Spring Has Sprung: Strawberry Rhubarb Cupcakes

There are two flavor combinations in this world that I love - chocolate & peanut butter and strawberry & rhubarb. Nothing tastes more like Spring to me than strawberry and rhubarb. I've had these cupcakes on my mind for weeks. The problem I've had getting them made was finding rhubarb. I was determined to make these this weekend so I went searching high and low. After checking every grocery store chain I could think of, and the newly opened for the season Parkdale Farmer's Market, it finally clicked and I knew where I'd be most likely to find what I needed. Herb and Spice in Wellington Village did not let me down. I was set!

Yum

I started off with this recipe for rhubarb cupcakes from Martha Stewart. I opted to add the seeds of a vanilla bean to the cake batter to kick things up a notch. I finally broke down and got some at Costco and now I feel like I need to use them in everything possible.

I wanted to get strawberries in the mix somehow so I went with strawberry rhubarb frosting instead of the whipped cream and rhubarb compote suggested in the recipe. I used the same cooked flour frosting I used for the Peeps cupcakes but decided to put my own spin on them. I added a couple of table spoons of strawberry rhubarb puree to the mixture before cooking it and added a couple more tablespoons after I whipped in the butter. It tasted delicious but something went wrong. I'm not sure what happened but it sort of looked like the butter separated. I tried adding some icing sugar to stabilize it a bit but no dice. 

Rhubarb and vanilla: together at last

The elusive 'barb

Looks good enough to eat

I had no idea how visible the vanilla beans would be

The finished product

Even though they didn't look as perfect as I'd like them to, I thought these cupcakes were delicious. Good strawberry and rhubarb flavor and not too sweet. The texture of the cake was exactly how I like it. Moist but not gummy and tender but not crumbly. I would definitely make these again but would probably go with a different frosting.

Are there flavors that make you think of Spring?