Sunny Honey Cupcakes

This cupcake was derived from my desire to combine ice cream and sunflower seeds. It might sound like an odd combination, but try a bowl of vanilla ice cream topped with sunflower seeds and chocolate syrup. The contrast of sweet and salty, smooth and crunchy does wonders. I modified a sesame honey cupcake recipe to create these.
Sunny Honey Cupcakes
1 cup wheat flour
1 1/2 cups white flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup splenda or sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
2 Tbsp. pureed salted sunflower seeds mixed with 1/2 tsp. olive oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. sunflower seeds
Vanilla ice cream
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup honey
Additional sunflower seeds, salted

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line 14 muffin tins. Combine flours, baking powder and salt in small bowl.

Using mixer, cream together butter, sugar and honey until pale and glossy, about 3 minutes

In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk and vanilla.

With mixer running, add the egg to the butter mixture until well blended. Beat in pureed sunflower seed/oil mixture. In three separate additions, alternately blend in flour and buttermilk, starting with buttermilk. Mix in sunflower seeds Fill muffin tins nearly full. (Cupcakes do not rise much.) Bake about 20 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool completely on wire racks.

For frosting, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in honey. Set in refrigerator while finishing cupcakes.

Cut off tops of cupcakes. Top each cupcake with a spoon of ice cream, and then replace cupcake top. Frost cupcakes in spiral pattern. Before serving cupcakes, top with sunflower seeds.