Sweet of the Week #51, Absinthe and Bubbly Cupcakes

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This week’s Ingredient is Absinthe.

I first sampled Absinthe while visiting Austria in 2001. The owner of the guest house where I was staying invited me to join other guests for a nightcap. What he served to us was hausgemacht absinthe, homebrewed with a combination of herbs passed down through at least 3 generations. Austrians are known for brewing Absinthe with very little noticeable anise flavor, something I have sampled nowhere else. It had a gentle green color, which turned to a cloudy, milky white when served in the traditional manner of pouring cold water over a sugar cube resting on an ornate spoon into a serving of absinthe. One serving led to many servings. It produced a mighty headache the next morning…

Since my introduction to absinthe, I’ve seen it served many ways, including in the Bohemian fashion where an alcohol-soaked sugar cube is lit on fire and dropped into a glass of Absinthe, along with a shot glass of water. I’ve also seen it served with an ornate fountain of sorts, with a spigot that slowly drips water over a sugar cube. Properly serving Absinthe seems very tedious.

Ever since visiting The Fountain on Locust in St. Louis, I’ve had a thing for Absinthe and Champagne together in cocktails. I had a Hemingway while there, a drink attributed to Ernest Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon where he wrote of drinking 3 to 5 cocktails a day that included a shot of absinthe with the remainder of the glass full of Champagne.

While I’m not suggesting you eat 3 to 5 of these a day, I was thinking New Year’s Eve often brings about a surplus of bubbly. So perhaps you’ll make these cupcakes to ring in the New Year.

Tip: If you don’t have absinthe and don’t wish to purchase it (small bottles are hard to locate and it is often around $50 in the store), just double the champagne in the frosting recipe below. It works well without it and you’ll have a delicious champagne flavored treat. These cupcakes are great with and without absinthe.

Absinthe Bubbly Cupcakes
Makes 24, gluten-free and dairy-free

1 1/2 cup of Johnna’s Gluten-Free Flour Blend

1 1/2 cup of almond flour (Bob’s Red Mill is preferred)

2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon guar gum

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cup sugar

1-12 oz. container Tofutti Sour Cream (or 1 1/2 cups non-dairy sour cream sub)

1 1/2 sticks butter or Earth Balance, melted and allowed to cool

1 T. vanilla extract

1/4 cup champagne

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together flours, baking powder and guar gum. Set aside.

Cream eggs and sugar in stand mixer for 2 to 3 minutes until a pale yellow color is reached. Incorporate sour cream, melted butter, vanilla extract and champagne. Slowly add in flour mixture, mixing well on medium until dough is smooth.

Insert cupcake papers into pans, fill ¾ full with cake batter, approximately 1/3 of a cup. Bake for 18-20 minutes. A cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean.

Champagne Creme Filling

1 cup Healthy Top (measured from the container, not from whipped)

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup champagne

With electric mixer, whip Healthy Top until it doubles in quantity. Add powdered sugar and champagne. Continue whipping until well incorporated.

Absinthe Champagne Frosting

3 sticks Earth Balance or butter

1 lb. powdered sugar

2 T. Champagne

2 T. Absinthe

Cream butter in mixer. Slowly add in powdered sugar. Once all sugar is incorporated, add in champagne and absinthe. Mix until smooth and creamy, this makes a light and fluffy frosting if whipped long enough. If you prefer a stiff frosting, you may add a bit more powdered sugar.

Assembling

Allow cupcakes to cool to room temperature. Stick your index finger into the center of each cupcake, creating a divot. If you prefer, you can cut out a portion of the cake, but just pressing into it works quite well.

Fill pastry bag or frosting tool with the champagne creme filling. Pipe the hole full of filling using a large round tip. (I prefer something like a 1A or 2A.)

Frost top of cupcake using your preferred method. I used one of the ginormous cupcake frosting tips from Bake It Pretty.

On top of the frosting, I used two sizes of sugar pearls that I bought at Sweet! They remind me of champagne bubbles. I also baked the cupcakes in pretty nut cups from Sweet! I like baking cupcakes in these, no need for a muffin tin.

Enjoy the cupcakes. Wishing you a happy, healthy new year!

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