The salty taste of a cupcake

Cupcake frenzy has taken over the world. Cupcakes everywhere, in all shapes and sizes. With frosting or not, made of common ingredients or elements from foreign lands. A cupcake might be more than a mini-size cake. It fits the whole world in the palm of your hand and the taste universe in a single bite.

A cupcake is a tabula rasa not just for cooking techniques, but for imagination, combination capabilities and creativity. And if that sweet miniature has sparked such creativity spree, why not give salty ingredients a place in the cupcake universe?

Take any food you like for your dinner, vegetables, meat, fish or cured meats. Mix them with some common ingredients, like flour, eggs and milk and cheese. Season with your choice of herbs and spices. Bake and you have the perfect savory delight in a bite. 

My favorite recipe is squash blossom cupcakes (which is probably one of the few vegetarian dishes I'd rather eat in the place of meat). Let's prepare them...

From the garden                     From the pantry                       From the fridge
10 squash blossoms                    3-4 Tsp all-purpose flour              2 eggs
2 medium size zucchinis             salt                                          1/2 c whole milk
1 potato                                   freshly ground black pepper        1c crumbled feta cheese
1 onion
half a bunch of fresh spearmint
A few chives

Preparation

Wash the squash blossoms and remove the stamens, which is the bright yellow part inside the flower. You don't  want that into our mix, because it is bitter. Chop the flowers. (Remember, the blossoms should be cooked the day you cut them from the plant or buy them from the market. This flower is extremely perishable, even if we store it in the refrigerator). 

Coarsely grate the zucchinis and the potato. Finely chop the onion and the chives.

Mix all the vegetables in a bowl.

Lightly beat the eggs and add the milk. Combine with the vegetables. Add the feta cheese and mix.

Shift the flour in the bowl and combine with the rest of the ingredients into a batter. If the mix is too liquid, add more flour.

At the end season with salt and pepper. Finely chop the spearmint leaves and add them to the batter. Wait until the last minute to cut the spearmint, because it turns black.

Let the batter rest for 20 minutes in the fridge.

Cooking

You can simply fry spoonfuls of the batter into hot oil. However, cupcake molds offer a healthier way to enjoy this delight. Just fully fill cupcake molds with the batter and bake in the oven in high temperature for 30 minutes.

If you are using a classic muffin tin, do not forget to pour the batter into cupcake liners or make sure to coat the mold with oil and a sprinkle of flour. Personally, I prefer silicon molds. They come in fantastic shapes, they need no oiling and they are easy to clean.

The secret of baking into silicon molds is to turn off the oven after baking for 30 minutes (or until the surface of the cupcake turns golden brown) and let the cupcakes rest in the over for 5 minutes. Take them out of the oven and let them cool for another 10 minutes. Do not unmold the cupcakes until the mold has cooled down. If the temperature of the mold has not dropped then the shape of the cupcake could be ruined while trying to take it out. And that is a shame, because the purpose of using a silicon mold is to create cupcakes in graceful shapes. 

Serve with strained Greek yoghurt or sour cream.  

(Ένα μεγάλο ευχαριστώ στο κατάστημα Επιλογές - House Style για τις υπέροχες φόρμες σιλικόνης.)