Small Batch Cupcakes – Makes 6

small-batch-cupcakesSometimes you just want a small batch of cupcakes. Maybe you’re having a few friends over for dinner, or making a special meal for yourself and your partner. Even a single 8-inch round layer cake can be too much, but cutting recipes down further – especially when eggs are involved – can be a challenge.

This recipe is adapted from one I found at The Baking Fairy, which was designed for wedding cake tastings. Once you have your batter base, you could very easily flavor it many different ways, using vanilla, almond, citrus, and so forth. I chose fiori di sicilia, a delightful vanilla/citrus extract often used in Italian baked goods like panettone, and paired it with a vanilla almond buttercream. The end result is absolutely delicious, sort of like a creamsicle but with more depth of flavor.

Note: the original recipe was said to yield 4 cupcakes, but mine yielded 6.

Small Batch Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • dash of salt
  • 4 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 6 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 6 drops fiori di sicilia*
  • 3 tablespoons milk

*Yes, I use a medicine dropper for this, because it’s a very powerful flavor. If you don’t have a dropper and want to use fiori di sicilia, use about 1/8 teaspoon. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake tin with 6 paper liners.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until very well-blended. Add egg, vanilla, and fiori di sicilia and beat until combined.

Add flour and milk alternatively in two batches, beginning and ending with the flour and beating until completely combined.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of batter into each cupcake well.

Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and immediately place cupcakes on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Small Batch Buttercream

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons milk

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Add powdered sugar all at once, then beat on low speed until all of the sugar is incorporated into the butter; this will take a few minutes, and you’ll need to scrape the bowl a few times to get all of the sugar to incorporate properly, since you’re working with such a small batch. Once sugar is incorporated, beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.

Add vanilla extract, almond extract, and milk, then beat for another 1-2 minutes.

Frost cupcakes using a small offset spatula; you should have just enough for a generous portion on each, with a little bit left over.

Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Gingerbread Cake with Molasses Cream Cheese Frosting

gingerbread-cakeThis Christmas, I wanted to make something different for dessert, and I found this amazing recipe on Pinterest. Sometimes you never know with Pinterest recipes – but this one is top-notch.

Adapted from a recipe at Great Grub, Delicious Treats (which was adapted from a recipe from Better Homes & Gardens), this cake and frosting are absolutely delicious. I added allspice and cloves to my batter in addition to the ginger and cinnamon, and I’m very glad I did. My mom and I couldn’t decide whether we liked the cake or the frosting best, and Mike is yet to weigh in. Either way, this cake was a huge hit after our Christmas dinner yesterday.

I cut the original recipe in half for a single layer for just the three of us, and I cut the frosting recipe in half as well, but it was still far too much. The measurements below are adapted further for what I believe would be an appropriate amount of frosting for a single layer 9-inch cake; I have a ton left over in my fridge, which will probably go in cupcakes this week.

Gingerbread Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 3/4 tsp ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/8 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 6 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup water

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan and line with a circle of parchment; lightly grease the parchment.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.

In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and brown sugar until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl well. Add molasses and egg and beat well to combine.

Add flour mixture and water alternatively in three batches, starting and ending with the flour and mixing to combine between each.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 28-32 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Be careful not to over-bake this cake, as the sides can easily burn.

Cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Molasses Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon molasses
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups powdered sugar

Preparation

In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese until combined, about 2-3 minutes.

Add molasses and vanilla, beating well to combine. Scrape down your bowl well.

Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating to completely combine; continue to beat for 1-2 minutes, scraping the bowl well, to reach an easily spreadable consistency.

Frost top and sides of cake.

Store in the refrigerator, but let the cake sit at room temperature for about 30-45 minutes before serving.

 

Black Forest Cupcakes

black-forest-cupcake-1My cube mates and I all have nutcrackers on our desks for the holidays. Because we’re writers, we’ve decided that these nutcrackers need personalities and back stories. My nutcracker, Karl Henrik, hails from a tiny hamlet deep in the Black Forest…which made me really want to make Black Forest cupcakes.

