Strawberry Peach Basil Cupcakes

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Strawberry Peach Basil Cupcakes

We had a bakoff at work and I wanted to make a cupcake with a creative flavor combination. To get inspiration I decided to flip through the Iron Cupcake Earth Flickr pool. There are some great cupcake photos in there! I could spend hours just browsing through that photo pool… I came across this recipe and thought it sounded perfect. I’ve made lemon blueberry basil cupcakes before that were delicious.

I used the recipe from Take the Cannoli as inspiration for the flavor combo but just used my own recipes. The cupcakes are Martha Stewart’s yellow buttermilk cupcakes that I made recently with rave reviews.

For the filling, I used the peach jam I just made. I stirred in about two cups of fresh strawberries and reduced it on the stove until it thickened up even more. Then I let the jam mixture cool.

Once the jam was completely cool, I strained some of it through the strainer to get out any pulp and seeds. That strained off version is the sauce that I added to the top of the cupcakes for some additional color. I added some thinly sliced fresh basil to the remaining jam mixture to use to fill the cupcakes.

For the frosting, I used the same base recipe that I posted yesterday, using french vanilla pudding. This base frosting recipe is great and very easy to mix up. Once it was mixed, I added some of the jam filling to the frosting until it got enough of a hint of the fruit and basil without being over powering. Then I added another pinch of the freshly chopped basil just for good measure. I enjoy this type of frosting best at room temperature, so while I do store these cupcakes overnight in the fridge, definitely let them warm up a bit before serving.

I’m happy to announce that I did win the Innovation Award for most creative flavor combination. All the hard work and taste testing paid off!

Don’t forget to enter in my 2nd blogiversary giveaway by midnight on August 28th! You could win some cute cupcake liners like the red ones seen in this post!

Check out my week of cupcakes here.

Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
1 stick salted butter, softened
1/2 pkg french vanilla instant pudding mix
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup (or more to suit your tastes) powdered sugar

Directions:

In mixer set on medium speed, beat the butter until smooth and silky.

Turn the speed to low and add the pudding mix, when it is all incorporated, slowly add the cream, a little at a time. When fully incorporated bring speed up to high and beat for 5-7 minutes.

Turn speed back down to low and add powdered sugar by Tbsp., tasting along the way. When it is sweet to your taste, beat again at high speed for a good 5 minutes to really break down any graininess that you might get from the powdered sugar.

Bring back down to low speed and beat for a while that way to get rid of air bubbles.

Recipe from Fields of Cake

Cupcakes, Dessert

11 comments »

20 Responses to “Pina Colada Cupcakes”

#
1

Molly — March 31, 2011 at 4:37 pm

These are so adorable! A friend once made me margarita cupcakes for a birthday, but I love the sound of all the coconut.
#
2

Flavia — March 31, 2011 at 4:40 pm

I love this cupcakes week!!!!! And even Pina-colada cupcakes…..ciao, Flavia
#
3

Daisy — March 31, 2011 at 4:41 pm

these look incredible! I am LOVING cupcake week!
#
4

Allisonpence — March 31, 2011 at 4:42 pm

These make me crave a warm summer day.
#
5

Megan — March 31, 2011 at 4:51 pm

This sounds like a fun, summery cupcake recipe! Love it!
#
6

Rachel Marcisin — March 31, 2011 at 5:32 pm

Mmm these look awesome! But where’s the rum?
#
7

beantownbaker — March 31, 2011 at 5:43 pm

Tell me about it! I’m not excited about the rain/snow we’re supposed to get tonight and tomorrow.
#
8

beantownbaker — March 31, 2011 at 5:44 pm

Good point! They have the flavors of a pina colada without the alcohol. If you wanted to add some rum, I’d throw it into the filling.
#
9

FunandFearlessinBeantown — March 31, 2011 at 6:23 pm

I’d like one of these cupcakes along with a pina colada on the beach!
#
10

Hezzi-D — March 31, 2011 at 8:03 pm

I’ve really been into “booze” cupcake lately and yours looks fantastic! Perfect for a luau or a summer pool party!
#
11

Ann — March 31, 2011 at 8:56 pm

Those are truly beautiful cupcakes! I love Pina Coladas and I love cupcakes so…
#
12

Nutmeg Nanny — March 31, 2011 at 9:14 pm

These are so beautiful! Eating one of these would bring me back to Hawaii 🙂
#
13

beantownbaker — March 31, 2011 at 9:18 pm

Ooohhh Hawaii sounds awesome right about now. I’ve never been.
#
14

Shannon — March 31, 2011 at 9:18 pm

oh my gosh, those look adorable, and i love the flavor combo, too!!
#
15

Mary — April 1, 2011 at 7:53 am

Very nice! May I ask how you set the background for your cupcake pics? The solid colors really bring attention to the cupcakes themselves.
#
16

beantownbaker — April 1, 2011 at 3:47 pm

For the majority of my cupcakes, I use a piece 12×12 scrap-booking paper for my backgrounds. I have a big stack of a variety of colors and patterns.
#
17

Mary — April 1, 2011 at 4:13 pm

Thank you 🙂 .
#
18

Audrey — April 2, 2011 at 12:21 pm

I love the garnishes on the top, they looke exactly like little poolside drinks. I have been wanting to try a cocktail-like cake since I went to “cupcake happy hour” at Kickass Cupcakes in Davis Square. Have you ever been there? Because if you haven’t you must go and try their mojito!
#
19

beantownbaker — April 2, 2011 at 2:56 pm

I have been to Kickass before during the Cupcake Crawl I hosted a couple years ago. In fact, we even tasted the mojito cupcake while we were there.
#
20

Paula Kelly-Bourque — April 3, 2011 at 2:50 pm

Such creative finishing touches to a perfectly delightful cupcake.

Strawberry Peach Basil Cupcakes