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!