Vanilla Lemon Cupcakes and Vanilla Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

I think it's safe to say that I am going through a lemon phase. I can't seem to get enough. I can't seem to stop thinking of dishes or treats that will somehow involve LEMON! Today I bring you two new recipes. Vanilla Lemon Cupcakes and Vanilla Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting.

I can say in full foodie confidence that these two recipes, the frosting in particular, are the best lemon treats I've had. EVER! The cupcakes offer a near perfect texture and a light lemon flavor. The frosting is sweet but packed with a delicious tart lemon flavor. In all honesty, I could sit and eat the frosting from the mixing bowl. I have never been so excited to share a recipe as I am to share this frosting recipe. 

I found these recipes after a quick look around the internet for some inspiration. After a quick look over the recipe I realized there was no vanilla. I had one of those Foodie Freakout moments in the kitchen. Vanilla is my favorite flavor. I know it's plain, simple and boring to some. Why do I love it so much then? It's SO versatile and can add just the perfect little hint of flavor to compliment so many other flavors. If one uses vanilla beans, one can add some serious pure vanilla flavor to compliment anything. If you haven't used vanilla beans or vanilla bean paste, I highly recommend it. Anywho, I obviously found it necessary to add vanilla to these recipes. I chose to add a little more than normal so that it could stand right beside the power of the tart lemon flavor. I think it was a success!

Another change I made, which is a small change but yields a big result, is lemon juice. I added more. The recipes needed it. I just knew they would be better! And...I was right. 

Now is the point where I stop chatting and you start baking. You should print these recipes and get lost in Foodie Heaven. ;-)

Vanilla Lemon Cupcakes      [Printable Recipe]

adapted from: http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/lemon-layer-cake-with-lemon-cream-cheese-frosting/

Makes: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 1/4 Cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup lemon juice

zest of 2 lemons

1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of a mixer beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Add vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest.

4. Alternate adding the flour mixture and butter milk. Mix until just combined. Do NOT over mix.

5. Scoop batter into cupcake pans lined with cupcake papers.

6. Bake at 350º for 15-20 minutes.

Vanilla Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting       [Printable Recipe]

adapted from: http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/lemon-layer-cake-with-lemon-cream-cheese-frosting/

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1-2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3-4 cups powdered sugar

Note: Lemon juice and powdered sugar are really to your taste. I used 2 Tablespoons juice and about 4 cups powdered sugar.

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a mixer beat the butter until smooth. Add the cream cheese and beat until well mixed.
2. Add the lemon juice and vanilla.
3. Slowly add the powdered sugar until desired taste and consistency.
4. Place frosting in the refrigerator if it's too soft. If not, ice cooled cupcakes.

Spring Cupcake How To

                 

               Dreaming of this...

...this is what we see.

Even if there are inches of snow on the ground in these early days of Spring, I'm still imagining the scent of blooming flowers and fresh cut grass. Not to mention the array of beautiful colors and new life that Spring brings. Since I can't look outside and enjoy the scenery I want, I decided to make some cute cupcakes to celebrate the days to come!

When I was asked to make a dessert for a Relay For Life event I instantly thought of cupcakes. Perfect treat for people to pick up and they aren't too messy at all. Perfect. Apparently everyone thought they were perfect as well...they sold out! The choice of decoration was obviously well received. The pictures I shared over on Facebook got some love too. The Birdie Cupcake was favored so I decided to put together a quick tutorial on how I made them. 

I used basic decorating tips to make these cupcakes and they truly are simple to do. I did learn that I should have went with my original idea of making the birds out of fondant. I think they would look better by being more round...Next time! haha For now, this is how you can achieve these cute cupcakes. They are perfect for upcoming Easter dinners! 

What you'll need:

- Your favorite cupcakes

- Buttercream or Whipped Frosting, colored as you wish

- Decorating bags with couplers 

- Decorating Tips (2, 3, 12 (all previous are round tips) and 233 (grass tip))

- A little creativity and imagination 

Here are the steps:

Starting in the center and working out swirl the nest and build the sides as you go around the outer edge.

Once you've built the nest, add a little detail by randomly pipping with the grass tip.

Fill a bag with the #12 tip attached with blue frosting. Pipe one bird at a time. It will have a pointy top, you'll fix that in a few steps.

In each nest place three blue birds. After you've pipped all the birds let them dry for a few minutes. To smooth out the pointy tip on the birds, with a glove on, use your finger to smooth it out. Lightly press each tip down. This will leave a base for the itty bitty yellow beak. 

Prepare a bag for the yellow frosting with the #3 tip and reuse the brown frosting by attaching the #2 tip. Pipe the upper and lower parts of the beak on the base impression you made in the previous step. Once you've added the beak to each bird on each cupcake go back and add the eyes. Do so by adding a very small dot. Do not squeeze the bag too much, you don't want to add a blob of brown for the eyes.

This should be your final product. How cute!

I also made some Spring flower cupcakes. These were even more simple. Pipe grass on to the cupcake as the base. Using various tips and colors, get creative and pipe on some pretty flowers. Fun!