Mushroom Delight

A couple of weeks ago we went for a walk at the weekend in the forest where we used to live. It was the beginning of that real fresh air that I really love. The heat really gets to me,  I’m cranky and irritable when it gets too hot so when the weather starts to change towards a more autumnal mood…I’m out there.
The forest was full of mushrooms too, which I always love to see. For the very first time I saw red mushrooms, you know the kinds, usually in fairy tales, with white spots, and the ones I doubted actually existed for a long time. Lets say I got a little worked up about the situation….

Rob also got the chance to try out his first cinemagraph, which came out quite nicely….with the help of a cyclist passing by. Here is the result. If you haven’t seen one before, closely look at the “photo” for a a few seconds and see what happens.

After all the mushroom excitement, I really wanted to recreate that very autumnal feeling, so I thought best to stick to what I like…mushrooms and cupcakes. Boom the mushroom cupcake was born… I think, although it could have been born sometime ago to another person, but anyway here they are.

Ingredients for mushrooms
2 egg whites at room temperature,
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (or a dash of vinegar/lemon juice)
115g caster sugar
Some cocoa powder for dusting

I found this to be a great tutorial for making the Mushroom Mergingues

Method
Preheat the oven to 120°C/250°F/gas 1.5. Lay a sheet of Baking Paper over a baking tray in preparation.

Put the egg whites into a large bowl that’s completely clean from dirt or any kind of liquid or grease. Whisk with an electric mixer for about 20-30 seconds or until the egg whites are foamy. Add the cream of tartar (or a small dash of vinegar) and continue whisking until the mixture forms a soft peak when you lift out the whisk. Whisk in half of the sugar, a tablespoon or so at a time and continue whisking for about 1 minute or until the mixture is glossy and forms stiff peaks when you lift out the whisk.
Add the rest of the sugar and fold into the mixture lightly, taking care that the sugar is fully incorporated but not over-mixed.

Place a round tip into a pastry bag, and fill the bag half way with the meringue. Try not to overfill or it will become very messy.
To pipe the mushroom caps, squeeze out round mounds of meringue onto one of the prepared baking sheets. For the stems, press out a tiny bit of meringue onto the other sheet, then pull the bag straight up. They should be quite pointy at the top like a pyramid.
Use all of the mixture because it’s likely some wont work out as well as planned, it can be quite tricky to get the right shape.
For the caps, if there is a peak left where the nozzle was lifted, simply rub a wet finger over the top to smooth them over.

Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until the caps are dry enough to easily remove from the baking tray. Set aside to cool completely. Then, assemble the mushrooms by making a small hole underneath the mushroom caps, then insert the pointed mushroom stems into the hole. Do this gently as the meringue still can be quite brittle. Either sprinkle the cocoa over the mushrooms with a sieve or gently dip the mushroom caps into cocoa.

(Cupcakes – use “original vanilla” recipe)

Chocolate Icing Ingredients
175g chocolate melted
225g butter softened
1 tbsp milk
250g icing sugar

Method
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a a pot of boiling water. Meanwhile, beat the butter with the sieved icing sugar, then add the milk and stir in the melted chocolate until everything is smooth and incorporated.

Smooth chocolate icing over all of the cooled cupcakes, and assemble the mushrooms on top. Sprinkle some extra cocoa if you prefer and enjoy. Keep in a sealed container to keep the mushrooms crunchy and crisp.

Enjoy fooling people with these crisp sweet mushroom cupcakes