Saturday, June 28, 2008

Paradise

This week’s cupcake project was inspired by our VBS Outrigger Island. The theme was Truth set to the back drop of the Hawaiian Islands. On Wednesday, the church had a Luau. So I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to try out some cupcake ideas. As I brainstormed ideas for cupcakes, I thought about the summer I lived on Oahu. What would best represent the Hawaiian people? Well two of the things that remind me most of my time there are seashells and pineapple.

For my first creation, I made banana chocolate cupcakes (see June 11) iced in vanilla. Then I rolled them in gram cracker crumbs to look like sand. Next, I melted white chocolate and dark chocolate in a boiler before drizzling them together in seashell candy molds. When the shells were completely cool, I placed them on top of the faux sand.





For my second creation, I wanted to create something like a pineapple upside down cake in cupcake form. Before I started baking, I did a little research on possible recipes. As I was surfing the web, I came across the site http://www.coconutandlime.com/. Coconut and Lime is a food site by food writer Rachel Rappaport. Her sight is filled with great recipes covering any flavor your pallet desires including my desire pineapple cupcakes. I knew as soon as I read her recipe that I had found my jumping off point for the week. Her recipe focused on the pineapple. I modified it a bit by adding a little vanilla and key lime to make more of a mixed island flavor. The icing was to die for so I left it alone other than adding a garnish. I attempted to use lime curls on top, but discovered that I stink at zesting so I sliced the key limes in halves instead.

Pineapple Paradise

2 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ vegetable oil
2 eggs
20 oz. crushed pineapple in juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon fresh key lime

Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add oil and eggs. Mix in pineapple in its own juice, vanilla, and key lime. Pour into cupcake tins. Bake at 350’F for 15 to 18 minutes.

Pineapple Cream Cheese Icing

8 oz. cream Cheese softened
2 cups confection sugar
1/4 cup pineapple juice
4 key limes sliced in halves for garnish

Mix cream cheese, sugar, and pineapple juice in bowl. Ice cupcakes. Enjoy!

2 comments:

Trisha said...

I wish I would have had one of these cupcakes. They sound delicious!!

folsom said...

i never think about cupcakes until i read your blog. these little paradise cakes sound fabulous. i'm with trisha...i wish i had one.