Passionfruit Cupcakes with White Chocolate Icing

   Passionfruit is something I've only tried very recently...in a cocktail! Since then I've been wanting to try it out in some bakes. A friend - the one who encouraged me to start this blog last summer - bought some passionfruit curd into the office for me. Maybe because he had to endure my ranting about just how good lemon curd is in porridge (a discovery courtesy of Steph from Riverside Baking) even though he doesn't eat porridge. And maybe because of another rant about just how expensive passionfruit is to buy in the supermarket. So thanks for the curd Andy, and for listening to my daily rants! 

   I decided to make some cupcakes filled with oozing passionfruit and a white chocolate icing. The white chocolate I used was a cheeky little corner from the Valrhona white chocolate plate I bought home from my Sunday Afternoon Tea at Podium. I've refrigerated the rest of this to make some more cupcakes or cookies this week, but you could double up the cupcake quantities and make 12 and use all the icing.

Serves 6

Cupcakes:

     115g unsalted butter, softened
     115g caster sugar
     2 eggs, lightly beaten
     1 teaspoon vanilla extract
     115g self raising flour, sifted
     1 tablespoon of milk

White chocolate icing (serves 12):

     200g white chocolate
     20g crème fraîche
     80g unsalted butter, softened
     225g cream cheese
     1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

A few tablespoons of passionfruit curd.

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a cupcake tray with cases.
• Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Slowly add eggs, one spoon at a time, and lightly beat after each addition. Add the vanilla extract.
• Using a metal spoon, gently fold in the sifted flour and then add the milk.
• Divide evenly between the cases.
• Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden.
• Meanwhile, melt the white chocolate either in the microwave or over a ban marie.
• In a stand mixer, beat together the crème fraîche, butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Add the melted chocolate when slightly cooled.
• Once the cupcakes have cooled, core and pipe the passionfruit curd into the centre. (I warmed the passion fruit curd with a small splash of hot water and mixed well in order to losen it and make it easier to pipe).
• Rather than piping the icing, as I didn't find the mix stiff enough, I just spread a spoon of icing over each cake and evened with a small spatula.

I'm now a fully fledged passionfruit fan, so if anyone has any suggestions of how else I can use this curd then I'd love to hear them!