Basil Infused Olive Oil Cupcakes with White Wine

Sometimes I get tired of my star tip (the one I use to pipe big cupcake swirls). So, I pick a random tip from my set and see what I can come up with. For these cupcakes, I used Wilton tip 352 and piped a loose spiral with lots of lines criss-crossing over it. I think it's a keeper!

Note: If you click the link to my tip set above, you'll see that it doesn't have 352 in it. I have no idea how I got 352, but it must have gotten mixed in with the others.

Let's Talk About the Cupcake

These cupcakes are not my first ones made using olive oil and I wouldn't even say that they are the best (my olive oil cupcakes with lemon, thyme, and balsamic whipped cream are some of my favorite cupcakes ever). However, this is the first time that I used olive oil in the frosting. I made a basic buttercream frosting and used olive oil instead of milk. The olive oil makes you pucker just a little bit (especially if you use a bold, fruity olive oil). If you like the taste of olive oil, you'll enjoy the effect, although you may wish that it were even stronger (remedy this by drizzling some olive oil over the frosted cupcakes).

I Thought You Said We Were Going to Talk About the Cupcake, Not the Frosting

Ah, yes. The cupcakes. These cupcakes are also not my first cupcakes made with basil (I made vegan chocolate basil cupcakes). However, without the chocolate flavor to serve as a distraction, the basil flavor truly shines here. The basil makes the cupcakes feel light and Springy (as opposed to all the snow we've been getting here in St. Louis), but I will warn you that the cake is quite dense.

My neighbor tasted tasted these for me. She said that she didn't like the first bite because it was too unexpected, but that she enjoyed each subsequent bite more and more and was in love with the cupcake by the last bite.

Olive Oil Cupcake Recipe

Yield: 10 cupcakes

• 1 C extra virgin olive oil
  
• 2 oz fresh sweet basil leaves
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 C granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 C sweet white wine
  

1. Soak basil leaves in the olive oil for at least an hour. You can also muddle them to help release the basil's natural oils.
   
2. Pour oil through a sieve to remove the basil. Squeeze out as much oil as you can. No matter how hard you try, some will remain on the leaves. It's OK. You only need to end up with 2/3 cup of oil.
   
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and olive oil and mix on high speed until completely combined.
5. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
   
6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix on slow speed.
7. Add half of the wine and continue mixing.
8. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the rest of the wine and the remaining flour mixture and beat until combined between each addition.
9. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
10. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes or until they bounce back when touched.

Olive Oil Buttercream Recipe

• 1 1/2 C confectioners' sugar (add more until it reaches your preferred consistency)
• 1/2 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 T olive oil

1. Mix together sugar and butter until they are blended and creamy.
2. Add olive oil and continue to beat for another minute.
   
3. Add more confectioners' sugar to make the frosting stiffer, if desired.

Cupcake Hero

I made these cupcakes for February's Cupcake Hero! I'm looking forward to seeing all of the other olive oil entries!

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Basil

Vegan chocolate cupcakes can easily rival any non-vegan counterpart. These vegan chocolate cupcakes are light and bouncy like Hostess cupcakes - but leagues better. The best part of the vegan chocolate cupcakes was how well they domed. As my friend NZ Cupcake Queen (author of The Cupcake Project - not to be confused with this blog, Cupcake Project) says:

Feeling that a vegan chocolate cupcake (delectable or not) was uninteresting, I decided to make it a chocolate basil cupcake. Basil tastes strikingly similar to mint - so much so that my tasters said they would have confused these cupcakes for chocolate mint cupcakes if I didn't tell them otherwise (or if they weren't topped with basil leaves). However, the basil was different enough from mint for me to like it - I'm not a fan of mint.


I used basil grown in our own home garden, and I'm proud to enter this cupcake into this month's Grow Your Own roundup hosted by Amy of Playing House.

I love how the event logo looks just like the basil leaves on my cupcakes!

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Basil Recipe

I found the recipe for vegan chocolate cupcakes on Kylie's blog, The Baking Bird. She got the recipe from the cookbook La Dolce Vegan!. Below is a reprinting of the recipe adapted to cupcakes with the addition of basil.

Makes about 20 cupcakes

• 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 1/2 C flour
• 1 3/4 C sugar
• 1 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 C fresh basil leaves, packed firmly
  
• 1/2 cup soft or silken tofu
• 1 C soy milk
• 1 T apple cider vinegar
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 1/2 C oil
• 1/2 C water

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
   
2. In a food processor, chop basil finely.
3. Add the tofu, soy milk, vinegar, vanilla, and oil to the food processor and process until smooth.
4. Pour contents of the food processor into the bowl with the dry ingredients.
5. Add the water.
6. Stir together until fully combined.
7. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
8. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes or until cupcakes bounce back when touched.

The Frosting

I frosted the vegan chocolate cupcakes with vegan chocolate ganache.