Apricot cupcakes

I am a big fan of apricots! When I was little my mom used to make me all kinds of cakes( she preferred making them and not buying) and my favorites were the ones with fresh fruits.

The best were the ones with grapes and apricots. Nothing compares with those! Now that I am a mother, I can't wait to bake for my baby. I would love him to remember such things when he'll grow up.

Now let's talk about the cupackes.
Sadly, by the time I did this recipe I could not find fresh apricots and I used the dried ones , but I will definitely try this recipe with fresh fruits. They aren't bad, but the taste will be different for sure. The fresh fruits give something sour, and I love the combination of sweet and sour in my dessert :D
Also you can use canned apricots. They work really good too!

The recipe also contains pecans, but I replaced them with pine nuts. You can use what ever you like most.

These cupcakes are really easy to make. What I suggest is to cut on sugar if you're going for dried fruits. They are high in sugar and you don't want your cupcakes to be extremely sweet.

To decorate my cupcakes I used this buttercream frosting and I added almond extract. It goes perfectly with this cupcake recipe.

And now the recipe that I tried.

INGREDIENTS:

FOR CUPCAKES:

• 1 and 3/4 (16 tbs) all purpose flour 
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons  baking powder 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1/2 cup (16 tbs) pecans, chopped 
• 2 eggs 
• 1/4 cup (16 tbs) vegetable oil 
• 1/2 cup  brown sugar  
• 1 cup apricots, cut in small pieces 

FOR FROSTING:

Go here http://lovecupcakesrecipes.blogspot.ch/2013/03/buttercream-frosting-recipe.html

Add almond  extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line muffin tin(s) with paper liners or lightly coat with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pecans. Set aside.
In another bowl, beat eggs lightly. Add oil, brown sugar and chopped  apricots .

Add to flour mixture, stirring just until blended.
Batter will be lumpy.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling cups to the top.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

\

Gently remove cupcakes from tin and let cool on a wire rack.

Photos by Emi Trasnitu