Mini Dungeness Crab Cupcakes

Looking for the perfect bite size treat? These delicious savory cupcakes can be whipped up within an hour.

Dungeness Crab's are a true gem of the sea, lending their sweet, succulent awesomeness to these miniature cakes. To top off these beauties, I made a luscious Cayenne Spiced Lemon Cream Cheese frosting,which will explode in your mouth with the first bite. The acid from the lemon cuts through the spiciness of the cayenne, making it the perfect combo.

To save time, I bought fresh de-shelled crab, but you can opt to do the de-shelling yourself and buy the crab whole.

Recipe inspired by Kathy Casey's, Creole Crab Cakes, Sips & Apps. Chronicle Books.

Ingredients

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cupcake Batter:

1/3cup diced onion

1/3 cup red bell pepper

1 stalk celery

2 Tbsp butter

1/3 cup orange bell pepper

2 large garlic cloves minced

6 Tbsp all purpose flour

1 tea sugar

1/2 cup cornmeal

2 tsp baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning

1 egg

1/4 cup whole milk

1/4 cup sour cream

8 oz fresh de-shelled Dungeness Crab

Spicy Lemon Frosting:

1 8oz pkg. cream cheese

2-3 Tbsp milk

Juice from one lemon squeezed

Sprinkles:

1 pkg. fresh chives

Equipment:

Mini Muffin Tin

Pipping Bag

Piping Tip

Prep the Veggies

Rinse off all of your vegetables. Cut celery stalk in half and then dice. Slice bell peppers in half and remove the ribs and seeds. Slice into strips and then dice. Remove the skin from the onion & garlic. Chop the onion & mince the garlic.

Sweat the Veggies

Melt two Tablespoons of butter in a medium sized saucepan. Add all of the veggies and gently stir them together. After two minutes, add 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Continue to stir gently for an additional 4 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool.

** Anybody notice the creepy face in the melted butter??***

Make the Dry Mixture

In a small bowl, add the flour, sugar, cornmeal & Old Bay seasoning. Stir to combine.

Set aside.

Make the Wet Mixture

In a large bowl, add the egg, milk & sour cream. Gently whisk to combine.

Combine the Mixtures

Add the cornmeal mixture to the wet mixture and gently combine. Stir in the cooled veggies and scrape the butter from the saucepan into the bowl.

Place the crab meat on a cutting board and carefully chop it up into smaller pieces. Gently fold the crab meat into the cupcake batter.

Bake the Cupcakes

Line the mini muffin tin with the cupcake liners. Heap 1 tablespoon of batter into each cupcake liner.

Bake in a preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. After 7 minutes, turn the pan around in the oven to insure even baking.

Cupcakes are ready when you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.

Remove the cupcakes from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes or until cooled before frosting.

Spicy Lemon Frosting

In a medium sized bowl, add the package of room temperature cream cheese, milk, lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne. Stir to combine until the mixture is thick and cayenne is incorporated into the mixture.

You can add more or less cayenne, depending on your personal spice level.

Place the frosting in a piping bag and pipe the cupcakes.

Make the Sprinkles

To make the sprinkles, finely chop fresh chives to desired size. I chopped mine really small, but you can use any size you'd like.

Sprinkle & Serve

Sprinkle cupcakes with the chives and serve immediately.

These cupcakes can be made in advance and refrigerated. You can frost them before serving.

Please take caution and refrigerate unused cupcakes. Crab is really delicate and spoils easily.

Enjoy!