Moscato Cupcakes

In another throwback to my Christmas baking spree, pre hospital stay, I baked a batch of Moscato cupcakes with a white chocolate and wine frosting.  At this point, I'd already made the cherry cordial cookies and Kneader's peppermint brownies (which I will post later - also to-die-for) so I needed something light and in the realm of the cake world.  Being that I'm a big fan of Moscato, I settled on these.

Moscato Cupcakes 
(adapted from this recipe)

2/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup Splenda sugar blend
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt 
2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup Moscato wine
6 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place liners in your cupcake tin.

Cream together butter and sugar.  Alternate between gradually adding in the wine and gradually adding in the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, beat your egg whites until they are at the very least heavily foamy.  (The original recipe said they should form stiff peaks, but alas after beating for quite some time I settled with very foamy egg whites.)  Add this to the batter and mix until well combined.

Fill the cupcake trays 2/3 full and bake for about 20 minutes.  This should yield two dozen cupcakes.

White Chocolate Moscato Buttercream

1 1/2 cup butter, softened   
6 oz Baker's white chocolate
2 1/2 - 3 cup confectioners sugar
1 1/2 tsp Moscato
pinch of salt 

Following the directions on the back of the Baker's box, melt the white chocolate in the microwave and then let cool slightly.  (It's imperative to let it cool enough, otherwise the frosting will be runny.)  Cream the butter in a mixer.  Pour in the cool, melted white chocolate and mix well.  Begin gradually adding the confectioners sugar, wine, and salt.  If you reach your desired frosting consistency before 3 cups then go ahead and stop adding.  I don't like working with slightly runny frostings on cupcakes, as it will slide easily, so I tend to add in a bit more sugar than called for and a pinch of salt to even out that extra sugar.

I will admit I was slightly quizzical about combining white chocolate and wine for the frosting, but it definitely works!  And paired with the Moscato cupcake, it's the perfect combination.  Frost you cupcakes & as always, enjoy!