Cupcakes

Summer Cupcake Series: Watermelon Cupcakes

June 28, 2012

Summer is being a real tease right now.

One day it’s hot.

The next it’s cold.

In reality, it’s basically cloudy when you wake up, then it’s hot and sunny for a few hours in the mid afternoon (when most people are working and cannot take advantage of the sunshine), and then by later afternoon it’s cloudy and windy again (once everyone is off work and has time to enjoy being outdoors), and at night it’s usually scattered rain showers.

Not much of a summer so far.

On the plus side, Italy won. So there’s that.

Forza Italia!

{Not a bad looking team… 😉 }

I’ll be in my home country of Italy in just over a month!! Hopefully we will be able to celebrate a Euro win !!

Today is the beginning of a long weekend for Canada. July 1st is Canada Day, Canada’s “birthday” if you will, a holiday celebrating there anniversary of July 1, 1867 when the BNA Act, British North America Act, was put into place, uniting Canada as a single country within the British Empire. As a History minor, I should know the in’s and out’s of these things, taking several Canadian history courses, however, Google will also tell you this. Also, I just graduated and I have chosen to turn off my brain until September when I start my PDP.

Adam and I are actually spending the holiday in the states. Does this make us bad Canadians?

We’re going to Maple Falls, and hopefully down to Seattle for a day. I hope the weather warms up, however, Seattle has a worse reputation than Vancouver does for being a ‘rainy’ city.

 Next weekend will hopefully be sunnier, once we are in July. At least it better be. I hope to see a lot of readers/ fellow bloggers at the Blogger Picnic in the Park that I’m planning! In fact – these cupcakes are a ‘real life’ version of the adorable cupcake graphic I used for the poster. Although, I have seen ‘watermelon’ cupcakes online. Honestly, every time I have an idea for a cupcake I Google it, and I’m a little saddened, yet not surprised, to see that it has already been done. I guess it is a little hard with all of the worldwide bakers out there to come up with seriously original ideas these days. But I guess ‘great minds think alike.’

These are quite easy – I used an open tip with white SMB and piped a small outline on top of the cupcake, not filled in, just a circle. Then I used my closed star tip with some pink/tulip SMB colouring for the ‘flesh’ of the watermelon and topped it with some ‘chocolate chip’ seeds. Although next time I will search out some Watermelon Kool Aid that I had seen another blogger use in the frosting, and some candy coated sunflower seeds for the ‘seeds’ such as these or these. You can also add some lime to the base cupcake as well, for some extra flavour.

I made these to bring to a friend – along with some other cupcakes I’m going to be blogging about soon!

These are a great summer cupcake, just make sure to store in a very cool place, otherwise the frosting will melt, and buttercream that has been left out in the sun is not good. Believe me. It is not a pretty sight, or smell.

Watermelon Cupcakes – Makes 24

To make the cupcakes, add a few drops of lime/green food colouring to your favourite vanilla cupcakes. You can also add a few tsp. of lime juice, or lime pudding to your recipe as well. Bake and let cool completely.

Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Ingredients:

5 large egg whites

1 cup sugar

3 sticks butter, chilled, cut into cubes

Directions: 

In a metal mixing bowl, preferably from your stand mixer, place over a pot of simmering water, not boiling. Add sugar and egg whites. Be sure there is no yolk or oil in the egg whites, they will not whip properly otherwise.

Whisk constantly, until thermometer reads between 140-160 degrees F. If you do not have a thermometer, heat until sugar is completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot. This takes about 7-10 minutes.

Transfer metal bowl back to stand mixer, with whisk attachment and whip until the egg whites are thick and glossy and cool. The bowl itself should be cool to the touch, again this takes about 7-10 minutes on high.

Once the glossy thick texture is achieved, switch to a paddle attachment, and on medium add the chilled cubes of butter, one at a time, until fully incorporated.

The texture will begin to change, to a heavier, silky texture. It may look curdled, but continue to mix and it will become smooth once again. This time my butter was a bit too warm, and my frosting was curdling and soupy. I place it in the fridge for 15 minutes, added a couple more pieces of chilled butter and began to whip again. It became smooth once again.

Reserve about 1 cup of white vanilla frosting, and transfer to a piping bag with an open tip.

In another bowl, add a few drops of pink/red frosting to achieve a ‘watermelon’ colour. Mix to incorporate colour fully, and then transfer to another piping bag with a closed star tip.

As I mentioned earlier, use the white frosting to outline a circle on the top of the cupcake. Do this to all of the cupcakes, and then switch to the ‘pink’ frosting.

To complete the ‘watermelon’ effect, add a few chocolate chips for ‘seeds.’

There you go, watermelon cupcakes! Perfect for picnics – and definitely making an appearance at the blogger meet up I think!

 

Hope everyone has a great long weekend!

 

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8 Comments

  • Reply Andrea June 28, 2012 at 11:08 PM

    Was a pretty cupcake and so delicious ! Loved it

  • Reply Suzan June 29, 2012 at 6:39 AM

    Love the meringue icing….will have to try on my next batch! These watermelon ones look so yummy! xox

  • Reply kat July 2, 2012 at 3:07 PM

    So cute! They look just like a watermelon!!

    • Reply Alicia July 3, 2012 at 5:08 PM

      hehe thanks! I love the ‘watermelon’ look, definitely great for summer!

  • Reply Summer Cupcake Series: Drumstick Cupcakes » Bakeaholic July 4, 2012 at 11:53 AM

    […] cupcakes are part of my ‘summer cupcake series.’ Another summer staple besides Watermelon, are drumsticks. I remember walking to the corner store when I was younger and getting a Drumstick. […]

  • Reply Alana July 10, 2012 at 1:14 AM

    More super cuteness!! Very clever decorating. 🙂

    • Reply Alicia July 11, 2012 at 10:07 AM

      haha thanks Alana =)

  • Reply Some Yummy Summer Cupcakes | Rounds.com Blog August 6, 2012 at 8:00 AM

    […] Source Use green food coloring in your favorite vanilla cupcake recipe, and use a swiss mirangue buttercream for the frosting and chocolate chips for the seeds. This watermelon cupcake will, for sure, make your friends’ mouths water. […]

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