A True Challenge

So the Cupcake Hero theme ingredient this month was melon..that's right...melon. I don't usually think melon and cake. I usually think...melon and Angelina Jolie...why? Well..b/c when I eat cantaloupe my lips swell...and oh how I miss sweet juicy cantaloupe with salt in the summertime...ahhh...but alas... I wasn't sure how it would fit into food...so I searched on the internet a bit..and found that alot of places team up cantaloupe and blueberry...and I asked a guy that I worked with (and a resident foodie) what he thought..and this is what the combined minds concocted.

Blueberry cupcakes with Cantaloupe Cream Cheese Frosting: First the cake: 2 1/2 cups flour 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 egg 1/2 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup blueberries combine dry, add wet, fold in blueberries, put in your cup liners, bake at 350 degrees. My big cupcakes had to bake about 22-25 minutes. My mini cuppies had to bake about 12-15. Cool on wire rack. Cantaloupe Cream Cheese Frosting: 1/2 cup butter 1 package of cream cheese 1 tsp. vanilla confectioner's sugar (powered sugar) I don't have a measure on this b/c it seems like each time I make frosting I always use more sugar than it calls for...so just add until you like it. (guessing)-2/3 cup cantaloupe (pureed)

(recipes adapted from cooks.com) On the first round of frosting it was really thin...see the first pic? Yea..a little too thin. I think it's b/c the cantaloupe is so watery...so I added 1/2 cup of shortening to it and it worked better.

So what was the verdict.....

My thoughts? I thought they were really good. They are very summery to me. The cantaloupe is a very dominant flavor, but the cream cheese works really well with it.

Husband thought; good...at least he ate a few of them. He's a big fan of blueberry AND cantaloupe and thought the two made a good team.

Coworker's thought: my main boss was very anti trying these cups b/c "melon and cake cannot coexist"....he admitted he was wrong on this one...and ate two of them.