This treat is much more fun to say in German: Schwartzwalder kirschtorte. Technically, this recipe is a very American adaptation on the German classic; it uses a dark chocolate cupcake recipe I’ve baked many times before, cherry pie filling (because one cannot find fresh tart cherries in Pittsburgh in December), and a kirsch-flavored whipped cream frosting. Mike proclaimed this cupcake delicious, whether it’s true to the original recipe or not. Someday, I’ll make a real Black Forest cake, but for now these treats will do!

Ingredients

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup water
  • Cherry pie filling*

*You’ll need half of a 21-ounce can; you can reserve the other half, as well as your cupcake cores, for a cherry chocolate trifle later on. 

Kirsch Whipped Cream Frosting

  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 tablespoon kirsch (cherry brandy)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well-blended, then make three wells for the wet ingredients.

Place vinegar, vanilla, and vegetable oil into the wells; add water and mix until the batter is smooth. The mixture will bubble up slightly when you add the water, so just keep mixing until you get a smooth consistency in the batter, which will be fairly thin.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop batter into cupcake wells, filling no more than 3/4 full.

Bake for 13-16 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Immediately remove cupcakes to a wire rack to cool.

Once cupcakes are completely cool, use a small knife to cut into the center of each cupcake at a 45-degree angle, about 1/8 inch from the edge, all the way around. Remove the core and reserve for another use (like a cherry-chocolate trifle, for example).

Spoon cherry pie filling into each center, being careful not to over-fill (which I definitely did). You should be able to fit about two cherries in each.

For the frosting: place heavy cream in a mixing bowl and, using your whisk attachment, beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and kirsch, beating on high speed for another 2-3 minutes, until stiff peaks form.

Fit a piping bag with a large plain tip and pipe frosting onto cupcakes; gently smooth with an offset spatula to cover most of the top of the cupcake.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Old-Fashioned Vanilla Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

old-fashioned-cupcakes-with-pb-frostingThis recipe is slightly adapted from Trisha Yearwood’s on the Food Network site. While it yields a delicious treat, I must say that the cupcake is much sturdier than I expected it to be. It’s almost like a pound cake cupcake, so if I ever make these again, I’ll probably pair them with a different frosting.

The frosting, however, is absolutely delicious. I tweaked mine to add more milk and vanilla for a fluffier, creamier texture than the original. I also want to note that the original said it yielded 12 cupcakes, but it really makes 24, so you’ll have plenty to share.

Old Fashioned Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.

Add flour mixture and milk in alternatively in three batches, beginning and ending with the flour. Add vanilla and beat until combined.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of batter in cupcake wells, filling about 3/4 full.

Bake for 16-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and place cupcakes on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, beat butter and peanut butter on medium speed for about 3 minutes.

Add 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1/4 cup milk; beat on medium speed until well-combined, about 3-4 minutes.

Add remaining powdered sugar and beat for another 1-2 minutes, then slowly add remaining milk, about 1 tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is a smooth, spreadable consistency.

Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of frosting onto cupcakes; spread with an offset spatula.

Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

 

Toasted Almond Cupcakes

toasted-almond-cupcakesIn the spirit of Pittsburgh’s famous burnt almond torte, I give you these toasted almond cupcakes. I have to admit: I like toasted, not burnt, almonds better, but you can certainly cook yours for longer if you prefer the burnt kind.

The next time I make these cupcakes, I’ll fill them with some almond pastry cream, but they’re absolutely delicious no matter what. While they may look fancy, they’re actually very easy to prepare; just put a simple white almond cupcake together with some almond buttercream, then add your toasted almonds on top. I recommend making your cupcakes first, then toasting your almonds, then making your frosting so the cupcakes and almonds are both cool enough to use.

Makes 16 cupcakes.

White Almond Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 3/4 cup milk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners.

In a small bowl, combine flour and baking powder; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together sugar, shortening, and salt until fluffy.

Add egg, vanilla, and almond; beat until combined.

Add flour mixture and milk in alternating batches, starting and ending with the flour and beating until just combined.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of batter into each cupcake well, filling about half full.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and immediately place cupcakes on wire racks to cool before frosting.

Toasted Almonds

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup sliced almonds
  • 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon water

Preparation

In a medium bowl, combine almonds, sugar, and water; stir to combine.

