Strawberry agar agar jelly pearls

strawberries and cream cupcake topped with strawberry agar agar jelly pearls

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Goodness, I had a fabulous finish to 2010 when I was invited in December to give an interview on the gorgeous blog Haniela's, then on Christmas Eve I was featured on my all time favourite cupcake blog Cupcakes Take The Cake which caused me to burn the turkey I'm sure as I was so distracted and happy!! 

On to the first cupcake of 2011, which ties into answering the first email of year (ok, technically this a December 2010 mail but you know I'm always running behind) which comes from Issy in Auckland NZ and read.....

hi love your blog and I wanted to know if you can make fruit pearls without the chemicals. I'm a vegetarian so gelatine isn't an option. i wanted fruit pearls to go on cupcakes. 

Thanks for the mail Issy. The chemicals Issy is referring to are from an earlier post I did on making fruit caviar/pearls with the molecular gastronomy method favoured by many chefs. 

Ok, Issy you can make fruit pearls or caviar with just agar agar, however you have to use them immediately if you are using them for cupcake toppers as they shrink dramatically when exposed to air. They do taste exactly of the juice you use & are easy to handle. Unlike the molecular gastronomy version that are a gel "case" with fluid inside the agar agar version are a solid soft gel. 

Making Strawberry Agar Agar Pearls

you will need accurate scales and a plastic syringe

Recipe

100 ml (3.4 fluid oz) of strawberry juice or juice of choice

1 gram (0.035 oz) of agar agar powder

1 cup of flavourless vegetable oil

Apple juice for storing the pearls in. 

Method

In a small saucepan whisk together the juice and the agar agar powder. Over medium heat, whisking constantly bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the agar agar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let the mixture stand for 4 to 5 minutes.

Fill your syringe with the juice mixture and add to the oil... drop by drop.

Strain the pearls from the oil and transfer to apple juice until ready to use. The apple juice washes away the oil residue and the leftover cup of oil can be reused for baking.

 

Now you will have perfect small fruit pearls ready to top your cupcakes.

And here comes the "but"... these guys shrink dramatically when exposed to air.

On the left is one of the fruit pearls after being exposed to air for 3 hours, on the right is a nonpareil (a hundred and thousand sprinkle). 

As you can see the shrinkage is extreme, but if you're serving them straight away they are pretty, taste great and easy to make. 

Hope that helped Issy, let me know if you decide to  make them. 

Happy Baking :)

Related posts...

Plum fruit caviar/pearls the molecular gastronomy method

A hybrid gel that moulds easily and is extremely stable, made from gelatine/agar agar is used to create gel shapes for topping peanut butter frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting & Gel Shapes

                    creamy peanut butter cupcake frosting and fruit gel shape

First post back & I thought I'd go with a simple peanut butter frosting and a not as simple (courtesy of a MasterChef method) moulded gel shapes for the toppers. The frosting is sure to become a family favourite, the gels take a bit more effort, but is a great introduction to using agar agar & gelatine leaves.

Lets start with the smooth and creamy frosting; perfect to top chocolate, vanilla, peanut or chocolate brownie cupcakes, the peanut butter can be substituted for Nutella for a delicious chocolate hazelnut frosting if desired. 

Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting

makes enough frosting for spreading or piping small swirls on a dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter (softened, but not melted)

1 cup smooth (creamy) peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract/essence

2 1/3 cups sifted icing sugar (confectioners sugar) 

1/4 cup cream (plus little extra if needed)

Method

In an a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter with the peanut butter until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in one cup of the icing sugar, add the cream & the vanilla and beat to combine, gradually add the remaining icing sugar and beat until the frosting doesn't feel grainy when you rub a little between your thumb and forefinger. The frosting should be perfect to spread now, but if necessary add a little extra cream until desired consistency is reached. Spread frosting over cupcakes and either top with a small teaspoon of grape/fruit jelly preserve or top with moulded gels. 

The moulded jellies; this recipe was created by pastry chef Darren Purchese for a MasterClass episode of MasterChef.

I used the tubular gel part of the recipe to create the half spheres I used today as cupcake toppers. For the fabulous Fruit Carnival with Sugar Tuile, Aerated Fruit Chocolate and Toffee Apple Dessert recipe visit MasterChef's official site here. 

carnival inspired dessert featured on MasterChef

You can tell this is a "chefs" recipe because you need "stuff"... like accurate scales, silicone moulds, agar agar powder, food thermometer & gelatine leaves. The combination two setting agents, 'agar agar' & 'gelatine leaves' results in a soft melt in the mouth gel that is surprisingly robust and easily handled. 

agar agar powder one the ingredients will need for the gels

Raspberry half sphere gels

Ingredients

•500g raspberry puree (17.6 oz)

2.5g agar agar powder (0.088 oz)

6 gold strength gelatine leaves

Method

Soak the gelatine leaves in iced cold water until softened.

gelatine leaves before soaking

Drain, squeezing out any of the excess water. Reserve in fridge. 

gelatine leaves after squeezing out excess water

Place the raspberry puree and the agar agar into a saucepan and heat gently. Stir constantly until the mixture reaches 92 C (197.6 F). Remove from heat and add the gelatine leaves. Stir to dissolve then strain through a fine sieve. Pour the mixture into a squeeze bottle, the fill the half sphere moulds. Chill until needed. You will have left over gel mixture, mould and chill as you would standard jelly (jello). 

silicone half mini sphere mould

inside view of the gel's, soft and melt in the mouth texture

*substitute another variety of berry or a combination of berries for the raspberries in the puree

*raspberry gel mixture is unsweetened and will compliment sweet desserts or frostings, that said feel free to sweeten the puree if you feel it is too tart. 

Thank you everyone who sent "get well" and "best wishes" messages, all were wonderful and much appreciated. Great to be back.

Happy Baking :)