Spam Cupcakes - A Sweet and Salty Delight

If Cupcake Project were written in the 1950's...


It's a proud moment when a housewife can offer her husband cupcakes of her own making after he returns from a hard day's work!  These Spam cupcakes are not for youngsters.  They are the kind of cupcakes that are most any man's favorite.  The appetizing flavor and value of Spam makes it the perfect addition to this sweet treat.  Frost the Spam cupcakes with a spiced cream cheese frosting for a pleasing color contrast. Add a candied spam topping - not only for looks - but to bring a delightful crunch to the cupcake.

Although there is only one Spam cupcake recipe here, I'm sure you'll be able to come up with your own varieties if you like to dabble in a little kitchen magic.  

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1/3 cup full-fat sour cream
2/3 cup pineapple juice
3 cups food processed Spam (for best results, start with homemade Spam)

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Using an electric mixer on high speed, mix brown sugar, molasses, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and butter for about three minutes.  Mix in eggs until fully combined.  Mix in sour cream and pineapple juice until just combined.   Place a thin layer of Spam at the bottom of 16 cupcake liners (for best results, use the baking tool that modern women love, silicone liners).  Fill the Spam-coated liners with batter.  Sprinkle the remaining Spam on top of the batter.  Bake for 25 minutes or until the cupcakes bounce back when lightly touched.

Yield: 16 cupcakes

Frost with spiced cream cheese frosting made by mixing 1/2 cup room temperature unsalted butter with 8 ounces of room temperature cream cheese, two cups of powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon allspice.

Sprinkle the tops of the cupcakes with candied Spam.

Although this Spam cupcake is designed to seem like a vintage recipe, I developed the recipe myself and the photo was taken and made to look vintage by J. Pollack Photography.  Special thanks goes out to everyone who submitted photos to the Vintage Cookbook group on Flickr.  Those photos helped me tremendously in capturing the essence of the period.