Place mixture in a saute pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring regularly, for about 5-7 minutes until almonds turn a light golden brown. Almonds will start out looking wet and will appear dry when they are almost done.

Remove from heat and pour onto a platter to cool completely before using.

Fluffy Almond Buttercream

Ingredients

  • 10 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons almond extract
  • 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, beat butter for about 1 minute.

Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until all of the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter; this will take a few minutes.

Add vanilla extract and almond extract, beating well to combine.

Add heavy cream and beat for about 2 minutes until fluffy.

To frost and decorate the cupcakes: fit a 14-inch pastry bag with a Wilton 1M tip and pipe generous swirls of frosting onto each cupcake. Sprinkle toasted almonds onto each cupcake, gently pressing them into the frosting so they stick.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.

 

 

Halloween Cake

halloween-cakeYesterday’s witch’s brew cupcakes left me with about a cup and a half of cauldron-worthy green frosting and some bat mix sprinkles, so I decided to whip up a one-layer cake for Mike to take to his office tomorrow.

The cake recipe comes from the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook and is called “busy day cake,” aptly named for its ease in preparation. You just put your ingredients into a mixing bowl beat them for a few minutes, then pour the batter – which will be lumpy, but that’s fine – into your pan and bake it. The original recipe called for a broiled coconut topping on this cake, which I may make someday.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/3 cups flour
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • About 1 1/2 cups vanilla buttercream, tinted yellow-green (cut the original recipe in half to yield this amount)
  • Wilton Bat Sprinkles

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch round cake pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and baking powder. Add milk, butter, egg, and vanilla; beat on low speed until combined, then beat on medium for 1 minute.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for about 30 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Prepare frosting, then frost top and sides of cake.

Pour bat sprinkles into a bowl and gently place the bats on the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle remaining orange and green sprinkles over the top of the cake.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Crime Scene Cupcakes

crime-scene-cupcakesWant a fun Halloween cupcake? Make these. Seriously – they might be the most fun, creative cupcake I’ve ever made…and they’re incredibly easy to prepare.

When my colleague Rose asked if I’d bake for her Halloween party and come up with some creepy options, a “blood-spattered” cupcake instantly came to mind. While you can make edible blood with all manner of things, I chose to go with raspberry jam, tinted with red gel food coloring to make it more red than raspberry. You could certainly make any flavor of cupcake for these, and I look forward to making some vanilla ones in the future.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup water

For the frosting and blood spatter

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; this recipe yields 16 cupcakes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well-blended, then make three wells for the wet ingredients.

Place vinegar, vanilla, and vegetable oil into the wells; add water and mix until the batter is smooth. The mixture will bubble up slightly when you add the water, so just keep mixing until you get a smooth consistency in the batter, which will be fairly thin.

Use a 1/4 cup measure to fill the cupcake wells about half full.

Bake for 13-15 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on wire racks.

Prepare the frosting and fit a 14-inch piping bag with a large plain tip. Pipe generous portions of frosting onto each cupcake, then flatten out each blob with a small offset spatula.

Stir together raspberry jam and red gel food coloring to your desired shade.

Using a teaspoon from your flatware, drop, drizzle, or splatter jam onto each cupcake. If you like, lightly drag a toothpick through the jam splatters to extend the splattered effect.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.

crime-scene-cupcakes-2Here’s the dozen that went to the party – I hope they’re a hit!

 

 

Witch’s Brew Cupcakes

witch-brew-cupcakesAs a person who recently had to give up chocolate because of migraines, I’ve come to sincerely appreciate vanilla. These witch’s brew cupcakes feature a vanilla cupcakes frosted with vanilla buttercream – perfect for those of us who can’t eat chocolate (or simply don’t like it, which I find astonishing).

The bat sprinkles are a Wilton product, which I bought at Target; you can probably find them at your local craft store as well. For a full batch of these cupcakes – which yields 17 – you’ll need two bottles of sprinkles. I mixed up my sprinkles a bit after dipping every few cupcakes to make sure that all of the cupcakes got a few bats.

