Mandarin Orange Yuzu Honey Cupcake

The arrival of the Lunar New Year marks the arrival of the mandarin oranges, too. This recipe was designed to utilize the mandarin orange peels instead of the entire mandarin orange, so yuzu drink was used to replace the mandarin orange juice. I prefer to keep the juicy orange fresh for my enjoyment instead of extracting the juice and leaving behind the dry pulp.

However, if you have a surplus supply of mandarin oranges, use them for mandarin orange jam or golden citrus jam 🍊🍋


Ingredients
All ingredients in room temperature.
Using 56~58g Omega 3&6 eggs

2 egg whites
pinch of salt
45g caster sugar

2 egg yolks

57g top/cake flour
3g corn starch
2g milk powder, optional
1g baking powder

20g yuzu drink
10g honey
10g rice bran oil

4~6g mandarin orange peel, cut into thin strips

Directions

1. Combine yuzu drink, honey and rice bran oil in a small glass.

If your yuzu drink is cold, then it would have problem mixing with the honey. Stand the glass in a small cup of warm water to warm up the content before mixing. After mixing the yuzu mixture to the batter, let it cool to room temperature.

2. Combine top flour, corn starch, milk powder and baking powder in a small bowl. Set aside.

3. Beat egg white in a clean, dry and grease-free mixing bowl with salt and sugar till reaching firm peak stage. To check the meringue, invert the mixing bowl, if the meringue stays, it is ready.

Mixing the egg yolks, one at a time, to the meringue.

4. Sieve in 1/3 of the flour mixture from Step 2, to the batter.

Combine 1/2 of the yuzu mixture from Step 1, to the batter. 

Continue to add the remaining flour mixture and yuzu mixture, in alternate sequence, to the batter.

5. Mix in the mandarin orange peels.

Give the batter a thorough mix using a silicone spatula.

6. Divide the batter among 8 paper moulds. Tap to get rid of trapped air bubbles.

7. Dip a metal cutter in a shallow dish of rice bran oil. Make a light impression on the surface of the batter just before baking. This step is optional.

8. Bake at middle rack of a preheated oven at 160℃ for 20 to 25 minutes, or till the tops of the cupcakes turn golden.

9. Remove the tray of cupcakes from the oven, and drop the cupcakes from a height of about 5cm for 2 to 3 times. This helps to prevent the cake from excessive shrinking after cooling down.

Let the the cupcakes cool down on a wire rack before enjoying or storing 😊