Family Tradition All Mixed Up

When I moved in with my dad and my mom, they made EVERY attempt at making me feel welcome in my new home, and made EVERY attempt at making me feel loved after all of the events life had thrown at me. I guess I should explain a little...  When I refer to my mom, I am usually referring to my step-mom, but she is, and has always been more than a "step-mom." She's loved me as any other mother would love her child.  So deep down she's always been my mom. My birth mother passed away from leukemia when I was 10 years old. It was very traumatic time, and my parents tried their hardest to surround me with love and happiness.

My parents and their close friends used to get together all of the time, and still do. One of the dishes that used to be made at almost every get together was called "green stuff" in our family. It wasn't until later that I found out it was actually called Watergate Salad. Whether you call it green stuff or Watergate Salad, this stuff is AMAZING! Traditionally, it is made with pistachio pudding, Cool-Whip, crushed pineapple, and marshmallows. It is creamy, not too sweet, and fluffy. Yum...

For the 4th of July, I made cupcakes to take to our get together, as I do most any family function, but I forgot to even plan for anything since my husband had just gotten out of the hospital. So I opened up my pantry, and started looking at what I had.  I came up with these beauties!

They were SO yummy! But I guess that you would really like to know what they are, huh? These cupcakes are a vanilla cake with a pineapple pistachio filling, topped with a white chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream. I know it sounds really kind of complicated, but they are anything but complicated.

I adapted a vanilla bean cupcake recipe since I didn't have any vanilla beans (they're actually kind of difficult to find here in Tennessee). The recipe is below. Just one tip I have for these cupcakes... Add all of your ingredients together and mix at once. They are a little bit fragile, and will become dry and tough if you alternate wet and dry ingredients.

While they are baking, go ahead and mix the filling. Okay, so I have a confession... I come from a long line of "that looks good/that tastes right" cookers. So I don't normally measure most things. It makes it a little bit difficult to replicate a recipe sometimes. So please keep in mind the measurements are approximate, and you may need to add a little more. The filling consists of one small package of pistachio pudding mix, pineapple juice, and small amount of milk to make it creamy. It should look similar to the picture below.

After your cupcakes are done baking and have cooled, you will pipe this mixture into each cupcake. To do this, I put my filling into my piping bag fitted with a rounded tip. You don't have to remove any of the cupcake, and you just insert the tip into the top of the cupcake and squeeze. Be careful not to put too much into the cupcake because it will cause it to break the cake walls and tops, and will ooze out the sides of the cupcake. You can reinsert the tip into the same hole, and add more until it starts to come back out the top hole ever so slightly. Your cupcakes should have an appearance of being full, like this:

The Swiss Meringue Buttercream can be a very tricky icing, but it is more than worth the time and effort that you will put into it. You can make the buttercream with a hand mixer, BUT it is so much easier if you make it with a stand mixer. You need a saucepan, preferably heavy but a light one will work too if you watch it carefully. The buttercream icing requires butter, egg whites (I used pasteurized egg whites because I'm funny about using raw eggs), sugar, vanilla, and white chocolate. To start, you'll need to place the egg whites and sugar into the saucepan, and cook over medium to medium high heat, depending on your stove. You will cook the egg whites only until the sugar has dissolved, and you'll want to continuously stir the mixture. You can tell the sugar is dissolved by sticking your fingers in the mixture, remove, and rub fingers together. If it is still gritty, it is not done yet. When it is dissolved, it will be smooth and silky feeling.  Remove from heat, and pour into mixer (or other large bowl). Next, you'll beat the egg whites on high for about 12 minutes, or until the egg whites have become room temperature. At this point, the egg whites will have become the consistency of marshmallow fluff. Begin adding the butter, a tablespoon at a time, and mixing until each tablespoon of butter is fully incorporated. After all of the butter has been added, the buttercream will be light, fluffy, and will look like clouds. If it is soupy, you can put the bowl into the refrigerator to chill. It will allow the butter to firm up, and you can resume beating. After you have gotten the cloud consistency, add your vanilla and melted white chocolate, and mix well. As I said previously, it can be tricky, but it is so sinfully yummy and light, you'll probably never make another type of icing ever again! I get requests for this icing all the time!

Pipe your icing onto your cupcakes and decorate to your heart's content! Happy baking!!!

Vanilla Cupcake
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cups flour
6 tbsp butter, room temp
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temp
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk, microwaved for 20 seconds

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar, add egg, and mix until fluffy. Add all wet and dry ingredients at once, and mix until just incorporated. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Pineapple Pistachio Filling
1 small pkg Pistachio Pudding
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup milk

Mix all ingredients together. Mixture should be creamy and thick.

White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
1 cup sugar
5 egg whites
16 tbsp (2 sticks)  unsalted butter, softened slightly and sliced
1/4 cup white chocolate, melted and cooled