Hey guys, 

I was hoping someone out there could help me. Tomorrow I am hoping to make Watermelon cupcakes like this:

http://todaysworkathomemom.com/watermelon-cupcakes/

Simple enough with just a basic vanilla cupcake and icing recipe. However I was toying with the idea of making the actually cupcake watermelon flavoured with either a purée or chunks. 

Firstly I was wondering if anybody had made watermelon flavoured cupcakes this way and if so how did they taste. 

Secondly how do I change the recipe so that it doesn't become too 'wet'? Do I just cut out some of the wet ingredients. 

Heres the ingredients I use (if that helps)

1 1/4 cups cake flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup oil (vegetable, canola or extra light olive oil)

1/2 cup buttermilk

Or am I better off making a watermelon purée and piping it in the middle once the cupcakes have cooked?

Also on a side note, how do you cook the cupcakes so the outside of the cupcakes looks pink rather than brown? Is that even possible?

Thanks in advance guys :)

i don't know but please report back on what you did -- i'm way curious --

but i think i'd use some watermelon flavored oil before i'd go baking with real watermelon --

i can't see this ending well but surprise me :)

http://shop.lorannoils.com/search.aspx?searchstring=watermelon

I would either make water melon puree and incorporate it in the icing or make a curd...or try this recipe with a little bit (!) of red food color:

 125g soft unsalted butter, 170g caster sugar, 2 eggs, 200g flour, 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder, 125 ml full fat milk, 100g water melon puree (not too watery as melon consists mainly of water!).

 Bake at 160'C for about 25-30 mins

 Makes 12 cupcakes

P.s. Water melon does not have a strong taste of it's own, almost like sugar water, so don't be disappointed when it's different from other fruits.

so i went surfing around looking for some recipes and there are recipes for watermelon puree but i can't find one using it in a cake -- not that you can't i'm just saying it's i didn't find one --

the ones i can find are paleo types where you actually cut a big cake shaped piece of watermelon and decorate it -- or who knew they make watermelon flavored jello -- if i was doing this i'd go for the powdered jello into the cake recipe -- strawberry jello makes a great strawberry cake when you add in strawberries so i'd definitely try the watermelon jello hoping for the same results but still i'm wary of the puree -- probably if you stiffen it real good with cornstarch it will hold but the taste? i don't know -- well you could add the jello there too --

keep me posted though

I use this recipe ALL THE TIME, http://www.cakecentral.com/recipe/4783/scratch-moist-strawberry-cake

It is for strawberry, but I have made it with other fruits, substituting different fruit puree and jello flavor. I think it would be really awesome in watermelon. 

I have done it with lemon and raspberry, delish!

At first I was hesitant to use the jello powder b/c I wanted a truly scratch cake, but it adds flavor and a nice color.

Btw, you can alter lots of recipes from cake to cupcakes and vise versa with no trouble, just adjust the baking time.