You might wonder why my H and Y of’ ‘happy’ in my title are in caps. That’s because the person who has inspired me to make these cupcakes have initials HY. (: So this is just a small way to thank you! hehe

so we were speaking one day, and she asked if I ever made cupcakes with rhubarb. and suddenly, it dawned on me that I’ve never tried cooking with rhubarb and I’ve only tried rhubarb once! So on Sunday when we went to the Farmer’s Market at Melbourne Showground and saw organic rhubarb, I couldn’t resist! and I’m so glad I didn’t, cause these little things were yummy! hehe and pretty!

at first we thought about one combination which I will definitely try in time to come, but searched around and saw a post by Cannelle et Vanille which I just couldn’t take my eyes off it and so I just had to give it a try!  (:

It has quite a number of components to it, and I must say all the different steps and time taken to make them is well worth it! The cupcakes came out perfectly! I know I shouldn’t praise my own work, but when I tried these little yumminess, the cupcake base was soft and moist, the poached rhubarb filling wasn’t too sweet, and the strawberry taste in both the cupcake and icing was prominent and they taste distinctly of strawberries!

alot to spare and share !

So there are 4 components to this small yummy cupcakes :

1) Strawberry yogurt cupcake

2) Poached rhubarb filling

3) Strawberry yogurt and cream cheese icing

4) Rhubarb jelly

and this is how it will look when u slice it into half!

So here’s the recipe that I adapted from Cannelle et Vanille. Hope you will enjoy it as much as I did!

Poached Rhubarb

150g caster sugar

150g water

200g rhubarb stalks, cut into cubes

Steps :

1. Heat the water and caster sugar in a pot to make a syrup, bring them to a boil. Put half of the rhubarb pieces into the syrup and lower the heat. Allow it to boil for 10mins. Repeat with the other half of the rhubarb. Drain the rhubarb and keep the syrup for the rhubarb jelly.

Tip : if you have left over poached rhubarb, just have them with the remaining plain yogurt you have. It’s yummy breakie food! or you can have it any other time of the day! (:

Rhubarb Jelly

200ml of rhubarb cooking liquid, cooled

10g of powdered gelatin

Steps :

1. In a bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the liquid and allow it to blossom for about 5 mins.

2. Place it over a pot of boiling water (double broiler method) and melt the gelatin.

3. Pour it into a tin so that it would fill it about 1/4 inch high. Refrigerate till it sets, and use a cookie cutter to cut into different shapes (any shape you want!)

I chose the flower shape, and cut it into 6 teardrops (:

Strawberry Yogurt Cupcakes

170g unsalted butter

250g of caster sugar

2 eggs

150g plain natural yogurt

70g strawberries, pureed and strained

180g plain flour

4g baking powder

Steps :

1. Cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until nicely incorporated.

2. Add the yogurt and strawberry puree and mix well.

what an intense colour of the strawberry puree (: love it.

3. In a separate bowl, sift the plain flour and baking powder. Then mix into the mixture until well combined.

4. Pipe the mixture into the cupcake liners evenly, and bake in a pre-heated (180 degrees celcius) oven for 10-12mins (20-25 for bigger cupcakes).

5. Allow the cupcakes to cool before filling them.

Strawberry, Yogurt and Cream Cheese Icing

225g cream cheese (I used the Philadelphia cream cheese block)

113g unsalted butter

141g icing sugar

43g plain natural yogurt

20g pureed strawberries, strained

Steps :

1. Cream the cream cheese, butter and icing sugar until you get a smooth cream and there are no visible lumps.

2. Add the yogurt and pureed strawberries, and mix till well combined.

To assemble the cupcake :

Using the cone method, cut the middle of the cupcake and fill it up with the poached rhubarb. Then pipe the icing onto the cupcake and top it with the rhubarb jelly. TADAH! hehe

Tip :  Cone method is using a paring knife, cut a cone-shaped piece, about 1/2-inch deep, from the center of each cupcake. Eat and enjoy the scraps immediately!

Love how it looks! (:

From the top !

Thanks Cannelle et Vanille for the recipe. These were superb! (: