Engineering help - with domestic connections!

[littlegreenfairy]

I need to work out how to get jam into the centre of a cupcake - like getting jam into a doughnut. But I can't work out how to do it. An icing bag with jam in doesn't cut it, jam ends up everywhere...

Any ideas? Some simple home engineering should do it

Also, anyone know what the white stuff filling Krispy Kremes is? I need something white, sugary fluffy and able to hold its shape to top some with too.


Thanks

[BB-Q]

Go to a fishing tackle shop and buy a syringe (they're used for injecting fish oil into deadbaits for Pike fishing). They've got special extra thick needles so junkies can't use them and this size should mean that smooth jam should go down them easily.

[Brite spark]

shirley it's easier to put the cake mix in the baking case, create a gap for the jam, then put more mix on top- put in oven

Edited by Brite spark on Tuesday 20th January 22:30

[littlegreenfairy]

Brite spark said:

shirley it's easier to put the cake mix in the baking case, create a gap for the jam, then put more mix on top- put in oven

I tried that - it went into the mixture and you didn't get that nice mouthful of jam - just jammy sticky cake.

I'm after perfection damnit!

[bobthemonkey]

Brite spark said:

shirley it's easier to put the cake mix in the baking case, create a gap for the jam, then put more mix on top- put in oven

The jam starts to set if you bake it. I guess you could get away with that technique if you were to fry it (like a doughnut).

I can ask a proper baker for you tomorrow, but the syringe method is the answer I suspect He would give.

[navier_stokes]

Doughnut Jam is done with what is basically a syringe... so there's your answer I'm sure you can get some sort of "cooking" syringe from somewhere like John Lewis

[Brite spark]

These for kids? always the easy option, icing sugar, then dip in hundreds and thousands

"I need something white, sugary fluffy and able to hold its shape to top some with too."

butterfly cakes? basic cup/fairy cake. Once cooked and cooled remove a circle from the centre of the cake, just bigger than a 20p piece, going down part way into the cake, fill with butter cream put piece back ontop of the cake and sieve icing sugar over

butter cream or butter icing, 3oz butter 6oz icing sugar mixed together (12 cakes). more yellowy white than white though


Eta damn you- now in the mood for rice krispie cakes

Edited by Brite spark on Tuesday 20th January 22:33

[littlegreenfairy]

Brite spark said:

These for kids? always the easy option, icing sugar, then dip in hundreds and thousands

"I need something white, sugary fluffy and able to hold its shape to top some with too."

butterfly cakes? basic cup/fairy cake. Once cooked and cooled remove a circle from the centre of the cake, just bigger than a 20p piece, going down part way into the cake, fill with butter cream put piece back ontop of the cake and sieve icing sugar over

butter cream or butter icing, 3oz butter 6oz icing sugar mixed together (12 cakes). more yellowy white than white though


Eta damn you- now in the mood for rice krispie cakes

Edited by Brite spark on Tuesday 20th January 22:33

Noooo these are for adults - making cake 99's so want a lovely whippy top but not all butter cream as it would make everyone sick.

I make a lot of cupcakes and cakes, but I'm expanding on what I do. Just can't work it out

Thanks for all the ideas!

Good job I've got connections for an unlimited supply of syringes!

[littlegreenfairy]

bobthemonkey said:

Brite spark said:

shirley it's easier to put the cake mix in the baking case, create a gap for the jam, then put more mix on top- put in oven

The jam starts to set if you bake it. I guess you could get away with that technique if you were to fry it (like a doughnut).

I can ask a proper baker for you tomorrow, but the syringe method is the answer I suspect He would give.

Thank you

Damnit I want cake NOW. (I do love the "samples")

[skwdenyer]

littlegreenfairy said:

I need to work out how to get jam into the centre of a cupcake - like getting jam into a doughnut. But I can't work out how to do it. An icing bag with jam in doesn't cut it, jam ends up everywhere...

Any ideas? Some simple home engineering should do it

Also, anyone know what the white stuff filling Krispy Kremes is? I need something white, sugary fluffy and able to hold its shape to top some with too.


Thanks

The "proper" way to make filled doughnuts is indeed to put the filling into the doughnut during manufacture. This is fiddly and requires skill, but avoids the tell-tale hole in the side of the doughnut, and ensures a well-formed void for the jam. If you get it wrong, the jam runs to one side, the doughnut partially sinks in the fryer, and it is very hard to get an evenly-fried doughnut.

For muffins - which sounds close to your cake requirement - you can do likewise. BUT the batter has to be thicker than you would normally use in order to cut down on filling migration during baking. Half-fill the "cup" with the thick batter, make an indentation in the middle, fill with jam, then fill the rest of the "cup" with the batter. I know this to work for muffins, but have no experience doing it with cakes. YMMV.

The problem with syringes is that you have little control over where the filling will end up - it will just take the path of least resistance through any voids and weaknesses in the finished cake. It is easy for the filling to squirt straight out the side of the cake!

If the "muffin method" above doesn't work for you with cake mixture, but you still wanted to have absolute certainty over the positioning of, and capacity for, filling when using a syringe, you would need to create an actual void (or "reservoir") during baking, and then fill that void with a syringe. This would require some experimentation, but you might be able to, for instance, put a frozen ball of butter in (instead of the jam above), on the basis that the butter would melt whilst the cake was baking around it, hopefully keeping the hole intact long enough for the cake to get stiff enough to be self-supporting. Once cooled, you could inject jam.

This may be getting a little OTT, but you did ask for engineering solutions

[Plotloss]

Freeze small blobs of jam.

Fill cupcake cases, push blob of jam in, bake.

Done.

[skwdenyer]

Plotloss said:

Freeze small blobs of jam.

Fill cupcake cases, push blob of jam in, bake.

Done.

Err, yes. Flash of the blindingly obvious

[whirligig]

For the fluffy adult topping (that doesn't sound quite right!) what about a topping more like what you would put on a carrot cake - Philly/mascarpone with vanilla or orange/lemon juice and icing sugar added?

[littlegreenfairy]

I've been informed that a bladder syringe is the way ahead as its like a piping nozzle. Will be giving that a go later!

Still unsure what I'll do about the topping - think I might be getting through many cupcakes this week.

[bobthemonkey]

littlegreenfairy said:

bobthemonkey said:

Brite spark said:

shirley it's easier to put the cake mix in the baking case, create a gap for the jam, then put more mix on top- put in oven

The jam starts to set if you bake it. I guess you could get away with that technique if you were to fry it (like a doughnut).

I can ask a proper baker for you tomorrow, but the syringe method is the answer I suspect He would give.

Thank you

Damnit I want cake NOW. (I do love the "samples")

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

1) Use a smooth jam, but make sure it isn't too runny. A syringe, rather than a piping bag must be used, and its best to wiggle the needle around first inside the cake doughnut before injecting the jam. Also, a slightly lighter than usual cake mixture can help. (More space inside for the jam, so less likely to crack the cake open somewhere else is the theory).
2) Alternatively, you can treat the cupcakes like mini victoria sponges and just half them. If you want more jam in them, you could always make a little hollow when you half them, and use a jam/hot water glaze to stick it back together. A clearish jam, such as apricot works well for this.