Crazy Cupcake Sunday: Chestnut Cupcakes and Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

To round off my trio of cupcakes this particular Crazy Cupcake Sunday, I wanted to make something a little different. I had a strange hankering for chestnut puree, so I decided to try these Chestnut Cupcakes from Tartelette.

I was not skilled enough to do the swirled chocolate frosting, and it was late so I didn't really want to pull out the piping bag. So I just mixed the chocolate and cream cheese frosting together to make chocolate cream cheese frosting. It's not the best idea, so I don't think I'll try it again. Maybe next time I will try swirling in some leftover chestnut puree to keep the chestnut theme going through the entire cupcake.

I loved the cupcakes, they were amazing. Unfortunately, the icing didn't really work and it really let the cupcakes down. I'll make these again because I love chestnut puree and I love finding new things to do with it, but I'll try something different to ice them.

Chestnut Cupcakes and Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Tartelette

(I halved the recipe below and made 18 small cupcakes)

1 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
113g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
85g chestnut puree
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:
115g cream cheese, softened
25g butter, softened
1/4 cup icing sugar
115g melted chocolate

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line trays with cupcake liners.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the chestnut puree. Mix well.

Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla.

Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

For the frosting: mix the butter and cream cheese in an electric mixer until smooth, add the icing sugar. Beat well until smooth, mix in chocolate. (Once again, don't do what I did, I really ruined the icing playing with this)