Prickly Pear Cupcakes with Piping Tutorial

katefox3141

I could never desert my love of dessert, or the desert for that matter…isn’t English fun? I am simply obsessed with all things prickly pear-flavored, including beer (miss that, dang you gluten), prickly pear margs (literally life changing), and now, cupcakes. I’m not sure why it took me so long to try prickly pear syrup in something other than a refreshing adult beverage considering I, too, am very prickly on the outside, and relatively sweet on the inside, much like a prickly pear…have we moved on from spirit animals to spirit plants yet? Because if so, I am 100% picking the cactus.

They really prickle my fancy.

These spiky guys are pricktacular when it comes to flavor. Nice and sweet but not overpowering, and really, quite sinchy to decorate. I have a video below as well as a photo gallery, so you, too, can make the sharpest looking cupcakes ever (literally). At only 192 calories a cupcake, these are more beautiful than a mirage in the dessert when it comes to macros. Read on to learn how to make your own and avoid a prickly no-dessert situation.

Star with plain frosting and frost the top of each cooled cupcake.
Crush graham crackers and put into a bowl. Gently swirl the top of each cupcake in the crumbs.
Much like real sand, this will get everywhere.
You’ll need 6B, 8B or ATECO 869, #2, and #18 tips as well as light and dark green and hot pink gel dye.
Place two pretzel rods at varying heights and spaces in each cupcake.
Dye some frosting dark green and use an 8B or ATECO 869 tip positioned on 1 pretzel rod.
Slowly pipe up and away until you’ve reached the top of the pretzel rod.
Repeat with lighter green frosting and the 6B tip on the second pretzel rod.
To finish, use a #2 tip to dot white spikes and a #18 tip with hot pink dye to add flowers.
Vary up the placement of the flowers to make each cupcake unique!
Check out the video for a play-by-play of each step. Cactus makes perfect, after all.

Recipe and Instructions

Gluten free prickly pear cupcakes with prickly pear buttercream

  • Servings: 18
  • Difficulty: Intermediate
  • Print

A sweet cupcake with creamy prickly pear frosting

If not gluten free, use any kind of white or yellow cake mix. Monkfruit can also be replaced with regular powdered sugar for frosting.

Ingredients

CAKE
*1 box of gluten free yellow cake mix (I used Whole Foods brand)
*111 grams (1/2 c) unsweetened applesauce or fat free Greek yogurt
*1/2 cup fat free or skim milk
*1/4 cup (60 mL) prickly pear syrup
*2 eggs

FROSTING
*224 grams (8 ounces) of 1/3 the fat cream cheese, softened
*112 grams (1/2 cup) of butter, softened
*16 oz Lakanto powdered monkfruit
*1/4 tsp citric acid
*2 TBS (30 mL) prickly pear syrup
*2 TBS milk
*Leaf green, forest green, and hot pink gel dye
*6B, 8B or ATECO 869, #2, and #18 tips
*Crushed gluten free graham crackers (I used 4 sheets/~60 g)
*Gluten free pretzel rods, 2 for each cupcake

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 and place cupcake liners in muffin tin.
  2. Whisk cake ingredients together in a stand mixer on low for 30 seconds before switching to medium-high for two minutes.
  3. Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 full.
  4. Bake for 18-20 minutes, and allow cupcakes to cool fully before frosting.
  5. To make frosting, whisk cream cheese and butter for 3 minutes before adding in half the powdered monkfruit, extract, citric acid, prickly pear syrup, and milk.
  6. Add in remaining monkfruit mix fully.
  7. Take a small amount of frosting out of the mixing bowl and put into a medium bowl; dye this pink; take a tiny bit of plain white frosting and set aside; divide remaining frosting and dye one bowl forest green and the other leaf green.
  8. In one bag with a 8B or ATECO 869 tip, place the darkest green frosting.
  9. In another bag with the 6B tip, place the lighter green frosting.
  10. In another bag, place the plain white frosting with a #2 tip.
  11. In the final bag, use the #18 tip with hot pink frosting.
  12. To pipe cacti, follow along with the photo gallery or video tutorial above.
  13. Keep cupcakes covered and in the fridge. They are best served at room temp, so remove from fridge 30 minutes before eating. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Macros
18 servings
192 cal/31 c/6.3 f/2.7 p per cupcake
Let’s stick together…
Looking sharp, my lil’ delicous babies!
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Published by katefox3141

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