Is it a cupcake or is it a muffin?

Technically, it can be consumed as both. As promised, I am finally, posting a cupcake recipe here! I've been cooking mostly savory dishes and have been so hungry, that I consume my meal before taking any pictures! This time around, I did some baking back at my parents, trying to utilize their significantly larger kitchen.

I made these cupcakes on Monday, after three straight days of Indian wedding festivities; while some were impressed that I mustered up the strength to bake, after sleeping minimal amounts,  I remind people that baking is like my version of watching Jersey Shore reruns on MTV... it can be mindless, depending on the recipe.

So I tried a recipe from the ever-famous, smitten kitchen, and to be honest I wasn't too impressed with the cupcake itself. It was very moist, yet dense and filling, but the flavor could have been more sweet.  I used less sugar, afraid that the frosting would make the whole cupcake way too sweet. My bad! That's what cooking is all about though, trial and error, trying to strike the right balance.

I did, however, learn a great insider tip on making cream cheese frosting more robust and keep it from becoming a melting mess!

CORNSTARCH! But just the slight amount, depending on the amount of frosting you are making.

Seriously though, this could very well be a delicious and substantial muffin, sans frosting. Tricking people with cupcakes disguised as muffins...just don't tell them I used full fat sour cream!

Summertime Peach Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Frosting

Hope one of them catches the bouquet!

Ingredients: 
Peach Cupcake

• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pinch of nutmeg
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks or 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used about 1/2 cup here)
• 3/4 cup dark or light brown sugar, packed (I used dark sugar for this recipe)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) buttermilk, sour cream or full-fat yogurt (Full fat sour cream, hell yeah!)
• 3 large peaches, peeled, cored, and chopped smallish (Sometimes peaches are easy to peel, if not then peel with a knife)

Brown Sugar Frosting

• 1-1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg and set aside. 

Cream the butter and sugars together, beating until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time adding the vanilla. 

Gently mix in the buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt. 

Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the peach chunks.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cupcake liners. 

Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of cupcakes comes out clean. 

Cool the cupcakes for five minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For frosting:

In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch and powdered sugar. 

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. 

Add the sugar-cornstarch mixture and vanilla, beat until frosting is smooth and light. My frosting was already pretty sturdy, but if yours is not, chill the bowl in the refrigerator until it thickens back up a bit, about 30 minutes.

Frost cupcakes to the best of your abilities, I used a round tip here, no need to get that fancy though!