Cranberry Bliss Cupcakes

Make and chill the cranberry sauce filling (recipe below).
-Bake and cool a batch of burnt butter brown sugar cupcakes (recipe below).
-Make the white chocolate whipped ganache frosting and flavor it with pecans and dried cranberries (recipe below).
-To fill the cupcakes, use a small knife or round cookie cutter to cut a plug out of the center of each (going in from the top). Save the top bit of each plug. Fill each cavity with cranberry sauce filling. Cover with the top bit so the filling is not exposed.
-Top with whipped ganache and garnish with lightly toasted unsweetened coconut flakes and more dried cranberries.
Cranberry Sauce Filling- makes about 1 cup

just under 1/2 cup sugar
just under 1/2 cup water
2 t orange zest
pinch of salt
6 oz whole cranberries, fresh or frozen

-Bring sugar, water, orange zest and a pinch of salt to a boil in a medium saucepot. Reduce the heat to a simmer and add in the cranberries.
-Simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the cranberries pop.
-Transfer to a nonreactive bowl and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until using.
Burnt Butter Brown Sugar Cupcakes- makes 12 regular-sized cupcakes
modified from Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess

1/2 cup plus 2 T unsalted butter
3/4 cup self-rising cake flour
3 T sugar
5 T brown sugar (I used dark, but light would be fine, too)
2 large eggs
1 t vanilla bean paste (can substitute vanilla extract)
1 t baking powder
pinch of salt
2-3 T milk

-Preheat the oven to 400°F/205°C and line a muffin tin with paper cups.
-To brown the butter, put it in a small saucepan on medium heat, leaving it until it turns light golden and has nutty-colored brown bits on the bottom (will only take a couple of minutes). Take the pan off the heat and pour the butter into a bowl or cup, scraping the brown bits (if you have accidentally gotten your butter too dark, strain it, leaving the dark sediment behind). Let the butter begin to solidify again, but you need it to remain soft for the cupcakes. You can do this by either leaving it at room temperature, which will take awhile, or putting it in the fridge for about 10 minutes. You want it to be the consistency of regular softened butter.
-When the butter is solid but still soft, put all the cake ingredients except the milk in a food processor and blitz to a smooth batter. As normal, add the milk down the funnel, pulsing sparingly to form a soft, dropping mixture.
-Divide among the paper cups, and cook for 15-20 minutes. FYI, this does not make much batter, and the cups will not be very full. Don’t worry, as the combination of self-rising cake flour and baking powder give it a lot of oomph in the oven. They should rise to normal cupcake size!
White Chocolate Whipped Ganache with Pecans and Cranberries- makes enough to generously frost 12 cupcakes

7.5 oz white chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
7 T butter, very soft
handfull toasted pecans, cooled and roughly chopped
handfull dried cranberries

-Put chopped white chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepot. Pour hot cream over the chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes to begin to melt. Gently whisk chocolate and cream together to form a perfectly smooth ganache.
-Cover and refrigerate for about 45 minutes, until the ganache is cool and begins to firm up, but is still soft enough to whip.
-By hand with a whisk, whip until fluffy frosting consistency. Whip in the soft butter, piece by piece. If it starts to look split, chill it a couple more minutes and it should come together with a few more strokes. Don’t overbeat the frosting, however, or it may make it too firm.
-Gently fold in pecans and dried cranberries before topping the cupcakes.