I didn't realize how amazing mojitos actually were until I was introduced to them in Miami, as THE cocktail to order, during a dinner with friends while attending a cake show. The traditional lime mojitos were amazing, but the passionfruit one, was my absolute favorite. I wouldn't turn down a pineapple one either. Also delish. Once I returned from Miami, I knew I needed to make my new favorite cocktail into a cupcake. My passionfruit mojito cupcakes have all the traditional flavors of a mojito - lime, rum and mint, with a pop of passionfruit curd and sparkling lime sugar. They're incredibly delicious and a must bake.
Lime Cupcakes
These soft and tender cupcakes are infused with lime zest for a pop of lime flavor. I prefer to use zests rather than juices in my cupcakes as the zest packs the most flavor. These cupcakes are quick and easy to prepare. Room temperature ingredients are key to a perfect cupcake. The egg, egg white, oil, rum and vanilla extract are combined together in bowl and whisked to mix. The dry ingredients – cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt – are mixed together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Room temperature butter is mixed into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Milk is added just until the flour mixture is moistened, then the batter is whipped for a full 90 seconds. This aerates and stabilizes the batter for fluffy cupcakes.
The remaining milk is mixed in with the egg/oil mixture. The egg/oil mixture is added to the batter in two additions, scraping the bowl after each addition. Be sure to scrape the bowl when noted to make sure the ingredients are being thoroughly incorporated and well combined.
Passionfruit Curd
Passionfruit curd. Oh how I love it so. It’s tart and sweet, creamy and thick, and goes so well with the lime, rum and mint. Passionfruit curd is easy to prepare and takes less than 30 minutes to make. You can find frozen passionfruit puree in most stores, which is what I used for this recipe. Egg yolks, an egg, sugar, salt, and passionfruit puree are heated until thickened and creamy. Butter is added to help thicken the curd, add a little bit of richness and also make the curd silky smooth. Once the curd is chilled, it is ready to use.
Mint Rum Buttercream
The key to a light and creamy buttercream is to whip, whip and keep whipping. Whipping the butter and the finished buttercream takes a little bit of time but is so worth it. I used fresh mint leaves to give this buttercream its minty flavor. Beating the butter with the fresh mint leaves infuses the butter giving the buttercream more of a traditional mojito flavor rather than an artificial taste with an extract. Rum is added towards the end for more mojito flavor. Remove the fresh mint leaves before piping or spreading the buttercream onto the cupcakes.
Lime Sugar Topping
I once saw someone use a flavored sanding sugar on a cupcake and knew I had to do try it out. It does not disappoint. Don't skip out on the lime sugar topping as it adds a bit of crunch and another punch of lime. Rubbing the sugar and lime zest together between your fingers releases the oils in the zest, which means mega flavor. Sprinkle the sugar onto the cupcakes after frosting them, and top with fresh mint leaves.
If you make these passionfruit mojito cupcakes, let me know! Drop a comment or tag me on Instagram. I love seeing your bakes and creations.
Enjoy!
Ash xx
For more cupcake recipes, check out these posts:
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Ermine Frosting
Maple Bacon Blueberry French Toast Cupcakes
Recipe
Passionfruit Mojito Cupcakes
Ingredients
Lime Rum Cupcakes
- 1 ½ cups (175g) cake flour
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 5 tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg white
- ⅓ cup (76g) whole milk
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 tablespoons light rum
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Passionfruit Curd
- ¼ cup (48g)+ 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 large egg yolks
- ⅓ cup (60g) passionfruit purée
- 3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Mint Rum Buttercream
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 ¼ cups (255g) powdered sugar
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves
- 2 tablespoons light rum
- 1 ½ tablespoons whole milk or cream
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
Lime Sugar
- 2 teaspoons demerara sugar
- ½ teaspoon lime zest
- fresh mint, for garnish
Instructions
Lime Rum Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside.
- In a measuring cup, combine the egg, egg white, rum, vanilla and oil. Whisk to combine.
- In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and lime zest and mix on low speed for a minute to combine.
- With the mixer still running, add in the softened butter pieces. Mix on low speed until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. You should be able to gather a bit in your hand, squeeze and you have a solid piece. This means the butter is evenly distributed.
- With the mixer still on low, slowly pour in the milk, mixing JUST until the flour mixture is moistened. You will not use all the milk at this time. Pour the remaining milk into the bowl with the eggs and oil, and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Turn the mixer speed to medium and whip for a full 90 seconds. The mixture should be whipped up, thick, and lighter in color.
- Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is properly mixed.
- With the mixer speed on low, add the egg/oil/remaining milk mixture in two additions, scraping down the bowl after each addition has been mixed in.
- Once all the wet ingredients have been added, give the bowl a final scrape and mix with a spatula.
- Evenly divide the batter among the cupcake liners, ⅔ full.
- Bake the cupcakes for 17-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with a crumb or two when inserted in the center of the cupcake. Don't over bake.
- Place the baked cupcakes on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the hot cupcakes from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
Passionfruit Curd
- Place the sugar in a bowl. Add the egg and egg yolks to the sugar mixture and whisk to combine thoroughly.
- Add the passionfruit purée and whisk to combine.
- Pour the mixture into a medium sauce pan, and place over a medium low heat. Add the butter and salt. Stir continuously to keep the mixture moving so your eggs don't scramble.
- Cook the curd until thick and just beginning to bubble, or until an instant read thermometer reaches 170F. The curd will thicken more in the refrigerator.
- Take the curd off of the heat and whisk in the butter. Strain the curd into a clean shallow bowl, and let it sit until it reaches room temperature.
- Cool completely in the refrigerator before using.
Mint Lime Buttercream
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter powdered sugar and mint for 6-8 minutes on medium speed until very light and fluffy.
- Add in the rum, milk and salt. Whip for another 5 minutes.
- Remove the mint leaves.
Lime Sugar
- In a small bowl, combine the demerara sugar and lime zest. Use your fingers to work the zest into the sugar to release the oils.
Assemble the cupcakes
- Using a sharp knife, cut a hole into the center of the cooled cupcakes to create a space for the passionfruit curd. The piece you removed will be the shape of a cone.
- Spoon the passionfruit curd inside each carved out cupcake. Fill the cupcake with the filling to the top, about a heaping teaspoon full. Slice off the pointy end of the cone piece you removed so that it can fit on top of the filling. Place on top of the filling.
- Pipe or spread the buttercream onto the cupcakes. Sprinkle the lime sugar on top of each cupcake and garnish with fresh mint leaves.
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