Have a Nice Week GoatCheese Cupcakes

i wanted to show you these cupcakes already in the morning, but i come from a busybusy day. so very quick post with a homework for the week: visit UnToccoDiZenzero incredible blog and try these little cuties. they taste even better the day after! (recipe in english and italian) they have rice flour, which i used for the first time last saturday and really really liked and definitely want to know more about it. what i love of my blog is that i now cook "for the sake of culinary research" and i get to experiment new ingredients to blog about!

compito della settimana: visitare il blog di Un Tocco di Zenzero, e dopo essersi rifatti gli occhi per una mezz'oretta rifarsi anche lo stomachino e preparare questi favolosi cupcakes al caprino e farina di riso. non avevo mai usato la farina di riso prima di sabato, e devo dire che la sua consistenza e, insomma, i risultati ottenuti mi hanno piacevolmente stupito. anche l'assaggio del giorno dopo non è stato niente male!

A mid-week treat: Banoffee Cupcakes

today the events of dull weather, b-friend not going to work and banoffee cuppy treat just MADE me stay at home in my cozy pj. but i'm going to study, anyway, and i won't feel too guilty about skipping lectures. oh, i love being a master student!

Banoffee Cupcakes
(adapted from Susannah Blake's book, makes 10)

beat 60gr of butter (room temperature) and 70gr of cane sugar together until the batter gets lighter. then add an egg and a mashed banana. when creamy, add 120gr of flour, the baking powder and 50gr of thinly chopped toffee candies. bake in preheated oven at 180degrees for 20 min.
for the topping: make a cream with 150gr of ricotta cheese and 2 tablespoons of icing sugar. decorate with a sliced banana and toffee candies.

ps- the original recipe requires the use of cream and dulce de leche as decoration, but i preferred a "lighter" version since i usually have cupcakes for breakfast.

WhiteChocolate and Redcurrant Cupcakes

I am writing this post in defense of the too-many-times-abused cupcake category. I would like to give these cute little cakes the respect they deserve and show that they're not the tasteless spongy cakes you find at your work canteen. So here they are, fantastic and versatile as only ThePerfectDessert can be, ready to make your day brighter.

White chocolate and redcurrant cupcakes
(makes 12)

beat 100gr of butter and 100gr of sugar until pale. add 2 eggs and beat again. fold in 130 gr of sifted flour, the baking powder and the seeds from a vanilla beam. add three tablespoons of milk.
now put one spoon of the mixture in every paper case (paper cases make your cleaning less painful, and help preserve hygene) and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 20-22 minutes.
now prepare the topping: melt 100 gr of white chocolate and in the meanwhile beat 150 gr of philadelphia cheese (or another kind of cream cheese) with 3/4 tablespoons of icing sugar and the seeds of another vanilla beam. add the melted chocolate.
before decorating the cupcakes, cut the top part of your little cakes (the part that comes out of the paper cases) to make them flat. now give them a good spread of topping and finish the decoration with redcurrants. alternatively, you can use blueberries or other fruits which you think go well with vanilla.