Tropical Fruit Cupcakes

These cupcakes were an experiment for sure, but they turned out unexpectedly well. I say unexpectedly because I added Rainier cheeries to the vanilla butter sponge cake batter. These cherries have such a light flavor as it is, so instead of the cherry vanilla flavored cupcake that I expected, the cupcakes turned out tasting like a fruit punch. This is probably because the vanilla butter sponge cake recipe uses almond, vanilla and lemon extracts. The flavor is great! So I added some pineapple apricot filling, and made a fruity Swiss meringue buttercream. I added pineapple apricot jam and coconut extract to the SMB and honestly, the buttercream tastes like fruity ice cream! These are a fun summertime fruity cupcake! In all honesty though I'd probably leave the fruit filling out of them next time. :D