Using Up Leftovers: Cantaloupe Cupcakes

I am not very good with this pastry tip, but I’m trying to be! Practice is good, even though it never really makes perfect.

I realized today that I bunch of candied peels, and I got really excited. See, I had decided to use some cantaloupe that I'd frozen in cupcakes today, to go with our leftovers meal of red beans and rice. But when I discovered those peels hiding from my heathens, I realized that the perfect compliment to my cupcakes was not going to be lemon butter cream, but instead would be vanilla butter cream with PEELS IN THEM! I was supposed to make more butter cream anyway, since Ross likes to put it in his coffee (I know how weird that sounds, but it's oddly delicious) so all of this works out to be full of win for all the tummies in this house. Anyway, I can't see any reason why you couldn't do this with or without peel, or the cakes with a different sort of fruit. Let us know in the comments if you play with it and how things turned out!

Here’s what you’ll need

Batter:

1/2 cup sugar
1 stick room temperature butter (I always use unsalted, but you can use whatever you want)
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour (or cake, if you want it more delicate, or GF Cup4Cup flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2-3 tablespoons yogurt (your call; I only eye-balled how much I stuck in there, and I am sorry I wasn’t more precise this time on that front)
1 cup diced cantaloupe

Frosting:

2 sticks of butter
3 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon-ish vanilla paste
1-2 tablespoons finely chopped candied citrus peel of your choice

Here’s what you’ll do

Cupcakes:

Heat the oven to 350F. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (at least 3 minutes; most people don’t do this long enough, but your mixture should be pale and fluffy), then add in the eggs one at a time. Add the yogurt next. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt, and then stir in the fruit. Put into a lined cupcake tray.

Frosting:

Beat the sugar and vanilla into the butter, until it's frosting. Fold in peels. Pipe or whatever onto cupcakes, then eat!

Bake time!

Bake for 17-20 minutes, at least 25 with fresh. No matter the state of your fruit, use a tester when you think they’re done so make sure. If it’s done, the tester/skewer/knife/whatever will come back out clean. Cool completely on a rack. If it isn’t room temperature, your frosting will melt. Frost in whatever manner makes you smile. Makes 12.