Cacao Nectar Jelly Unicorn Cupcakes

I’ve been wanting to write up the recipe for these beautiful and delicious cupcakes for a while now. I was inspired to create this recipe by a chocolate tour at Lydgate Farms in on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. They had a product I had never seen before called Cacao Nectar Jelly which comes from the fruit around the cacao beans that are processed into chocolate. Typically, this fruit is not used for a commercial product as it is very expensive to process. But Lydgate Farms made a beautiful cacao jelly out of it and I wanted to honor that beautiful agricultural creation with a fun cupcake recipe. Note that cacao nectar jelly tastes nothing like chocolate! The flavor is fruity and not quite like anything I have ever had before. It reminded me a bit of lychee (though not exactly) and that is the flavor inspiration I used as a base for this recipe.

I adapted my cacao jelly cupcake recipe from this beautiful lychee cupcake recipe. For my cacao nectar cupcakes I used the following adapted recipe:

Cacao Nectar Jelly Unicorn Cupcakes

For the Cupcakes

• 1 stick softened unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup egg whites (from about 2 eggs)
• 1 1/4 cup cake flour
• 2 tsp cacao nectar jelly (the flavor from the jelly is subtle from the cupcake itself and doing it over, I may omit such an expensive ingredient in this step)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a cupcake tin with 12 liners.
2. Cream butter, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add egg whites and blend until emulsified.
4. Add cacao nectar jelly.
5. Mix in flour over multiple additions.
6. Scoop batter into cupcake liners and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let cool while preparing the buttercream.

For the Buttercream Icing (straight from the McAvoy Family Recipe Book)

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 stick butter (room temperature but do not melt!)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tbsp cacao jelly (makes more of an impact on flavor here than in cupcake batter)

Combine softened butter and vanilla extract and add sugar, cacao jelly, and milk. If after combined it seems too thick add a little more milk; if too thin add a little more sugar.

Jelly Center and Assembly

Core out the cooled cupcakes and add cacao nectar jelly to the center of each (this is where you will get the most concentrated and pure flavor of the jelly). Pipe the cacao jelly buttercream on each cupcake, top with pearl sprinkles at each piping peak, and finally add a cute unicorn toothpick cutout to each to complete these gorgeous and flavorful cacao nectar jelly unicorn cupcakes.

I also used the cacao nectar jelly on a cheese plate paired with other jams, as a grilled cheese accompaniment, and as a filling for Hungarian pancakes. Overall a very special and delicious ingredient!