Species 006: Brown Sugar & Angostura Bitters Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream

Learning what kind of alcohol you like, if any, is a journey that I think everyone has to take. If you come out the other side not liking alcohol at all, or only liking alcohol for social enablement—that’s just fine. For me, my journey started when I was about twelve years old, on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Before you judge, let me just say that my parents took a stance on alcohol: they never treated it like some taboo thing that could only be spoken of when I hit the age of twenty-one, but as a hidden world of nuance and flavor. So if I wanted to taste some wine at dinner, I could—and they would do their best to explain to me what I was tasting. It worked for my family, but I understand if it doesn’t work for everyone, and my goal here is not to offend.

So I was twelve years old when I first tried alcohol, and that alcohol happened to be grappa—an Italian liquor with anywhere from 35 to 60 percent alcohol content. My family had just finished a Mediterranean feast of fresh seafood, simply grilled with olive oil and lemon juice. We stayed at the restaurant for hours simply because they kept bringing us food and we kept eating it. At the end of the meal, they brought us each a glass of house-made grappa. I took my first sip with a sense of wonderment.

Fully aware of how this may sound, I’ll say that in that moment, I completely fell in love with the taste of alcohol. The flavor, the burn, the warming effect as it moved to my stomach—I loved it all. And so I began my journey rather backwards than the average teen, enjoying first the taste of alcohol, then everything else that goes with it. I moved from grappa to port to whiskey to rum to wine, and finally, to beer—which I realized is delicious despite the minimal taste of alcohol.

Still, I’m a whiskey girl through and through. Bourbon is my favorite, followed by Japanese whisky. My favorite cocktail is the Old Fashioned, followed by the Sazerac and Bourbon Sour. I don’t like very sweet cocktails because although I love desserts, I think alcohol and dessert should stay wholly separate. But I couldn’t help but create a dessert at least inspired by my love for whiskey, even if it did not literally mimic the taste.

Species 006: The brown sugar and Angostura bitters in the cupcake are reminiscent of an Old Fashioned, while the orange buttercream and candied orange & Maraschino cherry garnish give it a classic finish.

Primary Traits

I decided to use a Bourbon Old Fashioned as my muse, as I felt that the combination of the smooth bourbon, aromatic Angostura bitters, fresh orange spritz, and syrupy Maraschino cherry garnish would transfer well to food. (Amazingly, you can get a flash lesson on how to make an Old Fashioned from none other than Ryan Gosling by watching this 10-second scene from Crazy, Stupid, Love.) My goal was to create a cupcake that was not a literal translation of an Old Fashioned, but a nod to the flavor profile. I wanted the cupcake to be delicious even to people who don’t enjoy the alcohol-forward flavor of Old Fashioned’s.

Trait #1: Brown Sugar & Angostura Bitters Cupcake

The two primary flavors in an Old Fashioned are the bourbon and the Angostura bitters. As I said earlier, I really don’t like to mix alcohol and dessert, so I decided to go for a less literal translation of the bourbon flavor by creating a brown sugar cupcake that has just a touch of cherry syrup and a healthy dose of Angostura bitters. The brown sugar and cherry mimic the smooth molasses and dark-fruit flavor of bourbon, while the Angostura bitters give the cupcake that classic Old Fashioned flavor. I was surprised to find that Angostura bitters aren’t often used in food. Bitters—made from aromatic ingredients like herbs, bark, roots, and fruit infused in alcohol—are very similar in spirit to vanilla extract, so I thought it would be the perfect ingredient to bring a new flavor to baked goods. After experimenting with the balance of flavors, I was happy to find that the bitters gave a delicious flavor to the cupcakes and proved that you can bake a cupcake that is reminiscent of alcohol without including alcohol at all.

Trait #2: Orange Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Although bourbon and Angostura bitters are the primary flavors in an Old Fashioned, the first flavor you pick up on when you go to take a sip is the orange. Old Fashioned’s are finished by spritzing the glass with an orange peel, then rubbing the peel on the rim of the glass and dropping it in. This means that you smell and taste orange first before the flavor gives way to the bourbon and bitters.

In order to achieve this effect, I created an orange-scented Swiss meringue buttercream, boosted with another hit of Angostura bitters. I chose Swiss meringue buttercream because it is light, smooth, and largely unobtrusive. American buttercreams tend to be heavy and sweet while French buttercreams tend to be aggressively rich, and I wanted a buttercream that could carry the flavors without being distracting. The orange scent provides the perfect, subtle amount of flavor, and the additional Angostura bitters ensure that the orange flavor at the forefront gives way to the more classic Old Fashioned flavors in the end.

