Lilikoi Cupcakes!

I needed to make a treat for a potluck party at work and was inspired by Rachael Ray's lemon meringue cupcakes. But I wanted to do something with more of a Hawaiian flair, and I have a stash of lilikoi (also known as passion fruit) jelly left from my Maui days. So I came up with these.


I made the filling over the weekend, so that if it didn't turn out well, I'd have some time to think up something else. This is what I came up with:


1 cup lilikoi jelly
1/2 cup water
4 TBSP all purpose flour


Mix water and flour to a slurry. Heat jelly in a small saucepan until liquid, then add the slurry. Cook and stir until thick, then cool.


Beat together:
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla


Beat for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Then add jelly mixture and beat an additional 5 minutes. The more you beat it, the lighter it will be. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Then bake your favorite cupcakes. I didn't have a lot of extra time this week, so I just used a yellow cake mix. (oh the shame!!) Since there are always lots of desserts to choose from at our work parties, I thought mini-cupcakes would work best. I baked them about 13 minutes at 350F.


Once the cakes are cool, it's time to fill. I filled a pastry bag with my chilled filling and with  a star tip just poked the top and squeezed. Be careful not to add so much filling that the cakes burst.

Then I made buttercream frosting:


1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4-5 cups powdered sugar
2-3 TBSP milk


Beat shortening and butter until fluffy, then add vanilla, and 2 cups of sugar. Continue adding sugar gradually and milk 1 TBSP at a time until you have the consistency you like.

I frosted the cakes with the pastry bag and a crescent tip.

These are really good! I was not convinced about the filling at first. When I made it a few days ago, I thought it was a bit plain. (Eric said there was no "there" there). But after chilling for a few days, the lilikoi flavor really came out.


My taste tester approves!

Lorie