Salted Tahini Cupcakes and Fantastic Filled Cupcakes

Fantastic Filled Cupcakes: Kick Your Baking Up a Notch with Incredible Flavor Combinations, written by Camila Hurst, features 54 exciting cupcake recipes with a variety of fillings and frostings for any time of year. A few highlights include Caramelized White Chocolate Almond Cupcakes, Maple Cinnamon Cupcakes, Orange Semolina Cupcakes, Key Lime Pie Cupcakes, and Strawberry Brownie Cupcakes. I will also be sharing her recipe for Salted Tahini Cupcakes following the review.

Disclosure: I received this book from Page Street Publishing in exchange for my honest review. All opinions and statements are my own. This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.

Camila Hurst

Camila Hurst is a self-taught baker, the writer behind Pies and Tacos, and children’s book author. Her work has been featured in the Washington Post’s Voraciously, One Green Planet, feedfeed, and more. Originally from Brazil, Camila is currently based in upstate New York with her family.

Fantastic Filled Cupcakes

Camila begins with a short introduction before diving right into the recipes. She was introduced to baking at a young age in her grandmother’s bakery in Brazil and later became drawn to cupcakes since they “can be a great canvas for creating beautiful treats, because they are versatile, often easier to make and decorate than cakes and, let’s face it, more fun to enjoy as well.”

The chapters are divided based on type of cupcake: Chocolate Lovers, Cookie Monster,Fudge It Up!, Caramel Lovers, Tea Time, Fall Vibes, and Fruity Summer Treats. The table of contents has a list of the cupcakes with page number for easy reference.

Camila also provides the beautiful photography. Every single recipe is accompanied by a full page photo of the finished cupcake. Measurements are listed in US Customary and Metric. Headnotes include a short intro, background information, serving size, notes, and tips.

Salted Tahini Cupcakes

Every single cupcake I tried has been (like the title) Fantastic, but I especially loved these Salted Tahini Cupcakes. The tahini-based cupcakes are filled with a thick Tahini fudge and topped with a light and fluffy Salted Tahini Buttercream. The result is an incredible contrast in sweet and savory along with texture.

Tahini is a sesame seed paste created from ground toasted or raw sesame seeds. It is becoming more readily available in the international or health food section of most larger supermarkets or on Amazon: Baron’s Kosher 100% Pure Ground Sesame Tahini 16-ounce Jars (Pack of 2). If you are unable to find it, you can also make your own (I have not personally tried this yet). Make sure you stir the tahini well before using, especially down to the bottom of the container.

Fill each prepared cupcake liner about 2/3rds full. I like to use a standard ice cream scoop for a consistent size in each cupcake.

Allow the Salted Tahini Cupcakes to cool completely to room temperature before filling and topping with the frosting.

Once assembled, the cupcakes will last covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

More Cupcakes

I also made Camila’s Chocolate Fudge Carrot Cupcakes, Turmeric Latte Cupcakes, Brown Butter Earl Grey Cupcakes, and Peanut Butter and Jam Cupcakes.

Inspired by Brazilian carrot cake, these Chocolate Fudge Carrot Cupcakes are topped with a decadent chocolate frosting or brigadeiro (chocolate fudge with condensed milk). The fudge is also used as the filling and piped all the way up so you get a combination of the carrot cake and chocolate in every bite.

The Turmeric Latte Cupcakes can be found in the Tea Time chapter. Spiced vanilla cupcakes are filled with a turmeric pastry cream and topped with a Turmeric German Buttercream. It is such a fun and bright flavor.

The Brown Butter Earl Grey Cupcakes were another favorite. I absolutely loved the combination of the brown butter and Earl Grey tea. The cupcake base includes both Earl Grey-infused milk and brown butter. After cooling, they are filled with an Early Grey Cream and topped with a Brown Butter Buttercream that also has a couple of spoonfuls of the Earl Grey-infused milk.

