📋 Butter tart Cupcakes recipe

butter tart cupcake on a white plate, with platter of butter tart cupcakes in the background

5 from 1 vote

📋 Butter tart Cupcakes recipe

These Butter Tart Cupcakes taste like butter tarts in cupcake form. Decadent cupcakes with a gooey butter tart filling, topped with Maple Brown Butter Whipped Cream Frosting, more raisins and a slice of butter tart, these cupcakes are ideal for your Christmas or Canada celebrations!

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Canadian

Keyword butter tart, cupcake, cupcakes

Special Diet Vegetarian

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 25

filling and decorating 30

Total Time 1 15

Servings cupcakes

Calories 289kcal

Author Terri Gilson

Ingredients

2 ½ cups pre-sifted cake and pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter softened
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 cup milk
¼ cup whipped cream
2 eggs
1 tblsp butter flavour
1 cup raisins
1 recipe for butter tart filling (see NOTES)
1 recipe for Maple Brown Butter Whipped Cream Frosting (see NOTES)

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Instructions

PREP: Make butter tart filling on stovetop and set aside to cool while making muffins. * You can also make this a day (or several days) in advance. You could even make it up to 3 months in advance and freeze it.
Line muffin tins with muffin liners. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (162 degrees C)
Mix vinegar into milk and set aside.
Mix flour and baking powder and baking soda together – set aside
Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer.
Then beat in butter flavour, eggs and whipping cream.
Mix dry ingredients into wet and stir until combined (with wooden spoon).
Mix in milk with vinegar with wooden spoon, the add raisins or pecans.
Fill muffins liners to ⅔ - ¾ full, depending on how big you like your cupcakes.
Bake at 325 degrees F/162 degrees C for 20- 25 minutes (23 minutes was perfect for me).
Fill cupcakes will butter tart filling * you can use a pastry bag and a #230 Bismarck piping tip (or cut out a section of cupcake) *See VIDEO
Frost cupcakes with IM tip.
Garnish cupcakes with a slice/piece of butter tart (I cut the butter tarts into 6 pieces) and raisins.

Notes

Butter tart cupcake filling

Ingredients:

2 tablespoon unsalted butter + 2 tsp

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups brown sugar

2 eggs

4 tablespoons whipping cream (heavy cream)

2 teaspoons vinegar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions:

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan on stove top, add vanilla and whipping cream, heat, then add butter.
In a medium bowl, combine egg, and brown sugar.
Add egg mixture to warm cream mixture and simmer on low, then add vinegar and cornstarch.
Keep whisking until thickened on med-low heat for about 12-15 minutes. It should be the consistency of thick gravy. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. After 10 minutes, refrigerate. It will thicken further as it cools

Maple Brown Butter Whipped Cream Frosting

Ingredients:

¾ cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)

3 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 tablespoon whipping cream (heavy cream)

½ tsp maple extract

6 tbsp piping gel

3 cups whipping cream

Instructions:

Freeze mixing bowl and attachment for at least 15 minutes.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and continue to cook until butter turns a light golden brown and has a nutty fragrance (see VIDEO in post if you are not sure how to brown butter)
Remove from heat, cool and add maple extract then cool to room temperature. *be careful adding the extract - if the butter is too hot it will splatter! 
Beat the butter with the powdered sugar and 2 Tblsp of the whipping cream. Set aside
Whip cream until slightly thickened (soft peaks). While beating slowly, gradually add piping gel to whipped cream mixture. Whip at high speed until stiff peaks form
Fold butter mixture into whipped cream mixture and whip for 15 seconds or so longer

Expert Recipe Tips:

- For the Gooiest Butter Tart Filling: The key to the filling is cooking it gently. Whisk constantly over medium-low heat. You're looking for the consistency of warm pudding or thick gravy—it should coat the back of a spoon. If you cook it too high or too fast, you risk scrambling the eggs. As soon as it's thick, remove it from the heat. It will continue to thicken significantly as it cools in the fridge.

- The Secret to Perfect Brown Butter: Don't walk away from the stove when browning butter! It can go from perfectly nutty to burnt in seconds. Melt it over medium heat, then watch for it to foam. Swirl the pan occasionally. You'll see little brown specks (the milk solids) form at the bottom, and it will smell incredibly nutty. That's when you pull it off the heat immediately and pour it into a separate bowl to stop the cooking.

- Don't Overmix the Cupcake Batter: For the most tender, fluffy cupcake crumb, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients only until they are just combined. A few small lumps are okay. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour, which will result in tougher, chewier cupcakes instead of light and tender ones.

- The Easiest Way to Fill a Cupcake (No Special Tip Needed!): While a Bismarck tip is handy, you don't need one. Use an apple corer or the back of a large piping tip to gently press into the center of the cooled cupcake and pull out a plug of cake. You can also use a small paring knife to cut a cone shape out of the center. Trim the point off the cone, fill the cupcake, and place the small "lid" back on top before frosting.

- For Stable Whipped Cream Frosting: The number one rule for whipping cream is to keep everything COLD. Place your mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for 15-20 minutes before you start. A cold bowl helps the cream whip up faster and holds its shape much better, giving you a stable, pipeable frosting.

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