Brown Sugared Nectarine Cupcakes

Again, from Smitten Kitchen, obviously my number one favorite. When I saw the recipe for peach cupcakes a couple days ago, I knew they would soon be coming into my life. My baking can be a bit hit-and-miss, so I decided to do a half batch, just in case they turned out horribly wrong.

I already had a couple nectarines, and I like them a little more (they seem a bit more consistent than peaches), so I replaced the peaches with nectarines to begin with. I was surprised that the recipe called for sour cream (or buttermilk or yogurt), but I think it adds a fresh flavor to the batter and also makes it lighter.

The sour cream and nectarine combo reminded me of the delish peach honey ice cream I made a while ago, which also had sour cream in it. The sour cream flavor was much more prominent in the ice cream, but I could still taste it a little in the cupcakes.

Another change I made apart from the nectarine-peach switch was in the brown sugar to white sugar ratio. The recipe called for equal parts, but I did half a cup of brown sugar and only a fourth of white, just because I really like brown sugar.

Which leads to the next step aprés baking the cupcakes: the frosting. A crucial part of the intense cupcake experience. Last week I was in Bermuda with family and for our uncle’s birthday we made him a charming bunny cake topped with the most delicious brown sugar frosting, which I decided to use for the cupcakes instead of the cream cheese frosting on Smitten K.

The bunny cake can be witnessed on my cousin’s blog, with the excellent frosting and adorable M&M face. I couldn’t remember the actual recipe she used, but I found one very similar with the help of Google. And they aren’t lying when they say the frosting thickens quickly. The recipe said to put the pan into cold water and beat it until the frosting was cool, but I definitely would skip the cold water next time. Or maybe just put it in there for a few seconds, because beating the frosting quickly became quite the upper body workout. (Plus I had just gotten a typhoid shot and thus had one arm reduced to a pathetic, shaky, useless little thing). So the first few cupcakes were easily frosted, when the frosting was still warm and a bit runny, but by the second half it was a bit more of a challenge.

They still turned out alright though, and I even kind of liked how they looked with the rough frosting job. I like frosting that cools and hardens into a little cupcake hat, so I’m glad I went with this frosting rather than the original cream cheese one. Tasters of the finished product thought the frosting tasted a little like maple bars, which is definitely a positive.

I think I’ll try this same sour cream batter for future cupcake projects, maybe try adding different fruits or flavors. Overall, great success. Delightfully moist, and perfectly peachy (…necarine-y).