"Pie" Cupcakes

id="recipetitle"class="fn">"Pie" Cupcakes

My bff who lives six hours away had her baby girl, Leighton Rayne back in February, but because of my retarded schedule I had yet to meet her. I've felt like a horrible auntie for the past three months! But thank goodness they needed to come to Calgary this weekend for some doctor appointments, ending the madness that was my absence in this baby's life. Baby Leighton also just so happened to turn three months old on the day of our get together!

Baby Leighton and Auntie Stef (Uncle Stephen in the mirror)

I know Ashley's favorite dessert is pie, however I don't really "do" pie (yet, maybe one day I will feel so inclined). I got this idea from a picture on pinterest, in which someone topped a cupcake with pie filling, and iced it to look like a pie crust. There was no recipe to accompany it, so I've stolen the inspiration, but come up with the recipe myself.

INGREDIENTS

Strawberry Rhubarb "Pie" Cupcake!

Vanilla Bean Cupcake

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg

1/4 cup sour cream

3/4 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean

 

"Pie" Topping

1/2 can pie filling 

1 batch vanilla frosting:
  - 1 cup butter
  - 4 cups confectioners' sugar
  - 2 tablespoons whole milk
  - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1) Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.

2) In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. After melting the butter in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl, whisk in the sugar, then the egg (lightly beaten), sour cream, milk, and vanilla extract. Split the vanilla bean down the center, scrape the seeds, and add to the batter. 



3) Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until combined, and no lumps remain. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and allow to cool completely.


I wish you could see the black flecks of vanilla bean seed!

4) For the frosting, begin by beating the butter in your stand-up mixer until smooth. Add the vanilla, and milk, then the confectioners' sugar one cup at a time until light and fluffy.

5) To decorate, I began by applying a layer of frosting to each cupcake as a means to level out the tops, and minimize the chance of the pie filling dripping down the sides.

I then added a spoonful of pie filling to the top of each cupcake.

Next, I piped a "wall" around the circumference of each cupcake to hold in the filling. I smoothed the edge of this "wall" into the original layer on the bottom. Then, I piped two horizontal lines, and two vertical lines across the top, over the pie filling. Lastly, I piped around the outside to connect the lines. Voila!



Boyfriend's breakfast this morning

To this day, I've always had a special dislike for vanilla cupcakes. That being said, my goal with this recipe was to also create a vanilla cupcake worth eating. Nailed it! Nailed it to the point where my boyfriend had two for breakfast this morning #lovefat.