What's Cooking | Lemon Cupcakes

Hey Divas!  I hope you're all having a fabulous week so far!  I know I am:))  This California weather is absolutely divine and I've been taking full advantage of it.  For some strange reason I woke up this morning with lemon cuppies on my mind (weird...I know right) so I decided to whip up a batch, and I got a chance to use my new decorating tip which I absolutely love.  These cuppies turned out waaay better than I expected.  Definitely a recipe worth trying.

Ingredients (Yields 28-30 Cupcakes)

3 cups self-rising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1 cup whole milk, divided
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees .  Line 30 cupcake pan cups with paper liners.

2. Sift the self-rising flour and salt together in a bowl. In another bowl, beat the unsalted butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating each egg until incorporated before adding the next. Mix in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.

3. Gently beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture, one third at a time, alternating with half the milk and half the lemon juice after each of the first 2 additions of flour. Beat until just combined; do not over mix.

4. Fill the prepared cupcake liners with batter 3/4 full, and bake 17 minutes or until golden brown. & toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before removing them to finish cooling on a rack.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1-2 drops yellow food coloring (if desired)
1 box of confectioners’ sugar

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, lemon juice, and food coloring together until smooth. Add sugar and beat ingredients on low speed. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

Enjoy!

Sunny Days!

Hat - Torrid  | Shoes - Bakers | Jeans - Ashley Stewart | Tank -  Old Navy | Accessories - Ashley Stewart

When U Wish Upon a Star!

Every year in February my family and I go to Disneyland to celebrate my tee-tee Yvette and Jamaal Jr's b-day...and OH how I look forward to spending the entire day with my family eating popcorn, slurping on icees and riding just about every single ride in the park.  If your every in So Cal...be sure to check out The Happies Place On Earth...Disneyland!!   Sorry for the lack of pics...I really wasn't in the picture taking mood:/

The Birthday Boy

Tea Cups

Small World

Autopia

Matterhorn

Pirates Of The Carribean - My favorite ride!

My Pretty Girl Swagg!

Hey Divas!!  I hope you're having a great weekend.  The weather out here in Cali has been absolutely beautiful these past couple of days so of course I had to take advantage and get my Pretty Girl Swagg on!! 

Have a great week!  

Vest | Old Navy

Z Cavaricci Boyfriend Jeans | Torrid

Shoes - Nine West Vintage Wedge Wallabees | Nine West

Accessories | Ashely Stewart

Sunnies | Nordstrom Brass Plum

Lions and Tigers and Bears....OH MY!!!

Hey Divas!!  I hope you're having a great 2011 so far!  My fam and I packed our bags and headed to Scottsdale to visit my tee~tee Yvette!  While in Arizona we decided to take a trip to the Phx Zoo which is one of the top 5 Zoo's in the country.  I was super excited to go because I haven't been to the Zoo since I was a child.  When I say we had fun...I mean we had FUN!   

My fam JD and I riding the Super Slide!  Super FUN!

What's Cooking | R U Down With The SWIRL!!!

I made these cuppies weeks ago for a family function and they were absolutely delish!  Just add a lil chocolate mixed with a lil vanilla and WaLa! You have these tasty Swirl cuppies.

Vanilla Batter (Makes 12 cupcakes)

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream   

Chocolate Batter (Makes 12 cupcakes)

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.

You will need 2 medium bowls.  1 for the vanilla batter, the other for the chocolate.

Into a medium bowl, sift together cocoa (for chcolate cuppies), flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with sour cream and beginning and ending with flour.

Fill prepared cups with alternating spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate batter, filling each three-quarters full. Run the tip of a paring knife or wooden skewer through the batter in a figure-eight motion to make swirls. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

Cool in pan 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely,

Icing: Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 lb. butter (room temp.)

8oz Cream Cheese (room temp.)

1 lb. Box of Confectioners Sugar

1tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

Cream together butter, cream cheese and vanilla, then slowly add confectioners sugar until mixed well.  Icing should be light and fluffy!   Enjoy!!

This New Years Eve was my cousins youngest son Carsyn (aka Mit-Mit's) birthday and he turned 2 yrs. old. I made chocolate and vanilla cuppies for his party @ Chucky Cheese! You can never go wrong with a basic vanilla and chocolate recipe. Try it...You might like it :))

The B-day boy...Mr. Carsyn!!