Wasabi White Chocolate Cupcakes with Plum Sake Filling

I have had wasabi in a cupcake before, but with dark chocolate. When I saw the white chocolate and wasabi combination on an old episode of Top Chef, I figured, “why not?” And then I thought, “Sake!” and again, “why not?” And I wasn’t finished there…

I knew I wanted to do a fruity filling and after some pondering, plums came to mind. I thought the tartness of the plums would balance the sweetness of the white chocolate. I also liked that the plums would carry through the Japanese theme.

These cupcakes sound a bit crazier than they taste. The most dominant flavor is that of the filling. The tartness of the plums and the hit from the sake show through the most. I really liked the filling by itself. Even just pairing the filling with a simple vanilla cake would be delicious. I topped the cupcake with a simple white chocolate frosting that is delicious and one of my new favorites.

I had come up with the idea for the cupcake and then went away on a little mini-vacation. I was shopping at a local grocery store and strangely enough, they had both wasabi and plum sesame seeds. I just had to buy them and use them to decorate the cupcakes. I really stumbled upon them and am not sure where anyone could pick them up, other than the Surf Supermarket in Gualala, California.

This creation uses my white chocolate cupcake recipe, white chocolate cream cheese frosting, and plum sake filling.