Trait #3: Candied Orange & Maraschino Cherry Garnish

The final touch on these cupcakes is the most literal part of the translation. Old Fashioned’s are classically garnished with the orange peel used to spritz the glass and a Maraschino cherry, so I decided to garnish my cupcakes with a candied orange peel (so it would be entirely edible) and an unaltered Maraschino cherry. The key here is to use a high quality Maraschino cherry, like Luxardo. The cherry helps enhance the flavor of the brown sugar cupcake just as it helps enhance the flavor of the whiskey in an Old Fashioned. The orange peel, of course, enhances the orange flavor in the buttercream.

Resulting Species

The resulting cupcake is not an Old Fashioned in cupcake form, but rather a cupcake inspired by the spirit of an Old Fashioned. There’s no booze in it, so it’s no literal translation—it’s an adaptation. The Angostura bitters add a wonderful, spiced flavor to the brown sugar cupcakes, and the orange buttercream brightens everything up without being overtly orange. The most obvious nod to the Old Fashioned, the garnish, adds a burst of sweetness to the treats and, of course, a classic looking finish. Enjoy!

Until next time,

The Culinary Darwinist

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Brown Sugar & Angostura Bitters Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the Brown Sugar Cupcakes

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1 stick soft butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg, room temp
1 tsp Angostura bitters
1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 scant cup buttermilk
2 T Maraschino cherry syrup
Note: I highly recommend you use a high quality Maraschino cherry, such as Luxardo.

For the Orange Swiss Meringue Buttercream

3 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

2 sticks softened butter

Zest of 1/2 a Valencia orange
2 dashes Angostura bitters

To Assemble

1 Valencia orange
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

12 Maraschino cherries, drained

Method

Make the candied orange peel

1. Rinse the Valencia orange and dry off. Using a potato peeler, peel thick strips, roughly half as long as the orange. You should end up with about 16 or so strips. When you're making an Old Fashioned, you want to be careful to not remove any of the pithe, as it is bitter. The candying process will take the bitterness out though, so you don't have to worry as much.
2. In a small saucepan, cover the orange peels with water and bring to a boil. Drain the water and repeat the process.
3. In another small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup sugar with 1/4 cup water. Try not to splash the sugar onto the sides of the pan, as this could cause crystallization. Bring this mix to a simmer and hold at a simmer for about 9 minutes.
4. Add the drained orange peels to the sugar mixture and keep on a low simmer for 15 minutes, or until the peels are slightly translucent. Gently swirl the pan if the peels are clumping or, if you're good with chopsticks, use them to separate the peels. In general though, it's a good idea not to disturb them as they candy. Drain the peels, saving the liquid if you'd like, for your tea. Disperse the orange peels on a rack and let cool until crisp.

Make the cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350º and line a 12 count cupcake tin.
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine. In a liquid measuring cup, measure the scant 3/4 cup buttermilk and 2 T Maraschino cherry syrup—the idea is that the combined mixture totals 3/4 cup of liquid.
3. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth (3 min, high speed). Add the brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy (1 min, high speed). Add the egg, Angostura bitters, and vanilla, and beat until light and fluffy again (1 min, high speed).
4. Add half the flour mixture and mix until almost combined (20 seconds, low speed). Add the buttermilk mixture and mix until almost combined (20 seconds, low speed). Add the rest of the mixture and mix until fully combined (30 seconds, low speed).
5. Using a cookie scoop or greased measuring cup, fill the lined cupcake molds. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

Make the buttercream

1. Prepare a double boiler big enough to hold the bowl of your stand mixer. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the egg whites, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Place over the double boiler, and heat the mixture while stirring until it reaches 165º. If you don't want to use a thermometer, heat for 10-12 minutes, or until you can't feel any sugar grains in the mixture.
2. When the mixture is at heat, place the bowl on the stand mixer with the whisk attachment, and beat at the highest speed for about 10 minutes. You should end up with a glossy, stiff meringue, and the bowl should only be slightly warm to the touch.
3. With the mixer going at high speed, drop 1-2 tablespoons of butter in at a time, at 30 second intervals or so. The mixture might look a little slack at first—just keep dropping in the butter and whisking away. If the mixture is still sloppy after most of the butter is added, throw the bowl into the fridge for 20 minutes at a time before continuing. The mixture should shape up into a firm, glossy buttercream. Add the orange zest and Angostura bitters, and mix well to combine.

Assemble

1. Load a pastry bag with a plain wide tip. Top the cupcakes with a single, generous dollop of buttercream. Using a cake spatula, dab down on the top of the frosting mound a few times, until the buttercream is just spilling over the edge of the cupcake. Wipe the spatula clean, then use downward swiping motions to scrape off the excess buttercream and smooth the edge.
2. Top each cupcake with one candied orange peel and one Maraschino cherry. Make sure the cherries are well-drained, or you'll end up with a sloppy mess. ∎

This is a sneak peek article.

For the full suite of recipes, check back here in April.