Gudetama Cupcakes

Oh my gosh I can’t get over this funny little egg man. I can’t remember the first time I came across him, though I’m assuming it was in Japan a few years ago, but all of a sudden he’s taking over the world! In the last few months, he’s been on posters all over the city, part of Dim Sum in Hong Kong, and even making a debut at Plan Check here too. For those of you who have grown up wanting all the Sanrio accessories, like Pochacco backpacks and/or lunchboxes and Kerropi pencil holders, then you gotta love Gudetama too.

Gudetama is my spirit animal egg(?). He is so lazy and chubs and a little bit creepy but he is so ridiculously hilarious!!! He likes to lay around and roll back and forth and use a piece of bacon as his blanket. I giggle every time I see his face, which meant I definitely sounded like a crazy person while putting together these cupcakes. But that can also be attributed to the fact that I was watching New Girl the entire time…

I’ve been watching New Girl obsessively. Like, I watched two seasons in a week and I’m barely even home during the week day. Schmidt is my favorite, and Winston, and Nick, and Jess. I just love all of them and wish we could be friends in real life!!! A friend of mine met Zooey Deschanel once and said that she acts exactly like how she does on the show, which just makes me want to be friends with her even more!

For my birthday a few months ago, Roy surprised me with a windowfarm! We finally set it up and have been growing plants and herbs and I am most excited about the jalapeños. I check on them everyday and will probably make a huge announcement when we see our first fruit!! I never realized how many things can go wrong when you’re caring for a plant. For example, did you guys know that they can get moldy? Cause I sure didn’t. Our windowfarm is hooked up to a self-watering system. At first we were watering them too much, which is what caused the mold, and then they weren’t being watered enough. It’s really just a guess and check thing happening right now… Help a girl out, guys!

P.S. I went to a #BaconParty last week hosted by Corey! There were bacon sliders, bacon wrapped dates, bacon and asparagus, jalapeños covered with cream cheese and bacon, cocktails topped with slices of bacon. There was lots and lots of bacon. Afterwards, my old roommate and I had a late dinner at BCD and we stuffed ourselves with galbi and tofu soup. When she dropped me off we parked in front of my apartment and sat an hour in the car, talking and people watching. As a not-yet dog owner, I guess it is apparently very common for people to take their dogs on late night walks and potty breaks before bet at 12AM. I also saw two pups that just melted my heart, a long haired dachshund and a gorgeous german shepherd. *sigh* Someday.

I had such a fun time making these cupcakes. They’re a classic vanilla cupcake, filled with the silkiest lilikoi curd and topped with a swiss meringue and marzipan Gudetama. I halved the original recipe to make 12 cupcakes, which is why the flour and sugar measurements for the cupcakes are a little wonky, but you can definitely use the original recipe to make two dozen of these. I’ll be bringing these to class tomorrow and thankfully get to use my cakebox, which is photographed above! It’s a little bulky, but I’ve had so many nightmares trying to transport cakes with other methods. I think it’s much less of a hassle to have a sturdy transporter that you won’t have to worry about ruining the desserts inside!

Gudetama Cupcakes
Adapted from Cookies and Cups. Recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

for the cupcakes:
• 3/4 cups + 2 tbsp cake flour
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into 1/2 in. cubes
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Fill a cupcake tin with 12 liners.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the cake flour, all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until combined.
3. With the mixer running on low, slowly drop in a few cubes of butter at a time. Mix until it resembles coarse sand.
4. Keeping the mixer on low, add in the eggs one at a time and mix until fully combined.
5. Lightly whisk together the milk and vanilla extract. Slowly drizzle it into the stand mixer, making sure to keep it on low speed. Once it has been incorporated, turn the mixer to medium-low speed and beat for a few minutes until the batter is smooth.
6. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full (about 1/4 cup of batter). Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely.

for the swiss meringue:
• 2 egg whites
• 140g caster sugar
• a pinch of cream of tartar

1. Bring a small pot filled with a few inches of water to a boil.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the sugar, egg whites, and cream of tartar. Use a whisk to mix the ingredients into a slurry. Place the bowl over your pot of boiling water and make sure that the bowl does not touch the water. Whisk it consistently until the sugar has completely dissolved.
3. Transfer the bowl back to the stand mixer. Beat the mixture on high until it thickens into stiff peaks. It will be similar to the consistency of marshmallow fluff.

assembly:
• Monkeypod Lilikoi Curd, you can also use store bought lemon curd
• 60g marzipan
• black edible marker
• yellow and red or orange food coloring
• 3 sour belts

1. Use a large round frosting tip to create a cavity in the middle of each cupcake. Use a toothpick to get out any loose crumbs that may have gotten stuck. Fill each cavity with lilikoi or lemon curd.
1. Lightly knead the marzipan with your hands to warm it up. Add in a drop of yellow food coloring and a small bit of red (or just orange) to create the color of an egg yolk. Roll the marzipan into a 1/2 inch thick log. Cut it into 12 even pieces. They should be about 5g each. Roll each piece of marzipan into a ball and flatten it out into a half oval shape. Use an edible marker to draw the face of Gudetama. Use a toothpick to brush a little of the meringue onto the inside of the smile.
2. Use a round wide tip to pipe out a high circle of meringue onto the top of the cupcakes. Use a toothpick to flatten and shape the meringue into the uneven shape of an egg white. Add Gudetama’s face on top. I also added a small strip of sour belts to a few of the cupcakes to mimic bacon.