Guava Cupcakes

While I was in Hawaii I acquired a jar of guava jelly and a jar of guava butter from a farmer’s market stand called North Shore Goodies. (Awesomely you’re also able to purchase their goods online!) The first thing I thought of when I got these delicious things is that I should make cupcakes with them. I was finally able to do so last night. It’s a guava-jelly-filled butter cupcake with guava buttercream frosting. This is what they looked like:

They came out really, really tasty and smelled super good! However they are definitely a very sweet cupcake, so if you are not a fan of very sweet treats I would not attempt this recipe unless you mean to modify it (though I’m not sure how well it will turn out with less sugar, for example). If you wanted to cut down on some of the sweetness, you could try a different cupcake base or just not fill the cupcakes with a guava jelly.

Here is the recipe (modified from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes) in case anyone is interested:

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 3 ¼ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 ¾ sticks unsalted butter
• 1 ¾ cups sugar
• 5 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1 jar of guava jelly

Frosting Ingredients:

• 4 ounces unsalted butter
• 7-8 ounces guava butter
• 1 lb confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• pink gel food coloring (if you want it to be really pink)

Directions for Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir the vanilla into the milk to combine.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter until smooth. Adding the sugar in a steady stream, beat until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk mixture, and beating until just combined after each.
3. In another bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form (do not overmix). Fold one-third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten. Gently fold in the remaining whites until just combined.
4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean and the tops are springy to the touch, about 20-22 minutes.
5. Let cupcakes cool completely before using a small paring knife to cut out a small section of the center. Fill that center with guava jelly and pipe frosting over the top.

Directions for Frosting:

1. Beat butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.
2. Reduce speed to medium. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition, about 5 minutes. (After every 2 additions, increase speed to high, and beat for 10 seconds, then reduce speed to medium-high). Add vanilla, and beat until buttercream is smooth.
3. I recommend letting the frosting sit in the fridge for a bit before piping, as it’s kind of melty at room temperature. I would then either serve the cupcakes immediately or put them in the freezer for the next day.