I have been wanting to create cupcakes with this flavor profile for a while now.  Doesn’t the name “sugar plum” just sound lovely? It makes me think of tea parties and “Twas the Night Before Christmas”(visions of sugar plums danced in their head…)  and “The Nutcracker”(Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies).  I tried looking up the history of what sugar plums are exactly and those last two references were what I got along with conflicting information.  Overall I think I pieced together that sugar plums were an old fashioned hard candy that used to be popular.  Is that right?  Anyone know the story? If you do share in the comments because I’d love to hear it!!! Anyway, until then, these are my interpretation of what sugar plum would be in a cupcake flavor and I must say that I am more than pleased with how they turned out.

They are white cake cupcakes (with plum juice and other goodies of course!), plum cheesecake filling, and a plumb, raspberry, blueberry frosting.  I added the other berries in the frosting to enhance the flavor and to give them that beautiful pink frosting.  I liked the pink frosting so much in fact, that I decided to do rosette tops for the cupcake piping.  Then, of course, I sprinkled them with some large granulated sugar crystals!  There you go, sugar plum cupcakes!  So turn up some Tchaicovsky and enjoy some baking! (Yes, I am aware it is stillAugust, but I’m the Christmas music all year whenever I feel like it kinda gal!)

To make these cupcakes you first preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.  Then, prepare the plum for the cake mix. To do so, chop it and place it in a food processor and puree. Then remove the puree and press through a fine mesh sieve with a rubber spatula to separate the skin from the juice. Put the juice aside for the cake mix. If you don’t have a food processor, no worries!  You could just dice it up small, put it in a heavy duty freezer ziploc bag and mash it with a meat mallet or something heavy!  Then you just finish smashing it off in the mesh sieve with a metal spoon to get the rest of the juice.  Yeah, I’ll admit its more work, but sometimes its worth it! (Yes, I have personally employed this method! I can guarantee that it works. 😉 )

In a large bowl you will combine the white cake mix, whole milk, plum juice, sour cream, vegetable oil, and eggs. Mix this on medium speed for two minutes. Afterwards, scoop into cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake for 14-16 minutes until toothpick comes up clean from the center.

While the cupcakes are baking prepare the cheesecake filling. In a small to medium bowl whip the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.  In a separate bowl beat the heavy whipping cream on high speed until stiff peaks form. Then fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese filling mixture until combined. Hand mix with a spoon if needed, but do not over mix. Then fold in the chopped plum with a spatula.

After cupcakes have cooled a bit, remove the core in the middle of the cupcake almost all the way down to the bottom. I use a cupcake corer, but you can just cut them out as well.  Using a small spoon, scoop the filling into the center of the cored cupcakes until full. Smooth over the top with the back of the spoon.  If this is your first time coring and filling cupcakes, or you just want some photos and tips for the process check out my Cinco De Mayo Cupcake tutorial here.

Now you are ready to begin to prepare the frosting. First place the plum (chopped and pitted), raspberries, and blueberries into a food processor and process until pureed well. Then send the pureed fruit through a fine mesh sieve and press with a spatula to separate all the raspberry seeds and fruit skin from the juice. Place the strained puree aside for the frosting.

Next, prepare the frosting. Cream the butter until light and fluffy. (Take your time beating.) Then slowly add the powdered sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Lastly, add the plum, raspberry, and blueberry puree and beat on medium until smooth and creamy.

Pipe or spread on cooled cupcakes and top with large granulated white sugar if desired.  I think these would also look adorable with a thin plum slice on top or little plum candies if you can find any.  Hey, maybe you located THE sugar plum candies! If you did, let me know! (wink wink)  Cheers!