Sweetness on Sunday

Ok, I am hoping "Sweetness on Sunday" will be a semi-regular weekly post here on my blog. I did promise a few sweeties with the stories, didn't I? Sunday my family and I get together for dinner, and I am often Dessert Girl. :) So it's the perfect day for me to share what lovlies I have cookin' up. Not always cupcakes, of course, though they are my favorite. Sometimes I make up my own recipes, sometimes I cook from one of my huge collection of cookbooks. So here we go!

This week I made Peach Vanilla Bean Cupcakes. They turned out quite lovely, I love the way you can see little flecks of vanilla bean in the light fluffy frosting (though you can't see them in the photo! bummer...)Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with liners for 12-15 cupcakes.

1 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Whisk these three ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside.

1 cup sugar
6 tbsp unsalted butter at room temp.
1 egg and 1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1 cup diced fresh or canned peaches, well drained

In a larger bowl, mix the sugar and butter with an electic mixer on med-high speed until fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes. Mix in egg, egg white and vanilla one at a time.

Add in dry ingredients then milk, alternately adding half at a time of these. Mix on low speed just until flour is all mixed in. Carefully fold in diced peaches until spread evenly though batter.

Spoon out batter into prepared cupcake liners and bake for 18-20 minutes. Test with toothpick, it should come out clean when they are done. Place cupcakes on a cooling rack for an hour.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting:

3 egg whites at room temp
3/4 sugar
dash of salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
vanilla bean
Place egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl. Place on top of a saucepan of simmering water (the bowl should not be touching the water). Whisk the sugar and egg continuously until dissolved- about 2 minutes.
Remove the bowl from the heat, and with an electric mixer on high speed, beat the mixture until it is fluffy and holds stiff peaks, 6-7 minutes.
Turn the mixer down to med-low speed and add butter a small amounts at a time. Add the salt.
Slice the vanilla bean length-wise and fold it open. Scrape out the insides of the bean and add to frosting mixture. Mix on medium speed until fluffy.

Frost the cupcakes when they are cooled and enjoy!! :)