Shirley Temple Cupcakes

This is my second time making Shirley Temple cupcakes.  I first made Shirley Temple cupcakes in 2008.  Bride 4.0 recalled them as one of her favorites so she requested that I make them again for consideration as a wedding cupcake.  There was just one problem with that plan - I didn't like them.  Most of you know my rule: I refuse to make cupcakes that I don't like.

The key problem with the original Shirley Temple cupcakes was that they were a sloppy mess. They derived their Shirley Temple flavor from being drenched in a grenadine syrup - you almost needed a spoon to eat them.  I had scary visions of Bride 4.0's white dress covered in red sticky syrup:

Photo from UtaArashi

No, no.  This would not do.  But, since Bride 4.0 liked the idea of a Shirley Temple cupcake, I decided to create an alternate version.

Good Ship Lollipop - Homemade Shirley Temple Lollipops

The Good Ship Lollipop sails the open seas bringing joy to everyone except her photographer (Jonathan balked at taking the photo above: "So cheesy!").  The Good Ship Lollipop's passengers are two homemade Shirley Temple lollipops made with grenadine and lemon. 

The Good Ship Lollipop's passengers were my very first homemade lollipops.  Believe me, it's much easier than you might think.  You can do it!  I was prepared to have to make multiple batches before getting it right, but the lollipops worked swimmingly on the first try (Well, technically it was the second try.  During the first try, I forgot to take the plastic wrapping off of my new candy thermometer before putting it in the hot candy - oops!).

Valentine's Day Cupcakes for Your Sweetheart - Shirley Temple Cupcakes

These Valentine's Day cupcakes happened somewhat by accident.

When Kristen of Bakesweet contacted me about a recipe for cupcakes with grenadine, the first thing that came to mind was making a Shirley Temple cupcake. Since Valentine's Day is almost here and grenadine is red, this also makes for a perfect Valentine's Day cupcake!

This post has three main sections: About Shirley Temple, a Shirley Temple Drink Recipe, and a Shirley Temple Cupcake Recipe.

How to Make Grenadine and Why You Should Bother

 

Kristen of Bakesweet contacted me wondering if I had a recipe for a cupcake with grenadine. I did not, but immediately got excited about the concept of making one. In preparation, I did a bit of research about grenadine.

According to the Wikipedia article on grenadine:

"The name 'grenadine' comes from the French word grenade meaning pomegranate, as grenadine was originally prepared from pomegranate juice and sugar. However, grenadine is also a common name mistakenly applied to syrups and beverages consisting of other fruit juices (e.g. raspberry, redcurrant, blackberry) and sugar syrup. The characteristic flavor can be obtained from a mixture of blackcurrant juice and other fruit juices with the blackcurrant flavor dominating.
The food industry, however, has widely replaced grenadine fruit bases with artificial ingredients. The Mott's brand 'Rose's', by far the most common grenadine brand in the United States, is now formulated entirely out of a high-fructose corn syrup, water, and citric acid base, sharing nearly the same formulation as orange drink."

I looked in my pantry and found that the grenadine we had was, in fact, the Rose's high fructose corn syrup variety. About a year ago, we committed genocide against any food or beverage in our home that contained high fructose corn syrup. I was shocked to discover that there was a sole survivor. It had to be annihilated.

How was I to make my grenadine cupcakes without using this high fructose corn syrup impostor?

Thanks to Cocktail Chronicles, I learned that it is easy to make your own grenadine.

How to Make Grenadine

1. Buy a bottle of pomegranate juice. This is becoming more popular and should be easy to find. POM is a popular but very expensive brand. I was able to find some 100% organic pomegranate juice for much cheaper.

2. Bring 4 cups of pomegranate juice (the whole 32oz bottle) to a boil.

3. Lower heat and simmer until it reduces in half. You can let it reduce more that half if you want it to be a bit thicker. This process took about 15 minutes.

4. Add 2 cups of sugar and let it dissolve.

5. Chill.

It won't be quite as red as Rose's so you can add food coloring if you'd like. It will taste a million times better.