Two-Color Cupcakes
２色のカップケーキ
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
These little cupcakes get their two layers from nothing more than strawberry jam and pureed spinach, so the pink and green come straight from the ingredients rather than food coloring. Pancake mix and soy milk keep the batter simple, and the jam adds just enough sweetness for a snack. Blending the spinach into a smooth paste hides it completely in the batter, which makes this a gentle way to serve greens to children who would push them aside on a plate. Most kids are so taken with the stripes that the cupcakes disappear before anyone asks what made them green.
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 10.5 gstrawberry jam
- 1.5 gspinach
- 30 gsweetened soy milk (Japanese chosei tonyu)Japanese 'prepared' soy milk that is lightly sweetened and flavored to taste milder than plain soy milk. Substitute: Regular (original, lightly sweetened) soy milk from the supermarket.
- 30 gpancake mixJapanese 'hotcake mix' is a sweetened pancake mix of flour, sugar, and leavening, often used as a shortcut baking mix. Brands differ, and some contain milk or egg, so check the label if you are cooking for a food allergy. Substitute: Sweetened pancake mix, or self-rising flour plus about 2 tablespoons sugar per 100 g.
Seasonings
- 7.5 gvegetable oil
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- sweetened soy milk (Japanese chosei tonyu) (調製豆乳)
- Japanese 'prepared' soy milk that is lightly sweetened and flavored to taste milder than plain soy milk. Substitute: Regular (original, lightly sweetened) soy milk from the supermarket.
- pancake mix (ホットケーキミックス)
- Japanese 'hotcake mix' is a sweetened pancake mix of flour, sugar, and leavening, often used as a shortcut baking mix. Brands differ, and some contain milk or egg, so check the label if you are cooking for a food allergy. Substitute: Sweetened pancake mix, or self-rising flour plus about 2 tablespoons sugar per 100 g.
Directions
- 1
Mix the vegetable oil and soy milk together, then divide the mixture in half.
- 2
Add a little of one half of the oil-and-soy-milk mixture to the strawberry jam and blend to a paste in a blender. Stir in the rest of that half.
- 3
Boil the spinach, cool it under running water, then squeeze out the water well. Add a little of the other half of the oil-and-soy-milk mixture and blend to a paste in a blender. Stir in the rest of that half.
- 4
Add half of the pancake mix to the strawberry mixture and half to the spinach mixture, folding each gently to make two batters.
- 5
Pour the spinach batter into the bottom half of each cup, then pour the strawberry batter on top to fill the upper half.
- 6
Place the cups on a baking sheet and bake in a toaster oven (or an oven preheated to 180°C (350°F)) for about 20 minutes.
Overmixing keeps the cupcakes from rising, so fold the batter gently and stop as soon as it comes together.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 219 kcal | 438 kcal | 219 kcal |
| Protein | 3.3 g | 6.6 g | 3.3 g |
| Fat | 9.8 g | 19.5 g | 9.8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 30.5 g | 60.9 g | 30.5 g |
| Fiber | 1 g | 2.1 g | 1 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0.3 g | 0.6 g | 0.3 g |
| Calcium | 40.5 mg | 81 mg | 40.5 mg |
| Iron | 0.5 mg | 0.9 mg | 0.5 mg |
| Potassium | 138 mg | 276 mg | 138 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 219 kcal | 3.3 g | 9.8 g | 30.5 g | 1 g | 0.3 g | 40.5 mg | 0.5 mg | 138 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 438 kcal | 6.6 g | 19.5 g | 60.9 g | 2.1 g | 0.6 g | 81 mg | 0.9 mg | 276 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
