Cupcake Week 1: Ruby Red Grapefruit Cupcakes

I saw this recipe and it intrigued me. Not a common cupcake flavor. With spring officially here I thought it sounded light and refreshing so I gave it a whirl. My final opinion? They are OK. I can hear the French guy on Cupcake Wars saying  all disgusted "Zees are berry berry dense, I do not car for zem at all." I used grafefruit juice instead of oil because I read somewhere that you can substitute any type of fruit juice for any liquid in a cake recipe. Maybe that did something to the texture. I made cream cheese frosting and I think that it balanced out the tart cake and candied grapefruit peel as a garnish. Will I make these again? Probably not, but now I know.

I can tell you though that anytime I get to use my KitchenAid mixer I am a happy girl. I have said that it is probably my most prized earthly posession. It's just about 26 years old. I have had it most of my married life and am certain I could not function without it. Sometimes I think I want one of the bigger, brighter colored KitchenAid mixers and then I get a little weepy thinking about not having my tried and true standard white one. I would be pretty excited if I ever win one of the hand painted mixers that The Pioneer Woman occasionally gives away.  If I ever do get a new one I know just the person I will give my prized posession to. It would be the only way I could ever part with it.

Clearly my photos need work so it may be interesting to see if I get any better at that. Things can only improve, right? The recipe follows. If you try it, let me know what you think.

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups white flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup white sugar
3 tsp grated grapefruit zest (approximately one large grapefruit)
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (I used nonfat)
4 eggs
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup grapefruit juice
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with liners and set aside.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium-sized bowl. In another bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar and zest, rubbing between your fingers until moistened and fragrant. Whisk in the yogurt, eggs, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter until incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 stick of unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp grapefruit juice
1 tbsp grated grapefruit zest
4 cups of powdered sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla, grapefruit juice and zest until combined. Gradually add powedered sugar until spreading consistency.

Sugared Grapefruit Peel (for garnish)
1 Large Ruby Red Grapefruit
Water
Sugar

With a vegetable peeler, peel off thin strips of the grapefruit rind. Use a small pairing knife to cut strips into thin strips. Meanwhile, bring 1 part water to 1 part sugar to boil in a small saucepan (I used 1 cup of each).
Add grapefruit peels and boil over med heat for 30-45 minutes. Strain, reserving liquid (which is now a grapefruit infused simple syrup, which you can use for all sorts of delicious things.)
Pour about 1 cup white sugar in a bowl. Toss candied peels in sugar, then spread peels out on foil or wax paper to cool and air dry. These are best after a few hours of drying time.