Rhubarb Cupcakes: The Perfect Autumn Cupcakes

My rhubarb cupcakes were dubbed by my cupcake taster, Ran (who has tasted so many of my cupcakes that he may as well be Groom 2.5), as "the perfect autumn cupcake." He went on to say how he felt weird even eating the rhubarb cupcakes in the summer.

What Did the Other Tasters Say About the Rhubarb Cupcakes?

• One taster said that the rhubarb cupcakes were so good that he was left "speechless." However, it should be noted he is a new taster who doesn't have much regular access to home-baked goods. As such, he wasn't as critical as my regular tasters.
• My mom took a couple of rhubarb cupcakes back to New York with her. Her friend, Peter, who has tasted quite a few Cupcake Project cupcakes, said that this one was right up there with the best.
• Bride and Groom 2.0 both thought the cupcake texture was perfect. Bride 2.0 liked the flavor, but Groom 2.0 did not.
• As for me, I enjoyed them, but I thought they were almost too simple. The flavor was not quite complex enough. The rhubarb flavor was there, but it basically blended into the overall spice cake flavor. Despite my issues with its simplicity, these rhubarb cupcakes would be perfection on a crisp autumn night sitting in front of the fire with a glass of hot cocoa.

The Rhubarb Cupcake Recipe
Because I was basing my rhubarb cupcake recipe off of a rhubarb pulled pork recipe (if you are not a regular reader, don't be alarmed by this statement - I get my inspiration in weird ways), I wanted to incorporate some of the same flavors - agave, five spice, and ginger. I decided to use a recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (the only cupcake cookbook that I regularly refer to) as my starting point.
Here is the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World simple vanilla and agave nectar cupcake recipe modified a whole lot to make my rhubarb cupcake recipe.
Makes about 12 cupcakes.

• 2/3 C soy milk
• 1/2 t apple cider vinegar
• 2/3 C agave nectar (if you don't have agave nectar, you can use honey)
• 1/3 C canola oil
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 4 drops ginger extract from Supreme Spice (if you don't have ginger extract, you can use 1/2 t powdered ginger)
• 2 t five spice powder
• 1 1/3 C flour
• 3/4 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 C rhubarb compote

1. Mix the soy milk and the apple cider vinegar in a large bowl and allow to sit for a few minutes to curdle.
2. Beat in vinegar, agave, oil, vanilla, and ginger.
3. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and five spice powder and mix just until smooth. Do not over-mix.
4. Stir in rhubarb compote.
5. Fill liners 2/3 full.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the tops bounce back when touched.

The Five Spice Frosting

I frosted these cupcakes with five spice frosting. For even more fun, dunk the cupcake in some extra rhubarb compote as you are eating it.

Five Spice Powder Frosting Recipe

What are the Five Spices in Five Spice Powder?

My first question when considering a five spice frosting recipe was, "What are the five spices in five spice powder?"

The five spices in the Frontier Seasoning Blends five spice powder are:

• Cinnamon
• Fennel
• Cloves
• Star Anise
• White Pepper

However, much to my shock and awe, I learned that five spice powder actually has nothing to do with the number of spices!

If Five Spice Powder Isn't About Five Spices, What is it About?

According to the fabulous food blogger Chez Pim:

The "five" in Five Spice actually refers to the balance of five basic elements: earth, fire, water, air, and metal. The Five Spice powder was originally used in Chinese medicine to restore the balance of the five elements in the Chi or the life energy in our bodies. So, besides the five basic spices, Five Spice powder may contain other spices such as coriander seeds, cumin or anise seeds (instead of fennel seeds), black or green cardamom, and even nutmeg.

Also on Chez Pim, there is a recipe to make your own five spice powder and I must admit that I am now feeling like a bit of a slacker for not making my own.

Why Five Spice Frosting?

The five spice frosting was inspired by pork. Pork inspires all kinds of people to do all kinds of things. I've already been inspired by pork once before - remember the bacon cheddar frosting? This time, I didn't put any pork in the frosting. I just used the five spice powder, a prominent element of the rhubarb pulled pork that I made for Taste & Create.

How Did Five Spice Frosting Taste?

The five spice frosting was mellow and tasted like Fall. I suppose it wasn't the best choice for a summer cupcake, but sometimes it's nice to have Fall flavors in the Summer, too. It would go really well on most Fall cupcakes and especially well on rhubarb cupcakes.

Five Spice Frosting Recipe

Here is my five spice frosting recipe:

• 1/4 C (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 C powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 t five spice powder
• 1 t vanilla extract

1. Beat the butter and cream cheese until combined.
2. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat until creamy.
3. Add the five spice powder and vanilla extract.

A Question for You

I like doing posts specifically about frosting. It's especially useful if I use the same frosting on more than one cupcake. However, frosting doesn't look that great when it isn't frosting something. There are only so many "frosting on the spatula" or "frosting in the beaters" photos I can see before getting bored with them. Anyone have any ideas?