Sweet Pea Cupcakes with Sour Cream Frosting

From the Cupcake Archives from March of 2007. This recipe was recently republished in a cookbook in the UK under the name Petit Pois Muffins. Very kid friendly and very delicious.

I have no freakin' clue why I thought of attempting this. Seriously, a cake based on peas?! What the hell? I guess it was the arrival of March. The barely audible first steps of Spring that are creeping in with blooming trees and slightly sunny days.

But still, peas? They're sweet and I do love them in soup, salads, savory dishes, dried with wasabi, and so on and so on so why not give it a shot? Someone made zucchini bread. Carrot cake. Sweet potato pie! Someone has to try peas. Might as well be me.

And you know what? It works. Quite well I might add. For one, it doesn't taste like peas. Well, maybe a slight bit but nothing unpleasant. Quite the opposite, it's sweet, fresh, bright. It's really impossible to describe the taste by flavors so I'll try to do it through images. It's a fresh cake that would replace a sweet cornbread at the dinner table. With the first bite, images of a simple afternoon tea, the table adorned with these bright green cakes, the sun starting to come down and creating dancing shadows through the trees entered my mind.

It's a simple, quick, and cheap to make recipe. While the actual fact that this is a pea cake seems daunting, even crazy, don't let it put you off. Oh no, for you'd be doing yourself a great disservice. This cupcake is sweet and colorful; it's perfect for the upcoming St. Patrick's day and a sweet smelling fanfare for the coming of Spring.

By the by, these are also celebratory cupcakes. Celebration for a few reasons:
1) Garrett got accepted to CSUS for the English Master's Program. That's right. I'm one step closer to teaching college classes and warping the minds of America's youth.
2) Garrett got promoted at work, and thus is moving to the Sacramento office.
3) Based on the above two, it's time to move from Davis to Sacramento. Goodbye Davis! I have loved you for nearly 6 years, but it's time for a change. I'll be back for the farmer's market though, so no worries.

Sweet Pea Cupcakes
Makes 20 cupcakes / 375 F degree oven

What You'll Need...
3 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups of peas, pureed
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 1/2 cups of cake flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder

What You'll Do...
1) Whisk together the eggs and sugar until bright and well emulsified.
2) Add the oil, extract, lemon juice, and pea puree. Mix well.
3) Add the flour and baking powder. Beat until just mixed.
4) Scoop into cupcake papers and bake in a 375 F oven for 14-16 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Set aside to cool, then frost.

Sour Cream Frosting
What You'll Need...
1/4 cup of butter, room temperature
1/3 cup of sour cream
2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon of vanilla extract
pinch of salt

What You'll Do...
Beat the ingredients until light and fluffy, and slightly stiff peaks form.