One thing I’ve come to realize about NDPs is that in addition to a favorite park, a favorite ride, a favorite spot on property, we also have a favorite food. That certain delicacy that is only found at The Big D, and MUST be consumed at least once during your visit.

I always thought for me this was the Peanut Butter fudge. No one does fudge like Walt Disney World, and I personally think the peanut butter is some of their finest. Nothing frilly about it, just simple, creamy, with just the right balance of salty and sweet.

That was, my friends, until on a lark, my husband and I visited Kringla Bakeri og Cafe at the Norway pavilion in EPCOT. I said it before, and I’ll say it again: It may have been a sleeper of a choice, but OH HOLY MOSES WOW.

I feel like I’ve been let in on the biggest of Disney secrets: Schoolbread. What an amazing treat, and all for the price of a Disney Dining Plan snack credit! The foreign but comforting cardamom harmonizes together with toasted coconut and vanilla custard. These lovely flavors are further compounded by the background notes of a sweet yeast roll. It could very well be perfection on a plate.

Never in my life have I had such a revelation about a spice, that spice being cardamom. I now want to put it in everything, from chocolate chip cookies to coffee.

First things first though, was to address what happens when I’m no longer in Orlando, Florida. I think we’ve all faced this problem too: I live some 1,100 miles away. Two hours by plane or 17 by car. That’s a rough prospect to face when all you want is a little Schoolbread.

Could I make it at home? Maybe. But yeast breads have never really been my thing. When it comes to baking, for me, the less chemistry the better.

Now cupcakes. I can whip up a mean cupcake. What to do here? An idea started to form.  Could I really put custard through the middle of the cupcake? What about icing? Glaze surely wouldn’t be enough to carry this new texture through.

I’m here to tell you: not only did the idea work, it. Is. PHENOMENAL. Flat out, one of the best cupcakes I’ve ever eaten, let alone made. I promise you, I don’t say things like that nonchalantly.

It’s everything you want from that Norway pavilion, except for those things no one but Disney can give you: the sounds of the lagoon lapping against the dock, while seagulls eye your dessert from a Disney-enforced distance, the rumble of a convection shower not too far off. Those things, well, I’d give anything to have them any time I want. But I’ll settle for a little Schoolbread in my life. At least until I can next afford the airfare.

Schoolbread Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart’s Snickerdoodle Cupcake Recipe

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self- rising), sifted

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cardamom

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper liners in a standard muffin tin. Sift together the flours, baking powder, salt, and 1 tablespoon ground cardamom.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with milk in two portions, and beating until combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to 2 days at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

When cupcakes are cool, use a melon scoop to scoop out the middle of each cupcake, about the size of a quarter in diameter.

Leave oven on. Spread approximately 1 cup of coconut on a baking tray and place in the oven. Toast for about 10 minutes, or until you have both some brown pieces and still firmly white pieces of coconut. Allow to cool.

Vanilla Custard

(thanks to the Disney Food Blog for this recipe)

1 2/3 cups milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 egg yolks

1 tablespoon corn starch

In heavy saucepan bring milk to a boil. Set aside. In bowl, beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla until the mixture doubles by volume. Add the hot milk a few drops at a time to temper the eggs. Mix well after each addition. Place in metal mixing bowl and place over double boiler. Dissolve cornstarch in a little water and add in a thin stream while stirring constantly until it thickens to proper consistency. It must not boil. Cool by placing pan in ice bath.

When the custard is cool, use an icing piping bag, or small spoon, to fill the holes you created in the cupcake. Allow to continue to cool. I actually put the tray of cupcakes in the fridge overnight. If you used ready made vanilla pudding, you probably wouldn’t have to do this.

7 Minute Frosting

From Martha Stewart.com

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2/3 cup water

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

6 large egg whites, room temperature

Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar with the water and corn syrup in a small saucepan; clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Continue boiling, without stirring, until syrup reaches 230 degrees.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. With mixer running, add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, beating to combine.

As soon as sugar syrup reaches 230 degrees, remove from heat. With mixer on medium-low speed, pour syrup down side of bowl in a slow, steady stream. Raise speed to medium-high; whisk until mixture is completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl) and stiff (but not dry) peaks form, about 7 minutes. Use immediately.

Fill a piping bag with frosting, and cover each cupcake face completely, including over the custard or pudding. Sprinkle with toasted coconut. Ready to serve!

I highly recommend sticking with a more light and airy icing. Using ready made icing, or cream cheese or butter cream frosting, would be too heavy for this cupcake, given it already has vanilla custard going through it. The 7 Minute Frosting offers just the right amount of sweetness to temper the cardamom but also give you the properly frosted taste and texture you want when you have a cupcake.

Contributed by: Amber B. (NDW#26). Amber is our resident food expert and creator of Blue Bonnets and Brownies.

NDW26

Wife, foodblogger, former castmember, aunt, and all around Disney fanatic.

www.bluebonnetsandbrownies.com

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