesting right now, even at 9:00 at night.
My friend Nicole and I were assigned to research and report to the class on Bavaria. Ummm...what in the heck is Bavaria? We had no idea if it was a country, a city, or what. After doing some research we realized it is a state in Germany. To help myself understand it, I say Bavaria is to Germany what Oregon is to the United States. So, anyway, we were assigned Bavaria and told by the professor that if we brought in food with our presentation we would, nudge nudge, get an A.
Well of course we wanted an A, so behold! we created the Bavarian cupcake.
It might have been a little more relevant to bring in authentic German food or something other than the very non-German cupcake, but since when did relevance impact my baking? Dessert is usually never relevant, but prides itself on being a fun, inspired creation of the baker. And plus, I did not feel like bringing in whole sausages for the class to chew on while we presented (and beer was clearly off-limits).
My idea started as a whole cake with the map of Bavaria on top, but I decided that I did not want to have to deal with cutting a cake when I was supposed to be giving an exciting presentation on the state of Bavaria. An easy solution to that problem is pre-portioned little cakes, topped with the perfect amount of frosting and individual maps of Bavaria: i.e. Bavarian Cupcakes.
I baked German--which isn't German in origin--chocolate cake (the recipe is not included because, shhh don't tell anyone, I made it out of a box...Hey! I am a college student and did not have time this week to make cake from scratch). The frosting, however, was a homemade buttercream with about three sticks of butter and 1 1/2 lbs of powdered sugar and about 2 tsp of vanilla (sorry, I made it up as I went along...that's what working at a cupcake bakery will do to you...). Using a 6CS star tip I piped the frosting onto the cupcakes.
The little Bavaria maps may look very difficult, but they were actually not hard to make. Here are the instructions on how to make them:
- Print out the desired size maps of Bavaria
- Tape them to something like a cutting board or a piece of cardboard
- Cover them with plastic wrap and tape it down
- Make royal icing in white (the recipe is below)
- Put the royal icing in a pastry bag with a number 3 plain tip
- Pipe along the lines of the map
- Turn some of the royal icing blue (the colors of Bavaria) and thin it down with a little water (*You want the royal icing runny enough that it can "flood" in the lines of the map)
- After the lines of the map dry a few minutes use a spoon to pour a little of the "flooding icing" into the lines
- Use a toothpick, small watercolor paintbrush, or the spoon and push the icing around until it fills in the area completely
- Let dry at least 24 hours before you gently peel it off and use it to top a cupcake!
Royal Icing
1/4 cup meringue powder
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar (optional)
5 1/2 Tbsp. water (level with knife)
1 lb. powdered sugar
Place in a grease-free bowl and beat until stiff.
1 comment:
Wow! Those are so amazing, and how clever to make little Bavarian frosting states!
~Heidi
p.s. My relatives are from Bavaria, that is why I have such a German name :)
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