Almond and Cranberry Cupcakes 杏仁蔓越莓杯子蛋糕

I'm a very picky eater. There are a lot of food that I don't like to eat. But as I grow older, I start to try eating more variety of food, especially fruits and vegetables that are beneficial to health. Pumpkins, sweet potatoes, brinjals, which I used to hate eating, now become my favourite dishes on the table.

Cranberries has never never ever been included in the list of food I eat. Few months ago, one of my twin nieces suffered from urinary tract infection. I heard that in the past when antibiotics was not available, doctors advised parents to give babies cranberry juice to treat urinary tract infection. Besides that, cranberries has a good amount of vitamins, antioxidants and anti-cancer properties. So, I decide to buy a pack of dried cranberries to try. At first bite, I thought they taste like haw flakes (山楂饼).

I have seen cranberries been used to bake cakes, cookies, breads and scones. Flipping through 孟老师的100道小蛋糕, I decide on this cranberry cake recipe (蔓越莓蛋糕). I change the name of this cake to Almond and Cranberry Cupcakes (杏仁蔓越莓杯子蛋糕) because almond is added too and it is the almond that makes the cake to smell so nice. It is a perfect treat for teatime!

I'm just trying to be smart to include a step-by-step photo description. The place where I prepare baking is at the other end of the kitchen, furthest away from window, which makes it hard to take good and bright photos. So forgive me for the quality of the photos. :)

Almond and Cranberry Cupcakes 杏仁蔓越莓杯子蛋糕

Ingredients (makes 11 mini cupcakes)

(A)
30g sliced almonds
60g dried cranberries (I use about 45g)

(B)
80g unsalted butter
60g icing sugar, sifted (I use 50g, still a little sweet)
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp milk
50g cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
10g milk powder

Method

1. Preheat oven at 150 deg C. Bake the sliced almonds for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool down. Blend the baked sliced almonds and dried cranberries with a food processor. (If you don't have a food processor, you can chop them finely with a knife.)

2. Soften the butter at room temperature. Add in icing sugar and whisk until well-mixed.

3. Add in egg yolks and milk, whisk until well-mixed.

4. Add in sifted flour, baking powder and milk powder. Mix well with a spatula.

5. Add in chopped almonds and cranberries in step 1. Mix well.

6. Fill the batter into cupcake cases until 80% filled.

7. Bake at preheated oven at 180 deg C for 20-25 minutes (I bake for 15 minutes for mini cupcakes).

Recipe from: 孟老师的100道小蛋糕

Note: Written above is the original recipe from the book. Any adaptation is written in brackets ().