While I’m visiting my family in Japan, I have asked several blogger friends to blog-sit for me and today’s sitter is Tobias from T and Tea Cake.
Tobias is a food-loving university student from Europe and on his blog, T and Tea Cake, he mainly focuses on European cuisine but sometimes experiments with more exotic food and ingredients that inspire him. Most of his recipes are easy to prepare and budget-friendly.
When reading Tobias’s blog, it’s hard to believe that he’s been blogging for less than a year. Despite his humble attitude toward his work, Tobias’ photography is simply breathtaking and this self-taught home cook and baker make beautiful dishes like Parsnip Dumplings with Scallion & Bacon Filling and Cherry & Red Wine Chocolate Cake. His blog is welcoming even for a beginner cook and he tells you:
“I do not think I am the most skilled cook or baker with too much expertise – so I doubt you will need too much skill either [to try my recipes]. I’m going with the mantra: When I can do it – you can do it! In fact, if there is any skill required for a recipe I believe that it can be acquired by going through it in learning by doing manner.”
Are you inspired? Now please welcome Tobias with these delicious fusion cupcakes.
*****
Hiya avid readers of Just One Cookbook! I feel genuinely honored to be chosen by Nami to write a post on her blog while she is away. I know you are all spoiled by her quality content, so I hope I won’t let you down. She is one of the most ambitious bloggers I know and puts a lot of effort into her blog and recipes. Nami really has got a talent for making Japanese cuisine approachable and never leaves any questions unanswered. She is such a sweetheart and I am happy to call her my blogger friend.
When she invited me to blog-sit for her, I (besides doing the happy dance and immediately saying yes) had to think long and hard about what to share. I wanted something I thought she and her loyal readers may like and that somewhat fits into her repertoire. The result surely isn’t anything Japanese (I’ll leave that to our expert) but more of a fusion food.
She once said she likes roasted sesame seeds (something we have in common and yes, I have no problem remembering the most random things. It’s a gift.) so the idea for this recipe was born. The texture of these cupcakes is wonderfully airy with a crisp outside. It also is a great recipe for using hulled sesame seeds which are a bit more grey-ish but even healthier than there unhulled counterparts. There is nothing that fits better to sesame than honey, so why making the terrible mistake of keeping two things apart that obviously belong together, right?
Making the frosting honestly takes not more than ten minutes. The key is to cook the honey mixture to the point where it starts to brown. This gives enough stability to the frosting.
Anyway, let’s get our baking mojo on!
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Sesame Cupcakes with Honey Meringue Frosting
Ingredients
Sesame Cupcakes
- 2.1 oz toasted white sesame seeds
- 2.1 oz toasted black sesame seeds
- 2.7 fl oz toasted sesame oil (I used sesame oil but other neutral oils like canola or sunflower seed oil work just as well)
- 4 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
- 8.1 oz sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 5 Tbsp sweet soy sauce
- ½ Tbsp baking powder
- 8.1 oz cake flour
- toasted black sesame seeds (for decoration)
Honey Meringue Frosting:
- 3 large egg white
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 3 fl oz honey
- 3.2 oz sugar
Instructions
Sesame Cupcakes
- In a small pot, roast both white and black sesame seeds on medium heat; stirring continuously (The seeds will start crackling. When you think they are almost roasted enough, remove from heat as they will keep browning with the heat off.)
- In a food processor, combine sesame seeds with oil and puree until smooth (I had to stop and scrape some seeds off the sides of the bowl at one point.) Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C), grease and flour or line cupcake pan. For a convection oven, reduce cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC).
- In a large bowl, beat eggs with a hand mixer until fluffy.
- Add sugar, vanilla essence and sweet soy sauce, mix well.
- Beat in sesame paste.
- Stir in baking powder and flour, little by little, until everything is well combined.
- Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each ⅔ full.
- Bake on centre rack for 25 minutes or until a stick comes out clean.
- Remove from pan, let cool on cooling rack.
- Pipe or spread frosting on cupcakes, sprinkle with black sesame seeds.
To Make Honey Meringue Frosting
- In a small pot, boil sugar and honey on medium heat until bubbles emerge and it darkens.
- In the meantime, add salt to egg whites and beat until very stiff with a hand mixer (or kitchen aid, off course) in a heat-proof bowl (when using a hand mixer, you will need a bowl that is rather small but deep).
- While beating continuously, very slowly pour in boiling hot honey-sugar mixture.
- Keep beating until everything is well incorporated.
To Store
- You can keep the cupcakes in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Very original and gorgeous looking cupcakes! I love the idea of honey, soy sauce and sesame combination in a sweet dish. Very glad to meet you, Tobias!
Nami, thank you for introducing Tobias!
Sesame cupcakes, what a great idea. They are gorgeous, I will definitely be trying these!
These cupcakes look beautiful. I look at that last photo and think to myself, “you’re such a slob, you’ve never eaten a cupcake with a fork before.” I must mend my ways.
Great to meet new people, Nami and Tobias, you’re a clever cook!
Hahaha! It makes eating cupcakes look extra fancy, doesn’t? 😉
And using a big fork makes them look a bit smaller so why not grab another one right away?
I love seeing Nami’s friends bring her baked goods. Tobias, these cupcakes are so cool. What a fabulous flavor combination!!
What gorgeous looking cupcakes and the combination of the sesame cupcake with the honey frosting sounds amazing. I love the way the cupcakes have been decorated – they look very special xx
This is a terrific guest post! Those cupcakes look so tempting and good!
This is such a wonderful idea Tobias! And it fits Nami’s other recipes. Keep on enjoying your holiday Nami!
I am curious the taste after adding the sweet soy sauce in the cake! In order to find out, i have to make this cupcake soon. Thanks for sharing this nice guest post.
Wouldn’t I LOVE to sit down to tea for this!! Gorgeous.
This is an intriguing flavour combination! I love the airy texture and the honey meringue frosting sounds like a real treat!
Enjoy your wonderful holiday Nami.
What a great use for sesame seeds. Very creative! I hope you are having a great time, Nami!
This really sounds like the making of very exotic tastes in a cupcake, and I do agree with Charles on the intrigue this presents!:)
Soy sauce and sesame oil in a cupcake? 😀 Sounds like a wonderfully intriguing flavour combination. I’d love to try them – I love these things in salads, though never tried them at all in any kind of sweet dish – I can imagine they go exceptionally well together, and the frosting looks amazing! Thanks for sharing your creation Tobias… it sounds, and looks wonderful!
Thank you, Charles! Just remember to use sweet soy sauce. Can’t vouch for the outcome when using the regular kind. 😉
What a delicious recipe and I’m intrigued by the cooking the honey until it browns idea! 🙂
Thank you so much for having me as a guest blogger. It is such an honour, Nami!