Seven Up Guava Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

When I was a kid, a family friend taught my mom a simple recipe for mussels.

All you need to do buy a potfull of mussels (which are abundant in my hometown, Pangasinan) add 250ml of Seven Up and cook until the liquid dries out. Of course make sure to clean the mussels first. There isn't really a standard mussels to Seven Up ratio, just experiment on what works for you.


That first taste was heaven. Sweetness combined with that seafood taste that is unique to mussels. This dish is perfect as an appetizer or with a glass of beer to be shared with friends but I prefer it with rice and a glass of Coke. 


That's when I decided when I grow up, I would put up my own restaurant and all the dishes we'll serve will have one secret ingredient - you guessed right, Seven Up. I have that much faith on Seven Up. It's like the solution to all food concerns, thought the kid in me.

Anyway, now I don't have a restaurant as I have switched to dreaming of owning my own cupcakery. And no, it won't have Seven-Up as a secret ingredient to all the cupcakes (it won't be a secret anymore since I already declared it to the whole universe) I will sell but it wouldn't hurt to experiment on a recipe with it as the main star. And that was when Seven Up Guava Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting was born. 


I adapted the recipe from Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Cupcakes. Substituting the milk for Seven Up and cutting down on sugar by half a cup since Seven Up on own is sweet already. 


Do you have a recipe that calls for Seven Up? Care to share? Here's mine.

Seven Up Guava Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

350F

24 cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes: (adapted from Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Cupcakes)

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup Seven-up

1/2 cup guava jelly

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

(1) Cream butter and sugar

 (2) Add eggs one at a time

 (3) Combine all dry ingredients. 

 (4) Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla

 (4) Fold in the guava jelly.

 (5) Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.


Italian Meringue Buttercream
Makes 4 1/2 cups
from MarthaStewart.com

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups sugar
5 large egg whites
Pinch of cream of tartar
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 Directions

(1) In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar and 2/3 cup water to a boil. Continue boiling until syrup reaches 238 degrees on a candy thermometer (soft-ball stage).

(2) Meanwhile, place egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat on low speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and beat on medium-high speed until stiff but not dry; do not overbeat.

(3) With mixer running, add syrup to whites in a stream, beating on high speed until no longer steaming, about 3 minutes. Add butter bit by bit, beating until spreadable, 3 to 5 minutes; beat in vanilla. If icing curdles, keep beating until smooth.

 (4) For every 2 cups of Italian Buttercream, mix in 1/4 cup peanut butter. 

To jazz it up a bit, I grated dark chocolate over the frosting. Guess I can't stay away from chocolate after all.