Passionfruit Curd Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream | Gluten Free

Buttery gluten free cupcakes filled with sweet-tart passionfruit curd and topped with creamy white chocolate frosting. My passionfruit curd cupcakes with white chocolate frosting bring a ray of sunshine to any day that needs just a little sweet treat.I am crazy about cupcakes, just in case you couldn’t tell. In a world of hearty soups and grain-filled salads, they are the perfect (couple of) bite-size treat. And the cake : frosting ratio is far more favourable for a frosting fiend like me. A few weeks ago at the markets I spotted some beautiful winter passionfruit and I needed, needed I tell you, to do something more with them than just drizzle their sunshine-coloured innards over some thick Greek yoghurt for breakfast. Cupcakes were the perfect solution.I whipped up a batch of buttery, gluten free cupcakes, hollowed out the insides and then got to work making passionfruit curd. If you are apprehensive about making fruit curd, or have had a bad experience in the past, don’t worry. This curd is super easy to make. In fact, this was the first time I had ever made fruit curd so I was scared too! But this technique is easy to master, and once you do, the world of fruit curds is open to you! The three things that are important to remember when making curd are:

1. have everything in place and measured before you start
2. keep stirring, stirring, stirring
3. pay attention to thickness and remove it from the heat when it resembles a thick custard

When the curd was cooled it was oh so perfectly sweet but tart and smooth and buttery, and nestled eagerly inside the cupcake hollows. To conceal this tart buttery treat I whipped up a batch of easy white chocolate buttercream and finished the cupcake with swirls of frosting. Chris and I both love this buttercream, and there may have been some post-frosting bowl licking done…Sitting on their platter these cupcakes look very unassuming, but once you bite into a tiny treat you are rewarded with the surprise of passionfruit curd paired with the sweet white chocolate buttercream. I took these to work on Monday and they were by far the most popular flavour on display that day – and until I told someone they were gluten free, no one could tell!

Whipping up my favourite treats in gluten free form is one of the best results any kitchen experiment could have. So enjoy some experimenting in your kitchen! Get to making some gluten free passionfruit curd cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream for your nearest and dearest. Let me know if you do! Just tag your creations #nourishedlifecupcakes or @achatwin and let me know how your kitchen experiments are going! Remember, the sweetest part of making cupcakes is sharing with the ones you love!

Passionfruit Curd Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream

Note: make the curd first so that it has time to cool while you bake the cupcakes. This recipe will make extra passionfruit curd, which will keep in a well-sealed jar or container in the fridge for up to a week. It is rather enjoyable spread on toast, or swirled into yoghurt as a healthy dessert!

Gluten Free | Makes 15 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the passionfruit curd

• 1/3 cup passionfruit pulp
• 75 grams caster sugar
• 60 grams butter, softened
• 2 egg yolks

For the cupcakes

• 70 grams brown rice flour
• 60 grams sorghum flour
• 50 grams white rice flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 80 grams butter, softened
• 150 grams caster sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup plain Greek/natural yoghurt

For the frosting

• 100 grams white chocolate, melted and cooled
• 125 grams softened butter
• 3 1/2 cups icing sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons milk

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180C (350F) and line two 12-hole cupcake tins with papers for 15 cupcakes.
2. Make the curd first. Whisk together all ingredients in a small, heavy-based sauce pan. Set over low heat, and cook while constantly stirring, for about 10-15 minutes or until the mixture starts to thicken. The curd will resemble a thick custard at this point. Remove immediately from the heat and pour into a clean jar or container. Refrigerate for an hour, or until cooled and set.
3. Now, to make the cupcakes. In a medium bowl whisk together brown rice flour, sorghum flour, white rice flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. In the bowl of standmixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl using a handheld mixer) beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add eggs one at a time and mix until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl between additions.
6. Add vanilla extract and beat in.
7. Add flour in two parts alternating with the yoghurt. After each addition mix until just combined.
8. Spoon batter into cupcake liners fill only two-thirds of the way to avoid spill-over.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched.
10. Remove cupcakes from the oven and allow to cool before decorating and frosting.
11. Once cupcakes are cooled use the small end of a piping tip or a very sharp knife to cut a small (~1cm diameter and 1cm deep) cone from the top of the cupcakes. Spoon about a ½ teaspoon passionfruit into each cupcake.
12. To make the frosting place the butter in the bowl of a standmixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl using a handheld mixer) and beat until light in colour and creamy, about 2 minutes.
13. Add melted and cooled white chocolate, icing sugar, vanilla extract, and milk and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
14. Fit a piping bag with your choice of decorating tip, spoon frosting into bag and frost the top of the cupcakes.