The Peanut Butter and Jam Cupcakes were the favorite for Chad and Claire. Peanut butter cupcakes are filled with raspberry jam and topped with a light and fluffy peanut butter frosting plus a slice of peanut butter and jam fudge. Every single part was incredible and I especially could have (and did) eaten the peanut butter and jam fudge on its own.

Fantastic Filled Cupcakes is a great pick for those who love cupcakes or are interested in creating impressive desserts. The recipes do take some time with two to four different components, but many of the steps come together easily. They are especially perfect for entertaining and most recipes yield between 12-16 cupcakes.

Most of the ingredients are readily available in the average American grocery store. A few that may require further searching include hazelnut flour, cookie butter, butterscotch chips, tahini, coconut extract, dulce de leche, matcha powder, fine semolina flour, clementines, fresh cranberries, key limes, and blood oranges.

Salted Tahini Cupcakes Recipe

Excerpt from Fantastic Filled Cupcakes

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5 from 5 votes

Salted Tahini Cupcakes

A recipe for Salted Tahini Cupcakes from the cookbook, Fantastic Filled Cupcakes, by Camila Hurst. The tahini-based cupcakes are filled with a tahini fudge and topped with a salted tahini buttercream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine N/A

Keyword cupcake, dessert, fudge, tahini

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Resting Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time 2 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings 14 Cupcakes

Ingredients

Tahini Cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups (191 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (60 grams) tahini
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (120 milliliters) buttermilk at room temperature

Tahini Fudge:

• 2/3 cup (156 milliliters) condensed milk
• 1/3 cup (78 milliliters) tahini
• 1/2 tablespoon (7 grams) unsalted butter

Salted Tahini Buttercream:

• 1 1/2 cups (339 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (120 grams) tahini
• 3 cups (382 grams) powdered sugar sifted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (7 milliliters) vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

Instructions

To make the Tahini Cupcakes:

• Preheat the oven to 350˚F (177˚C) and line 14 cupcake tins with cupcake liners.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar and beat for another 1 to 2 minutes, until creamy and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the tahini and blend again.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing each egg until combined before adding the next. Add the vanilla, followed but the buttermilk, and blend again. Lastly, add the dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula until incorporated.
• Divide the batter evenly into the cupcake liners, filling them about two-thirds of the way. Bake for about 18 minutes. Start checking the cupcakes at the 15-minute mark, and keep baking and checking as necessary. To see if the cupcakes are ready, gently press with your finger on top of the cupcakes, and if they spring right back, that means they are done baking. Let the cupcakes cool completely before filling and frosting.

To make the Tahini Fudge:

• Place the condensed milk, tahini and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring nonstop. If you stop stirring, the fudge will stick to the bottom of the pan. Cook until the mixture is thick and fudgy and you can see the bottom of the pan when you run the spatula through the middle of the fudge.
• Remove to a small bowl and let it cool completely. Don't place it in the fridge before filling the cupcakes or the fudge will get too hard to be piped or spooned into the cupcakes. It can be kept covered, at room temperature, for up to 1 day.

To make the Salted Tahini Buttercream:

• Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Cream on medium-high speed for about 4 minutes, until very fluffy and lightened in color. Add the tahini and mix until combined.
• With the mixer off, add the sifted powdered sugar to the bowl. Mix on low speed until the sugar has incorporated with the butter. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat the butter and sugar together for about 1 minute, until creamy and fluffy.
• Add the vanilla and milk, and mix until combined. Add the salt to taste, starting with 1/2 teaspoon, and if you feel like you want it a bit saltier, add more as desired.
• If the buttercream is too runny, add more sifted powdered sugar by the tablespoon (8 grams) and mix to incorporate. If the buttercream is too stiff, add a bit more milk by the teaspoon, mixing in between, until you achieve a buttercream that is creamy, firm and smooth.

To assemble the cupcakes:

• Use a spoon to remove the center of each cupcake. Spoon or pipe some of the Tahini Fudge into the middle of the cupcakes.
• Place the Salted Tahini Buttercream in a piping bag fitted with the piping tip of choice. Pipe the frosting over the cupcakes.
• The cupcakes can be stored in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 4 days.