Lemon Raspberry Surprise

Lemon has always been on my top 5 favorite flavors. I think I get that from my Mom. She got me started on my love of everything lemon. It doesn't matter if it's pie, cake, cookies, you name it if it's lemon I love it. So I thought I would share a recipe I recently tried that was a HUGE hit with my co-workers and friends.

Lemon Cupcakes:

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp grated lemon peel

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tins with paper liners. 

• In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.
• Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add lemon peel and vanilla; mix well.
• Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (batter will be thick).
• Fill paper-lined muffin cups with 1/4 cup of batter.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
• Cool for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Raspberry Puree:

1 – 12 oz bags of frozen raspberries

½ cup granulated white sugar

1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

·         Thaw the raspberries in large fine meshed strainer suspended over a large bowl. (This may take a while)

·         Once berries have completely thawed, force the juice from the berries by gently pressing the berries with the back of a large spoon. All that should remain in the strainer is the raspberry seeds.

·         Throw away the seeds. Stir in the lemon juice and sugar to the remaining raspberry pulp. (For extra flavor you may add a little raspberry liquor)

Store covered in the refrigerator up to a week, or freeze up to a year.

Makes approximately 1 3/4 cups

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 tbs lemon juice

4 tsp lemon zest

2 tsp vanilla extract

8 to 10 cups confectioners' sugar

• Beat cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, lemon rind, and vanilla together until smooth and fluffy
• Add confectioners' sugar in 2 additions. Beat until creamy
• Add more icing sugar or juice as needed for easy spreading or piping

 Assembly:

• Once your cupcakes are completely cooled scoop a small section from the center of the cupcake. If you have a cupcake corer - great - if not you can use an apple corer, melon baller, or just a spoon
• Fill hollowed out portion of your cupcake with raspberry puree. Be sure not to over fill or this will make icing your cupcakes difficult and messy
• Spread or pipe your desired amount of lemon cream cheese icing onto the cupcake
• If available, garnish with a fresh raspberry and/or sugared lemon peel

Happy Baking!

Who Doesn't Love Nutella?

Here is a cupcake recipe I tried recently and absolutely loved! Nutella has always been a favorite of mine since I was a little girl. Enjoy!

Vanilla-Nutella Swirl Cupcakes

For cupcakes:
10 tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups sifted flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
12 tsp Nutella, softened

For Nutella buttercream:
1 stick (1/2 cup) of unsalted butter, softened
4 cups confectioners sugar (or more to taste)
1/4 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup of Nutella (or more to taste), softened

Preheat oven to 325F.
Prepare cupcake pan with liners.

To make cupcakes—Cream together butter and sugar until light, about 2 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated. The batter may not look smooth, this is fine. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, salt, and baking powder until batter is smooth and all flour is blended. Using an ice cream scoop, fill each muffin liner with batter. Cups should be 3/4 full if you’re not using a scoop. Top each cake with about 1 tsp of the softened (about 15 seconds in the microwave) Nutella. Swirl Nutella in with a toothpick, folding a little batter up and over the Nutella as well. Bake for 20 minutes - no peeking. Remove to wire rack and allow to cool before frosting.

To make buttercream—In your stand mixer with flat beater, cream butter. Add 3 cups of the confectioners sugar, then milk and vanilla and beat until the mixture is smooth, about 3-4 minutes.Add the remaining confectioners sugar, beating about 1-2 minutes. (You can add more sugar to get a thicker consistency if you want.)In a microwave safe bowl, soften the Nutella until it has a spreadable consistency, about 15-20 secs.Add the softened Nutella to your buttercream and fold into the frosting until well blended. This icing works very well in a piping bag!

Recipe makes 24 cupcakes

Happy baking!