Blood Orange Bombe

I dragged my other half out to the Victoria Market this morning (a rare opportunity as we live on the opposite side of the city) to explore the bargain treats. Sadly our shopping expedition was marred by the myriad of slow Sunday shoppers who just didn't understand how to navigate their way through the crowds without knocking me over (I'm by no means a small person so how people manage to 'accidently' hit me I'll never know).

While I was at the market I found blood oranges. Having never tried these, I bought a few and set about concocting a dessert worthy of the blood orange.

I decided upon a cupcake as I haven't had a chance to make many recently. I transformed my blood oranges into a sweet curd and stuffed it into the cupcakes. Traditional buttercream or fondant didn't appeal to me as a topping today, so I decided upon a meringue crown for my creation.

In honour of its meringue topping, I named my newest creation 'Blood Orange Bombe'.

Traditionally a bombe is an icecream concoction covered with meringue and is torched in front of your dinner guests. So here is a bombe...in cupcake form.

Blood Orange Bombe cupcakes

Blood orange curd

1/2 cup blood orange juice (about 3-4 small blood oranges)

1/2 cup caster sugar

125g butter, cubed & softened

2 tsp blood orange zest

3 eggs

Combine juice, zest, sugar & butter in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until butter is melted. Remove from heat, allow to cool for a few minutes and whisk eggs in. Return to low heat and stir for a few minutes until the mixture thickens slightly (enough to coat the back of a spoon). Pour into an airtight container and store in the fridge.

Blood orange cupcakes

125g butter, softened & cubed

3/4 cup caster sugar

1/4 cup blood orange juice

1 tsp blood orange zest

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups SR flour, sifted

1/2 cup milk

Cream butter, sugar and juice until creamy. Reduce mixer speed and add eggs, one at a time. Add half the milk and half the flour, mix until just combined. Add remaining milk and flour, along with zest. Do not overmix as the cupcakes will not be light and fluffy otherwise.

Spoon into cupcake cases and bake for 14-20 mins (baking time will depend on the size of your liners, so check them after 14 minutes).

Meringue

2 egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 cup sugar

Food colouring, if desired

Whip egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until the sugar is dissolved and firm peaks form (add colouring at this point if you are using it).

Assembly

Wait for cupcakes to cool before cutting a cone out of the top of each one. Save cone. Spoon curd into each cupcake and replace cone (cut the bottom of the cone off to allow it to fit back in nicely). Spoon a generous dollop of meringue on each one (you could pipe this instead if you like) and toast with a kitchen torch (if you don't have one you could pop them under the grill instead).

Enjoy!