OMG, if you love latiya, you will absolutely love this cupcake. Goodness, it’d be tough to stop at eating just two. It’s the perfect cupcake combination of creaminess without being too sweet.
I’m using the same boxed poundcake mix from my original latiya recipe. I made a latiya flavor of pastry cream – just a thicker version of my latiya custard. The center of the cupcake is filled with latiya pastry cream. And the German buttercream piped on top, let me tell you – the creamiest, not-so-sweet frosting you’ll ever put in your mouth. I whipped butter and sugar together then added the latiya pastry cream. So darn good!
All ingredients and resulting components must be at room temperature, about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. I have not tested how this latiya cupcake will hold up in hot environments…
Unfrosted poundcake cupcakes may be baked and frozen ahead of time. Thaw to room temp when needed. The pastry cream may be cooked, cooled, and stored in fridge for a few days but it must be at room temp to beat into the butter; it can also be made several hours before use so long as it cools down to room temp.
Makes 18 latiya cupcakes with a bit of filling and frosting leftover.
CUPCAKE BASE
Set 1
Betty Crocker boxed poundcake mix
2 large whole eggs or about 100 grams whole eggs
2/3 cups or 158 milliliters water
4 tablespoons or 56.7 grams unsalted butter, room temp
Tools: medium bowl, electric beater, ¼-cup measuring cup, small rubber spatula, 18 pieces of paper cupcake liners, 2-12 cavity cupcake pans, wire cooling rack, small spoon
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 176.6 degrees Celsius and place an oven rack on the bottom third of oven. Don’t bake too close to the top burner of your oven.
Line cupcake pans with cupcake liners.
Place butter in medium bowl and beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the boxed mix, water, and eggs. Beat for 30 seconds on low speed to combine. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl then beat for 2 minutes on medium speed.
Scoop a scant ¼ cup of batter into each paper liner, filling halfway up. The batter should dip a little bit in the cup such that the ¼ cup is not entirely full. There is enough batter to make 18 cupcakes. This will yield perfectly flat but full cupcakes.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes then insert toothpick in the center of one to check for doneness. The tops should still be pale not browned. If toothpick is not clean once removed, bake another 2 minutes and recheck. When done, remove from oven then use a small spoon to remove each cupcake from pan and cool on wire rack.
When cooling, the tops of the cupcakes might wrinkle a tad. I want them to stay soft thus they will be barely browned on top but will be completely cooked through. The tops will be covered in frosting anyways.
LATIYA FLAVORED GERMAN BUTTERCREAM
PASTRY CREAM
Set 1
2 ½ cups or 590 milliliters evaporated milk
¾ cup or 150 grams granulated sugar
1 tablespoon or 28.35 grams vanilla extract
Set 2
½ cup or 118 milliliters evaporated milk
4 large eggs or about 200 grams
½ cup or 60 grams cornstarch
½ teaspoon or about 2.84 grams ground cinnamon
Set 3
2 tablespoons or 28.35 grams unsalted butter
Tools: electric beater, large glass bowl, medium pot, medium glass bowl, whisk, trivet, rubber spatula, plastic wrap, 4-cup pitcher
DIRECTIONS
If you are making the pastry cream and the buttercream on the same day, take out the 2 sticks of butter for the buttercream so it can come to room temp.
Pour the 2½ cups or 590 milliliters of evaporated milk into a medium pot along with ¾ cup or 150 grams of sugar and the vanilla extract. Heat just under medium heat. Stir often and heat until it is steaming. Remove from the burner and place on a trivet.
As the milk is heating up, in a large glass bowl, whisk together the ½ cup or 118 milliliters evaporated milk, the 4 eggs, and the cornstarch. Whisk until this mixture is smooth. It will seem lumpy but keep mixing as it will become quite smooth.
Once milk is steaming, transfer to the measuring pitcher and put the pot back on the trivet. Drizzle a bit of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture as you whisk. Continue to add a little of the hot mixture to the egg mixture, tempering it. Tempering means to slowly heat a cool mixture with a hot mixture. If you put too much hot milk into the eggs at one time it will scramble the eggs.
