Disneyland Inspired Cupcakes

The very last news package I shot in my advanced electronic news production class was a story on the Christ Cathedral, formerly known as the Crystal Cathedral, in Garden Grove, California. My story focused on the renovations and changes the Catholic Diocese of Orange plans to make to the church in order to ready it for celebrating Mass. This happens to be the only story I did for Cal State Fullerton’s “OC News” that did not revolve around desserts…or food in any way. You can watch it here.

            It was so much fun to roam around the cathedral’s beautiful campus—and it was even more fun to have the church doors (which had recently been closed to the public) opened just for me. But there were definitely a couple of highlights.

One involved a moment of creativity and innovation on the part of my friend and videographer Frank. Essentially, technology failed us and the camera refused to record. So we took our iPhones—one nestled in my bra to record my voice over and the other to record my standup—and finished my package. Pure genius.

            The other highlight was my trip to the ladies’ bathroom. I opened the door and, I swear, I think I heard angels singing. Thanks to an anonymous donor who felt it was of the utmost importance to create a bathroom so gorgeous that its glory would rub off on the women utilizing it, I took my first bathroom selfie in the prettiest bathroom I think I have ever seen.

            At the end of the shoot, Frank and I decided to celebrate at Disneyland. I had been fighting the beginnings of a cold all day, but who says no to Disneyland? Not this girl.

            Frank and I circled the park as I looked for the exact thing my sweet tooth was craving after a long day of shooting. After much debate and internal struggle, we—well, I—settled on cake and a cup of coffee.

            After circling the park a couple more times to look for cake, we finally walked into the Plaza Inn. We picked up a tray, moseyed on over to the dessert bar…and it was way too difficult to make a decision. So I picked up two pieces of cake—red velvet and carrot—and I was more excited than I had any right to be. As we demolished the cake, Frank and I discussed whether I should post a recipe for red velvet cake or carrot cake on Rubbing Sugar. But then I had my own moment of creativity.

On each plate was a series of decorative swirls and dots in a ruby-toned red syrup and a sunny, golden yellow syrup. I had been surreptitiously rubbing each bite of my cake into those swirls and figured out that they tasted like raspberry and pineapple. I would never have thought those two flavors would be so delicious together, but they were! It was simultaneously sweet and acidic, fruity and tart. And after a bit of research, I have yet to come across the combination of raspberry and pineapple in a cake. So I got the chance to play around and tweak my own raspberry cake recipe. The pineapple frosting recipe, however, came from here.
 

I have to admit that my favorite part of making these cupcakes was swirling the raspberries into the batter. The cotton candy pink swirls of fruit against the creamy white batter was fantastically whimsical. After baking, the raspberries turn a deep, inky purple. Also, although it doesn’t show up well in my photos, I did add yellow sanding sugar on top of the frosting for a sparkly sheen. Additionally, I used fresh raspberries on top of each cupcake. I found that if they are frozen for a couple of hours before you place them on the cupcakes, they will be less fragile and easier to press into the frosting.

           

Raspberry Cupcakes with Pineapple Frosting (Yield: 12-14 cupcakes)

Raspberry Cupcakes

Ingredients

1-1/2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. butter, at room temperature

1 c. sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature

1/4 c. milk

1/4 c. yogurt

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. frozen raspberries with juice, thawed and slightly mashed with a fork

1.   Preheat the oven to 350° F. Place a cupcake liner into each well of the muffin tins.
2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a separate larger bowl, beat butter with a fork. Add the sugar and mix until light and fluffy. You could also do this in a stand mixer, but with the butter softened to room temperature, I like to do it by hand.
4. Crack in one egg at a time, mixing well after each addition.
5.  In a measuring cup, combine the milk, sour cream, and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
6. Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar and, switching to a rubber spatula, fold it into the butter mixture until it is just incorporated. Next, add all of the wet ingredients to the bowl, again mixing until just combined. Then stir the last of the dry ingredients into the batter. Be careful of over mixing—it will make your cupcakes tough!
7. Gently fold the raspberries and their juices into the batter. You don’t need to completely incorporate them—the pink and purple swirls of raspberry are gorgeous. 
8. Fill each wells of the muffin tin until the are three-fourths of the way full. I use an ice cream scoop to keep my cupcakes the same size. Bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
9. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Pineapple Frosting

Ingredients

1 c. butter, at room temperature

1/4 tsp. salt

5 c. powdered sugar, sifted onto a sheet of parchment paper

1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple

1. Open the can of pineapple and strain the fruit, setting the pineapple aside as well as reserving the juice.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed with the paddle attachment until it is smooth.  Mix in the salt.
3. With the mixer on low speed, gently pick up the sides of the parchment paper so that you can carefully funnel in the powdered sugar a little at a time. Be sure to only pour in small amounts at a times so that your kitchen (and you) doesn’t get covered in sugar.
4. Once the butter and sugar are combined, you can bring the mixer speed back to medium speed. Place five tablespoons of the crushed pineapple fruit into the bowl of the mixer, then add just enough of the pineapple juice to make the icing spreadable. This should take approximately two to three tablespoons of juice.
5. Taste for adjustments—add a pinch more salt if the frosting tastes too sweet or more fruit if you want more texture. If the frosting is too thin, you can add more powdered sugar (1/4 cup at a time until you reach the desired consistency) or place it in the refrigerator for a couple hours so that the butter has time to firm up. Before frosting the cupcakes, re-whip the icing until it is smooth.