Like little batter melons in cupcake papers

(Oh, the joy of posting about cupcakes above a review of a book about eating disorders...;)


Watermelon cupcakes! Just red batter with chocolate chips in it, frosted green. The idea belongs to Jamieanne at The Cupcake Review, and I couldn't resist trying it for my next batch of Saturday cupcakes (new summer tradition - lovely way to occupy my Saturday afternoon, and of course my family doesn't exactly mind having a kitchen full of fresh baked goods.)

I didn't actually make them from the recipe she used, which called for watermelon flavored frosting (!). Would have, but unfortunately I didn't have the watermelon juice required to make it. Maybe next time we have watermelon around.

I made mine from the Joy of Baking vanilla cupcake recipe, plus, of course, the chocolate chips. I used vanilla soymilk instead of plain dairy milk for a little extra vanilla flavor. I'd use the recipe again; the cupcakes turned out with a very nice texture.

I decided to frost them with royal icing, an easy egg-white-and-sugar (read: no fat!) icing that hardens very quickly and is usually used for decorating. It made a delightful crunchy layer on top of the soft, warm cupcake. I couldn't persuade it to be anything darker than pastel green, though.

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