Delicious Cupcakes with a Twist
Raisin muffins are a classic dessert to go with tea. Young housewives often eagerly buy it at bakeries and pastry shops, sometimes unaware of how simple the recipe for this delicious dessert is. Raisin cake is also known as "Stolichny" (literally, "stolitsky"), a name it was sold under back in the Soviet era.
The recipe remains popular to this day, simply because this Stolichny cake is so delicious. It's incredibly easy to make. And the aroma of freshly baked goods filling your home will make tasting it even more enjoyable.
This recipe is also very cost-effective. If you do the math, it's much cheaper to make the cake at home than to buy it at the store.
Capital cake
To prepare the Stolichny cake, we will need the following ingredients: 250 g of wheat flour, 150 g of butter, 150 g of raisins, 150 g of sugar, 3 eggs, half a teaspoon of baking powder, a pinch of salt.
To ensure the Stolichny cake is as delicious as possible, prepare certain ingredients in a specific way before mixing the dough. A couple of hours before cooking, remove the butter from the refrigerator to allow it to soften. Also, remove the eggs from the refrigerator; it's best to let them be at room temperature when mixing them into the dough. Just before mixing the dough, turn on the oven to ensure the cakes are already preheated.
Place the softened butter in a clean, deep bowl. Beat it with a mixer until fluffy. Then add the sugar and beat until completely dissolved. Add one egg and beat until combined, then the remaining two eggs, one at a time. The mixture should lighten and become a light color.
In another bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Sift the flour through a sieve into the egg-butter mixture. Add the vanilla sugar and continue whisking. The dough should be quite thick.
Rinse the raisins under running water, then steep them in boiling water for a couple of minutes. Let them dry, then roll them in a small amount of flour and gently fold them into the dough.
Making a Stolichny cake at home is a great advantage because you can add as many raisins as you like, ensuring a hint of dried fruit with every bite.
You can bake one large cupcake, or use special cupcake molds and make many small cupcakes; they look very appetizing. Whichever mold you choose, grease it with butter or vegetable oil and dust it lightly with flour. Then pour the batter into them.
If you're baking cupcakes in individual tins, 25-30 minutes will be enough. A large Stolichnaya cupcake will require a longer baking time of 40-50 minutes.
When the dessert is ready, remove it from the pan and be sure to dust it with powdered sugar through a fine sieve to give it a festive look.
If you've decided to bake small individual cupcakes, adding buttercream frosting will give them a truly festive look and taste. The frosting recipe is very simple. Combine heavy, chilled cream with powdered sugar. Beat these two ingredients together at high speed with a mixer. Then, wrap a piece of waxed or parchment paper in a cone with a narrow end, fill it with buttercream frosting, and decorate the cupcakes.
Golden Rules of Baking
Finally, a few more words about the rules that will ensure perfect Stolichny cake and other baked goods. Never skimp on the filling. Whatever the recipe calls for—candied fruit, nuts, or raisins—don't skimp on adding a little more than the recipe calls for. This will only improve the dessert.
Make sure the margarine or butter you use in the dough is fresh. This, along with the fat content of these ingredients, determines the airiness and tenderness of the baked goods. The fattier the butter, the fluffier and more tender the dough will be.
Beat the butter and sugar at the highest speed with a mixer until foamy. Don't be lazy about sifting the flour through a sieve before mixing it into the dough. This process enriches the flour with oxygen, resulting in even fluffier baked goods.
If you want the cake's flavor, and most importantly, aroma, to be more intense and exotic, you can try adding spices such as nutmeg, cardamom, saffron, or rose oil. Just don't add several spices at once. Choose just one.
You can make the recipe slightly alcoholic. To do this, after rinsing the raisins under running water, pour a small amount of cognac over them instead of boiling water and let them swell in the cognac for 15-20 minutes.
