Cherry Passion Fruit Frosting

Happy Monday! Is everyone surviving so far? Ok good! Today I want to talk frosting! Creamy, sweet, slightly tart, perfectly whipped, frosting!

I’ve been playing around with a lot of new flavors lately and have absolutely fallen in love with the tartness of a fresh cherry complimenting the sweetness of a chocolate cupcake. I decided to add some passion fruit to the mixture, and I am happy to tell you, it is hands down one of the best frostings I have ever made! I used a concentrate from “The Perfect Puree of Napa Valley” and was so happy with how well the passion fruit flavor came through in my frosting. The Perfect Puree of Napa Valley, a company based in California, specializes in all natural fruit and vegetable purees, concentrates, and drink mixes. Through a partnership with CraveLocal, I was able to get some samples from Perfect Puree and was more than pleased with each one of them! I received Blood Orange, Carmelized Pineapple, White Peach, and Passion Fruit. Each delicious concentrate is  just waiting for me to use it in a new recipes! My favorite thing about the concentrate is that I only have to use a small amount, so it doesn’t ruin my frosting consistency at all. I also love knowing that these are all natural ingredients. Nothing better than 100% natural flavor for your cupcakes!

Cherry Passion Fruit Frosting by Stay Calm Cupcake

This Cherry Passion Fruit Frosting is perfect for summer and reminds me why I love to use fresh, seasonal ingredients when I bake. I think you’ll find that it adds just the right about of “pazzaz” to take your next summer dessert to the next level.

Let’s get started!

Cherry Passion Fruit Frosting

• 15-20 fresh cherries. The darker, the better. Do not use frozen!
• ½ cup of cranberry juice
• 1 tbs of water
• 1 tbs of cornstarch
• ½ cup of sugar
• 1 tbs of Passion Fruit concentrate by “The Perfect Puree of Napa Valley”
• 2 sticks of unsalted, room temp butter
• 4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
• ½ tsp of pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Remove all the seeds from your cherries
2. Dice your cherries into medium sized pieces
3. In a medium sized sauce pan, combine your cherries, cranberry juice, and sugar.
4. Cook your cherry mixture on medium heat for 5-7 minutes. Make sure you are stirring and “mashing” your cherries so the juice comes out.
5. Combine your water and cornstarch until a milky consistency is achieved
6. Add your cornstarch mixture to the sauce pan and mix well
7. Remove from heat and let cool completely
8. While your cherry mixture is cooling, cream your butter in a mixer on medium high-speed for 1-2 minutes.
9. Once your butter is light and fluffy, add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing well between each addition.
10. Add the Passion Fruit concentrate at the same time as the last ½ cup of powdered sugar
11. Add your vanilla
12. Once your cherry mixture is 100% cooled, add it to your frosting — I suggest using about 3 tbs. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute. (Save the rest or use as a filling for your cupcakes!)

This frosting is delicious on dark chocolate cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes, and believe it or not, coconut cupcakes! Enjoy the recipe and let me know if you have any questions about using The Perfect Puree of Napa Valley.

Have a great week! Stay Sweet!

xoxo,

Jill

Butterscotch Rum Frosting

Hooray For Booze Infused Cupcakes!

Hello Friends!

It’s been too long since I last posted. I have been busy, busy, busy lately so bear with me while I give you some fun updates! First things first, the truck is so close to completion. We are looking for a company to do the graphics now and hope to be running by the 1^st or 2^nd week in June – so exciting! I absolutely cannot wait to share photos with you.  I’ve also been busy making some great connections in the Orlando and Daytona area and have the opportunity to participate in some seriously awesome events!

I’ll be giving away lots of cupcake minis at SheCon 2012 this weekend in the Crave Local booth. She Con is an amazing conference for female bloggers (Yay for girl power!!). This year it is being held at Disney! Exciting, right?! So if you’re a female blogger in the Orlando area, you should look into getting your ticket. It’s going to be an awesome event! Click here and you can even get 50% off your ticket price!! 

I’m also going to have my cupcakes at a CraveAmerica event in Orlando on June 14^th – more details to come!!

And last but not least, let’s have a little Cupcake Wars update – shall we?? Ok, if you insist! I recently got an email from the producers saying that they really like our brand, our video, and our energy! The email stated that we have made it to the final, final, final round of auditions!! I was told I’ll be contacted within the next week or so to hear the official decision and to start discuss filming schedule! Nothing is guaranteed yet, but I’m so proud of myself for even making it this far. Just goes to show that hard work pays off, and I’m not crazy for trying to pursue my dreams of business ownership and success.

I feel really blessed and overly excited about all the opportunities that are coming my way. I’m ready to kick this business up a notch 🙂

Ok! Thanks for humoring me…the updates are over. On to the recipes!!

Today I am going to share a delicious recipe for Butterscotch Rum frosting! This the frosting to use if you really want to WOW party guests!

Butterscotch Rum Frosting

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks of unsalted, room temp, butter
• 3 cups of powdered sugar
• ½ cup of flour – just trust me on this!
• Pinch of salt
• 2 cups of Butterscotch chips (I get mine in the baking isle at Publix)
• 4 tbs of dark rum

Directions:

1. Melt the butterscotch chips in the microwave (or you can use stove top method) Let cool completely before using in frosting
2. In a stand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed for about 2 minutes. You want it to be smooth
3. Slowly add in 2 cups powdered sugar and mix on low speed until well combined
4. Add in the 4 tbs of rum and the remaining cup of powdered sugar. Add them at the same time.
5. Mix on medium speed for a minute
6. Add in the cooled butterscotch and mix until well combined
7. At this point your frosting will be too thin – add in the flour and the salt.
8. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute
9. Frost your cupcakes and enjoy!

Extra Tips:

If you want a stronger rum flavor, I suggest brushing the top of the cupcake with rum. If you put more rum into the frosting, it doesn’t hold up too well. Just my experience.

Always remember to add your liquids, especially liquor, in with your powdered sugar. This prevents the butter from curdling.

I like this frosting on a dark chocolate cupcake filled with butterscotch pudding. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Stay Sweet.

Jill