High Altitude Bourbon Pecan Pie Cupcakes
Pecan pie cupcakes made with soft vanilla cupcakes filled with gooey pecan pie filling, frosted with salted pecan buttercream and topped with toasted pecans.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
- Muffin Pans + 15 Paper Liners
Ingredients
Filling
- ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
- ⅓ cup light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 large egg yolks (save the whites for another use)
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp good quality bourbon (optional)
- ⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ cup pecans, roughly chopped
Cupcakes
- 1 recipe Vanilla Cupcakes
Buttercream
- 1 recipe Vanilla Buttercream
- ½ cup pecans, toasted and cooled (see note)
Instructions
Filling
- In a saucepan, combine the cream, brown sugar and egg yolks. Over medium heat, whisk the mixture constantly so the eggs don't curdle, and cook for about 4-5 minutes, until thick and bubbly. Remove from the heat.
- Stir in the butter, vanilla, bourbon, salt and pecans.
- Cool the mixture completely so it can thicken and set, before filling the cupcakes. You can make the filling up to 3 days in advance, keeping it refrigerated until needed.
Cupcakes
- Make the Vanilla Cupcakes as instructed, then cool completely.Baker's Note: If you like, you can add a little spice to the cupcakes, like 1/8 tsp ground cardamom, or 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon.
- Use a cupcake corer to remove the centers of the cooled cupcakes. Use a spoon, or a piping bag with the end cut off to fill the cupcakes with the pecan filling.
Buttercream
- Make the Vanilla Buttercream as instructed.
- Finely chop 1/4 cup of the toasted pecans, and fold them into the buttercream.
- Fit a piping bag with tip 1M, fill with the buttercream, and pipe it on top of the filled cupcakes.
- Decorate the cupcakes with the rest of the toasted pecans.
Notes
To toast the pecans, spread them onto a baking sheet and toast them in a 300-degree oven for 5-10 minutes, until hot and fragrant. Cool completely before adding them to the buttercream.
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