Apricot Honey Cupcakes

Fruit flavored cupcakes are my all time favorite. I like chocolate, but white cake with fruit flavor really does it for me. I don't bake cupcakes or cookies too often for a couple of reasons. One, I have a small (and I mean tiny) kitchen and it get's messy and two, I'm lucky if I get any because Hubby has a sweet tooth the size of Texas.  I had some apricot and honey goat cheese in the fridge and looked for a recipe that incorporated it. What I found was this deliciousness from Hollicakes and substituted my flavored goat cheese for the plain. The end result was a tangy, sweet fruity cupcake that  satisfied both our sweet tooths... or is it sweet teeth? 

Honey Cupcakes
-makes about 2 dozen

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pans with paper liners.

Mix together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, honey and vanilla.

In bowl of stand mixer cream butter and sugar on medium speed until combined. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

Alternating wet and dry ingredients, gradually add and mix on low speed until combined.

Scoop batter and fill liners 3/4 full, bake 15-18 minutes for minis, 18-22 for regular cupcakes.
Let cupcakes cool, then frost.

I don’t have a stand mixer (yet!) so all my work was done by hand or using my immersion blender so if you don’t have a fancy stand mixer, this recipe can still be done!  It make take a bit longer but it's well worth it. 

Apricot Honey Goat Cheese Frosting
-makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes

2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup Drake Family Farms Apricot and Honey goat cheese
1-3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons apricot preserves
2 tablespoons honey

Directions
Cream together goat cheese, cream cheese and butter with electric mixer.

Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, to taste. I used about 1 2/3 cups.

Add preserves, honey and cream (this recipe usually calls for cream, but I didn’t have any). Beat on medium high until combined and fluffy.

Frost cupcakes, leaving a small well in the middle. Fill well with 1/2 teaspoon of apricot preserves.

Again, I creamed the goat cheese, cream cheese and butter by hand for a bit then used my immersion blender. I added the powdered sugar and found I used not quite 2 cups to get the consistency I wanted. Use more or less, it’s up to you.

For nutrition information, click the magic button  

For step #4, I chopped up fresh apricots and placed them on top of my cupcake. I didn’t do them all at once, just as I served them since I didn’t want the fresh fruit to dry up. I wish I had a photo of that but trust me, the bright orange apricot bits in the center of the frosting was very pretty.