April | 2015 | Is this a keeper?

This one was a little rough…I wasn’t sure who of my tasters was really going to like this one and it took me going to three stores to find the pearl tapioca. In the end, they only had small pearl tapioca so I went with that. Since Dorie suggested serving this with the spiced pineapple I went ahead and made that as well. The tapioca was interesting looking…it reminded me of frozen ice cream balls you can get haha…I would have much preferred the ice cream! My family isn’t big tapioca fans, but my husband did try it and said it tasted like it was suppose to, but he still didn’t care for it much. He thought the pineapple tasted like canned peaches…not sure what to make of that observation!!…maybe it was the color and the sweetness haha! My mom doesn’t like it but my dad tried it and texted me back…”Can’t say I am a fan of the tapioca but the pineapple was outstanding.” So I was feeling not so confident on this one as I sent it off to my last taster…although she told me she loves tapioca so I had a little hope haha! She is the true spirit of a taster. I told her I wasn’t too sure about this one and her reply was:

” I always like the fact that I would never have the opportunity to taste most of the desserts and dishes otherwise and 99.9% of them have been fantastic!! It’s all about the experience, the wow is always a bonus”

Don’t you just love that??!! She actually loved both…yay! I am guessing if you like tapioca this is a good recipe, for those of us who don’t…it doesn’t change your mind. 🙂

So Limoncello you say…ya, we don’t have any of that at our house but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from making these if I could help it. I asked a few neighbors…they didn’t have it either. I sent a text to my Sister-in-Law and what do you know…she not only had some, she bought it when she was in Italy! SCORE!

These cupcakes, once you have the proper ingredients, are really easy to make with only three main steps. I might add, there is Limoncello in all three of those steps!

Prepare the batter and bake the cupcakes

Prepare the sugar syrup and soak the baked cupcakes

Make the butter frosting and frost the cupcakes.

I am not a huge frosting or cake fan but after all the trouble to get this Limoncello I had to try it, and my Sister-in-Law said it was really good. I have to tell you, I licked the spoon when I was done with the frosting it was that good!!! What a great sweet, lemony flavor…super intense. In a way, it gets diluted down when you eat it on the cupcake. 🙂 I would say everyone “liked” the cupcakes but “LOVED” the frosting!!! The frosting is a keeper!