passionfruit cupcakes with citrus buttercream frosting

last friday i brought into work these delicious burnt sugar french macarons. i had made them earlier in the week and was letting them age in the fridge before bringing them to work to share. as it turned out, while the macarons were aging in our refrigerator, we've also been helping ourselves to them. i discovered that m absolutely loves them. come friday, instead of having 28 macarons, we were down to just 16. now, 16 macarons would have been fine, but being the typical me, i didn't think that was enough goodies to go around. so on a whim, last friday morning before work i decided to make some mini cupcakes. and so that explains these delicious passionfruit cupcakes here.

now, i absolutely love passionfruit. it's just unfortunate they aren't readily available here in the bay area like other more tropical and exotic places such as hawaii or australia. sure they do grow some variety of the fruit here in california, i've just yet to get my hands on them (at least not since maui of last year). so for these cupcakes, the juices will do just fine.

so, how were these cupcakes anyway? pretty awesome. you can still get a hint of the passionfruit in the cake. now, if it was 100% passionfruit (because it's got some pear juice in it – i wouldn't be surprised if it was 49% pear, 51% passionfruit), i say it would be pretty ridiculously delicious. the citrus buttercream really pairs well with the passionfruit. i love the whole combination. oh, and topping it off with some leftover candied citrus peels really elevated the citrus flavor (not that the buttercream didn't have enough of it already).

below's the recipe should you want to try and make these yourself. i based these cupcakes off of the eggless vanilla cupcakes that i often make so they're actually full size (or standard size i should say) cupcakes rather than mini cupcakes. but of course, if you want to bake them in mini cupcake liners, you certainly can. i would shorten the baking time to 15 minutes instead of 18.

okay, let me know if you do make some and how yours turn out. happy baking! :)


i love the flavor combination of these cupcakes. passionfruit and citrus together is just delicious.

passionfruit cupcakes with citrus buttercream frosting

ingredients:

cupcakes:
1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt
1/3 cup passionfruit juice or puree
2/3 cup milk
1 tbsp distilled vinegar (you can use cider too)
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

citrus buttercream:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
3 to 3-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp of orange juice
1 tbsp of lemon juice
some lemon & orange zest

milk or cream, as needed

directions:

for the cupcakes:

1. preheat oven to 350°f.
2. in a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. then add in the sugar, oil, milk, passionfruit juice (or puree). mix until relatively smooth.
4. fill cupcake liners with a scant 3 tablespoons of batter (cups should be just under 2/3 of the way full). bake for 18 minutes (or 15 if making mini cupcakes) or until lightly golden, and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

for frosting:

1. cream butter in electric mixer for 1-2 minutes until fluffy.
2. slowly add in the sugar, citrus zest and juices and beat until light and fluffy; and has reached the right consistency; about 3-4 minutes. add cream or more sugar as necessary to achieve proper consistency.
3. pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes. optional: you can top it off with some thinly sliced candied citrus peels if you like!

makes 12 cupcakes (or 20-22 mini cupcakes).

enjoy and happy eating! :)