Waldorf Salad Cupcakes

When I told Jonathan that I was going to decorate a cupcake with grapes, he got a little scared.  You see, the last time that I decorated with grapes, I created grape man (just go look).  I assured him that this time, I'd keep it more normal and simply replace the iconic cherry on top with a grape.  Why grapes at all?  This is my cupcake version of Waldorf salad - a fruity salad created in the late 1800's at the Waldorf hotel in New York.

Grape Cupcakes Topped with Wine Whipped Cream

Grape Cupcake Man says, "I love grape cupcakes!" Grape Cupcake Man also says, "I need you to lick the Muscat wine whipped cream frosting off of my grape cupcake face - it's blocking my eyes!"

When I first made Grape Cupcake Man, my in-house food photographer refused to take the photo: "It's just too weird." Perhaps I did go a bit overboard, but I wanted to use the whipped cream and I didn't want to hide the grapes like I did here:

Clearly, Grape Cupcake Man was the only choice.

Regardless of how you frost the grape cupcakes (or if you frost them at all), these grape cupcakes are a perfect choice to serve while sitting outside with a bottle of wine, grapes, cheese, and nuts. Enjoy!

Grape Cupcake Recipe

I found a most appetizing recipe for a grape cake on the Desert Candy blog and decided to convert it to grape cupcakes. I have included the recipe with my modifications below. The main change I made was to add some ginger and pineapple flavor to replicate the tastes found in my recent punch recipe.

Makes 12 cupcakes

• 1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t ground ginger
  
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1/2 C Muscat wine
• 1/2 C pineapple juice
  
• 3/4 C sugar
• 4 T (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted
• 4 T (1/4 cup) extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 C red seedless grapes

1. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and ginger into a medium-sized bowl.
2. Combine wine and pineapple juice in a small bowl.
   
3. Whisk 3/4 cup sugar, butter, and olive oil in a large bowl until smooth.
   
4. Whisk in eggs.
   
5. Add flour mixture alternately with wine/juice in 3 additions each, whisking just until smooth after each addition.
   
6. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full.
7. Sprinkle grapes over batter.
8. Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes or until top gets slightly brown.
   

Muscat Wine Whipped Cream Frosting Recipe

This Muscat wine whipped cream frosting went perfectly with the cupcakes, but it worked nicely as a dip for grapes. Yum!

• 1 C Muscat wine
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1 C heavy whipping cream

1. Bring wine and sugar to a boil in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan.
2. Reduce heat to medium and let simmer for about thirty minutes.
3. Remove from heat and bring to room temperature.
4. Whip heavy whipping cream until it looks like whipped cream.
5. Add 1/3 C of the muscat wine syrup you just made.
   

Note: Use more whipping cream or less syrup if you want a thicker frosting.

Punch Recipe - Grape, Pineapple, and Ginger

This punch recipe combines fresh grapes, pineapple, and ginger. Other grape punch recipes I've tried use grape juice or fake-tasting powder (like Kool-Aid). Using fresh grapes in a punch recipe works really well (aside from having to strain the skins), but don't expect the punch to taste like the traditional grape juice variety unless you are using Concord grapes.

Punch Recipe

I made this punch recipe for this month's Taste & Create (the food blog event where food bloggers pair up to try each other's recipes). My partner this month was Experiments, Emotions, and Experiences with Food. While there were tons of appealing recipes of all kinds on my partner's blog, I decided to opt for her punch recipe to avoid worrying about converting a dessert into a Kosher for Passover creation (two days left!).

I am reprinting my partner's punch recipe below, with my notes. Note that the recipe makes just one large glass. Double, triple, or quadruple the recipe depending on how much punch you need!

• 1/2 C (around 15) black seedless grapes (Feel free to experiment with other seedless varieties.)
  
• 1/2 C pineapple, cubed
• 1 T fresh ginger, chopped (The ginger flavor is VERY strong in this punch. If you are not a huge ginger fan, you may want to reduce the amount to taste.)
  
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 3 T sugar
• 1/2 t salt (This was a bit too much salt for me. You might consider cutting this amount in half.)
  
• 1-2 C ice water

1. Put all ingredients in the blender.
   
   
2. Blend.
   
   
3. Strain.
4. Dilute with more water, if needed.
   
5. Serve chilled over ice.

Up Next

Grape cupcakes with pineapple and ginger - of course!