Sauvignon blanc cupcakes with raspberry cream cheese frosting

Everyone knows that strawberries and champagne are a match made in heaven.  So why not make strawberries and champagne cupcakes?  Unfortunately, strawberries are out of season at the mo and it seems we drank our last bottle of bubbly a little while back, so making do with what we had/could find, I made Sauvignon Blanc Cupcakes with Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting.

I trawled the interweb to check if the flavour combo would work and also to see if there were similar recipes out there and found this recipe from the lovely Anna of verysmallanna and naughty old Nigella's recipe for 'slut red raspberries in chardonnay jelly'.  Using these for guidance, I decided to try a straight out substitution.  Basically, I took my fav vanilla cupcake recipe and just subbed out the water for sauvignon blanc and added raspberry puree to my regular cream cheese frosting recipe.  Easy peasy.

The result?  The cupcakes were scrumptious.  Although the sauvignon blanc flavour wasn't very pronounced.  Just a hint of fruitiness in the background.  The frosting on the other hand, was an absolute winner.  My favourite cream cheese frosting creation to date.  Creamy and slightly tart, it reminded me of raspberry frozen yoghurt.  And such a pretty colour!  Perfect for the girly tea party at my place in the weekend.

I think next time I'll use a chardonnay which should add a stronger flavour into the cupcake.  The only reason why I didn't use some this time was because I'm a sav girl myself and we just didn't have any chard in the house.  I'm thinking I could also make a wine reduction to intensify the flavour more.  And I would still really like to try and the strawberries and champagne cupcakes in summer.  Oh the possibilities!

I used my my regular go-to vanilla cupcake recipe, which is one that I can make in advance and keep in a zip lock bag until I need it.  It's based on a cake mix recipe and I love it.  You can make several batches and keep them in your pantry till you need them.  So convenient and makes really moist fluffy cupcakes that dome nicely.

Sauvignon Blanc Cupcakes with Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting 


Makes 24 - 30 cupcakes

Cupcakes:

3 cups flour
2 cups caster sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp butter flavouring

Make this in advance by mixing altogether all the dry ingredients and extracts until the mix resembles bread crumbs.  You'll need to get in there with your hands to rub the lumps out.  Store in a large zip lock bag until you need it.

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil (like canola oil)
1/2 cup sauvignon blanc or other dry white wine
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180oC/ 350oF and line two 12 cup cupcake tins.

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and beat for 2 minutes.

Fill the cups 3/4 full.  Don't over fill or else they will over flow.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when you poke it in the middle.  I turn the pans halfway through the baking process - top to bottom and back to front.

Remove from baking tray immediately and cool on a wire rack.  Frost when completely cool.


Frosting:

250 g cream cheese ***make sure you use full fat cream cheese and not spreadable or low fat. I recommend using Philadelphia brand, have had some bad batches with other brands!***
100 g unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup raspberry puree*
1 tsp vanilla essence
3-4 cups icing sugar

Cream butter till fluffy and light, then add cream cheese and beat till just combined.  Add 1 cup of the icing sugar 1/4 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add the raspberry puree and vanilla and beat well.  Keep adding the rest of the icing sugar 1/4 cup at a time until it's the right consistency.  Pipe onto cupcakes.

Raspberry puree:

1 cup frozen raspberries

Thaw the raspberries by microwaving for 1 minute on high.  Bliz in a food processor and squish through a sieve using the back of a spoon.