When both mixtures are completely combined, pour the mixture back into the medium pot. Heat just under medium heat and stir constantly with a whisk. The mixture will first be lumpy and thick; this happens quickly. Keep whisking pastry cream as it will become one smooth mass. Once it’s thick and smooth, whisk vigorously for 1 more minute.
Remove from heat then add the butter and whisk to combine. Transfer to the medium glass bowl and smooth the top so the custard is evenly distributed in the bowl. Lay plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard; this will prevent a skin from forming. Set aside to cool to room temperature, about 70 degrees Fahrenheit or 21.1 degrees Celsius.
The residual pastry cream in the pot will be gummy and you might think it’s not good. HAVE NO FEAR! You will beat this and it will turn into a creamy, rich bowl of goodness. This cream needs to be pretty stiff so that the resulting German buttercream holds up.
Once pastry cream is cooled completely, uncover it. Divide the pastry cream in half. Transfer half to a small bowl and cover; this will be used to fill the cupcakes. The remaining half will be used to make the German buttercream.
Use an electric beater to beat the remaining pastry cream that’s still in the large bowl. Beat on medium until it’s smooth. Cover the bowl (no need to cover surface of cream) and set aside.
GERMAN BUTTERCREAM
Adapted from a recipe on Sugarsaltmagic.com.
Set 1
2 sticks or 226 grams unsalted butter
¼ cup or 50 grams granulated sugar
Set 2
¼ teaspoon or 1.5 grams salt
Set 3
Ground cinnamon
Tools: electric or stand mixer with paddle attachment, small and large rubber spatulas, piping bags, extra-large round piping tip, extra-large star piping tip
DIRECTIONS
FINISH BUTTER CREAM
Prepare both piping bags by cutting about a 3/4 -inch cut at the tip end. Insert the extra-large tips and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat the 2 sticks or226 grams of butter and the ¼ cup or 50 grams of sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and use a small rubber spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Beat on medium for 3 more minutes.
With the mixer running and using the pastry cream you’ve already fluffed up, add a small spatula amount of pastry cream at a time to the whipped butter then beat for about 5 seconds. Add another spoon of pastry cream and beat for 5 seconds. Continue to add about 1/3 of the pastry cream. Stop the mixer and use the same rubber spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Add another third of the pastry cream a bit at a time then stop mixer and scrape bowl. Repeat to add the final third of pastry cream. Once all is added, add the salt and beat for a minute. Remove mixer bowl from mixer and use a rubber spatula to do a final fold and mix of the cream. Taste it and tell me how freakishly delicious it is!!
Fill piping bags and set aside. I use a special trick to fill the bag. Lay out a sheet of plastic wrap, use the large spatula to spoon about 1 to ½ cups of buttercream into the center of the plastic (at a diagonal) then roll and wrap like a piece of candy, twisting the ends in opposite directions. Repeat for remaining butter cream. Cut one end of the twisted plastic, squeeze the wrapped cream a bit and place cut-end into the piping bag with the STAR TIP. Shake bag to jiggle cream to the tip. Here’s link to video on this trick for filling piping bags!
That other bowl of pastry cream – beat the pastry cream and wrap just like the buttercream then put into the piping bag with the ROUND TIP.
Use cupcake corer or paring knife to remove center of cupcakes; the resulting hole should be about ¾ inch in diameter and depth. Set cored cupcake tops aside in a bowl and cover; you can add pastry cream filling and German buttercream to it later.
Pipe pastry cream into the holes of the cupcakes.
Pipe the German buttercream in a decorative mound over each filled cupcake.
Sprinkle cinnamon over the buttercream.
These filled and frosted latiya cupcakes will keep very well in the fridge for 2 days – not sure that they will last that long though!
Effective March 2021, PaulaQ will begin replacing Canola and vegetable/seed oils in recipes with pure lard from Reverence Farm, coconut oil, and avocado oil.
