T'is the baking season!

Baby it's cold outside and with winter cheer in the air it's the perfect time of year to bake! Gingerbread and peppermint are delicious traditional holiday flavors but I wanted to bring something new to the table. What's a flavor that says happy holidays I wondered, then it hit me. . .

Fruitcake!
 (No, not you!)

I decided to put a tasty spin on the otherwise undesirable Christmas time dessert and my friend Krisa helped in the creation of fruitcake cupcakes.  We found a recipe online , got all of the ingredients and turned the dreary Sunday into a yummy Funday!

  We substituted the rum that the recipe calls for with 1/4 cup more butter, a splash of vanilla extract and a 1/4 cup of water which lighted up the otherwise thick mix, used dried strawberries, blueberries, apricots and dates and we placed walnuts on top of each cupcake rather than mixing them in.

1/8 cup chopped dried cherries

 1/8 cup chopped dried mango

 1/4 cup dried cranberries

 1/8 cup dried currants 

 1/4 cup dark rum 

 1/2 cup butter 

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

 1 egg 

1/2 cup all-purpose flour 

1/8 teaspoon baking soda 

1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses 

1/4 cup dark rum

 2 tablespoons milk 

1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

 After about a half  an hour in the oven filling the apartment with the aroma of warm molasses our little creations were ready to be topped off with cream cheese frosting before their debut taste test!

Tasting the buttery goodness with the whisper of dark sweetness from the brown sugar and molasses I knew that Krisa and I had found success with our fruitcake cupcakes! The dried strawberries, blueberries, apricots and dates add a touch of  texture, flavor and natural sweetness to each cupcake and because cream cheese frosting itself is not too sweet it complimented our fruitcake cupcakes well!

Everyone on your list will want a fruitcake cupcake this year!