Dill Pickle Cupcakes

I know, sounds weird huh?  I was at a bakery a few weeks ago and asked them what flavor was their most popular flavor?  They said dill pickle cupcakes!  They don't keep them on the shelf all the time, so I did not get to taste one, they sell out in about 30 minutes after baking them!  Well, of course this meant I needed to find a recipe!  I looked online and could only find one recipe, that's right,  only one and it did not sound very good!  So what is a girl - who is craving pickle cupcakes - supposed to do?  I was worried about the acid in the pickle juice reacting to either the baking soda or baking powder.  I decided to use a lemon cupcake recipe and substitute chopped pickles for the lemon zest and pickle juice for the lemon juice.  I figured the acid from the lemon would balance out the same.  I also added some dried dill.  They turned out delicious!  Some All of my friends, looked at me as if I was crazy.  But everyone who tried one loved it!  It does need more pickle, I only added 4 tablespoons chopped pickle, so I am changing my recipe to 1/3 cup chopped pickle instead.

Just remember not to add any of the pickle stuff to the butter or milk or it will curdle.  I knew not to do that, but for some weird reason I added the chopped pickles to the butter and this is what it looked like.

Pretty gross looking, huh?  That's okay, they still tasted good!
You are going to need one or two dill pickles, depending on the size.  My husband brought me home kosher dill pickles which are not as strong in flavor as regular dills, so that will probably make a difference too.

I used my chopper to chop my pickles.  I got mine from pampered chef, and I love it!  I use it several times a week!  Make sure to read the back of your pickle jar, some of them have high fructose corn syrup!

I also really like my little two tablespoon measuring cup.  It is perfect for stuff like this, just measure it out and  put it to the side until you are ready to add it to the recipe.
My recipe makes 12 normal cupcakes or about 40 mini cupcakes.  Put liners in your pans and preheat the oven to 350 °.  Have all ingredients at room temperature.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat at high speed until light and fluffy:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter.
3/4 cup sugar (I used palm sugar)
1 large egg
Sift together:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dill
At low speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until just combined.  Do not over mix or it will make the cake dense.

At low speed, add:
1/3 cup finely chopped dill pickles
2 tablespoons pickle juice (from the pickle jar)
1/2 cup milk

Your batter will be kind of liquidy and look like this:

Using a scoop (ice cream scoop for regular size cupcakes and tablespoon size for mini cupcakes), scoop the batter into the prepared molds.

For mini cupcakes, bake 13-14 minutes, for regular cupcakes, bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes before removing the cupcakes from the pan.  (I know, I know, I should have moved all my sewing stuff off the table first!)

I would recommend frosting with  stabilized whipped cream, I used some IMBC from the fridge, and it was okay, but whipped cream would be better.  To stabilize whipped cream, just add a tsp of clear knox gelatin to a cup of whipped cream.  If you use palm sugar to sweeten the whipped cream, I put it in the cream about an hour (in the fridge) before I am ready to whip it so it has time to melt.  Add the gelatin right before mixing, and a tsp of vanilla.  Agave nectar works good too!

If you make this for a baby shower, you could scoop ice cream into liners ahead of time and pop them in the freezer.  When it is time to serve, just put a scoop on each cupcake.  What would be better for a baby shower than pickles and ice cream?
FYI:  even Pippi liked them!  I know, weird cat!
I hope you enjoy these as much as my friends and I did!
Missy