 

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups cake flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/2 cup sour milk*
  • 1 recipe vanilla buttercream
  • Leaf green gel food coloring**
  • Golden yellow gel food coloring**
  • Wilton Bat Sprinkles

*To make sour milk, place 1/2 tablespoon in a glass measuring cup and add enough milk to equal one-half cup total. Stir; let stand for 5 minutes before using. 

**Leaf green and golden yellow gel food coloring are both made by Wilton and should be available to your local craft store. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with paper liners; this recipe yields 17 cupcakes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Place eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and continue to beat for another 30 seconds.

Add vanilla and canola oil and beat on medium speed for 1 minute.

Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternatively in three batches, beginning and ending with the flour, scraping the sides of the bowl frequently. Batter will be very thin.

Using a quarter-cup measuring cup, scoop batter into prepared cupcake liners, filling half full.

Bake for 12-13 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before frosting.

Prepare your frosting and use both leaf green and golden yellow gel food coloring to tint to a bright yellow-green.

Fit a 14-inch piping bag with a the Wilton M1 tip and pipe generous swirls of frosting onto each cupcake.

Place bat sprinkles in a bowl and carefully dip frosted cupcakes into the sprinkles.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.

Apple Honey Cake

apple-honey-cake

L’shana tovah, friends! Rosh hashanah began tonight at sunset, and we’re celebrating the new Jewish year. Tonight we begin the Days of Awe, also known as the High Holy Days, which end at yom kippur, the Day of Atonement. Although I’m the Catholic one in our interfaith household, I absolutely love this time of year.

Sweet foods figure heavily in rosh hashanah celebrations, in keeping with wishes for a sweet new year. This apple honey cake combines two traditional rosh hashanah foods, apples and honey, in a delicious treat. The recipe below comes from the fine folks at chabad.org, and I added a thick powdered sugar drizzle icing just to dress it up a bit.

This cake is a dense, almost bread pudding-like treat with great apple, honey, and cinnamon flavor. Next time, I’ll probably add more allspice to the batter, and Mike has requested raisins as well (although I’d rather add something like pecans). Whatever you choose, I hope you have a sweet new year!

Ingredients 

For the cake

  • 2 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 apples, peeled, cored, and grated (I used 2 Granny Smith and 2 Gala; you want a combination of sweet and tart)

For the drizzle

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons water

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease a bundt pan (or spray with baking spray).

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and allspice; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat sugars and applesauce to combine. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add honey and vanilla and beat to combine.

Add flour mixture and beat to combine. Fold in grated apples.

Pour batter into prepared bundt pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the thickest part of the cake comes out clean.

Cool in pan for about 15 minutes, then turn onto a rack or cake plate to cool completely. I cooled my cake on a wire rack, and the bottom did stick to it a bit; this was fine in the end, because after all, you serve a bundt round-side-up anyway.

A few hours before serving, prepare the drizzle. Combine powdered sugar, vanilla, and water in a small bowl until you have a thick drizzling consistency. Pour drizzle into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (or use a small zip-top bag with the corner cut off) and drizzle over cake.

Store at room temperature for up to 3 days; the moisture in the cake will make the bottom a bit gooey, but with all of the moisture in this cake, that’s not a surprise.

Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes

lemon raspberry cupcakesSummer is coming to an end, but you wouldn’t know it by the weather in Pittsburgh today. It’s in the 90s, with humidity through the roof. And when I think of summer flavors – fitting for a day like this – I think of lemon and raspberry.

These cupcakes are a delightful blend of sweet and tart, combining a lemon cupcake with raspberry filling and lemon buttercream frosting. The most labor-intensive part of this recipe is the straining of the raspberry filling; in order to get a seedless result, you’ve got to spend several minutes pressing the mixture through a fine sieve. You could certainly buy raspberry filling at your local baking supply shop if you’d like to save time, but there’s something very rewarding about making your own.

 Raspberry Filling

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces raspberries, mashed
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 4 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Preparation

In a medium saucepan, stir together raspberries, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until the mixture boils, then allow it to boil for 1 minute, stirring well, until the mixture thickens.

Remove from heat and press through a fine sieve to filter out the seeds. Allow to cool before using; makes about 1 cup. Once you fill your cupcakes, you’ll have a small amount of filling left over that you can use as you like.

Lemon Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons butter, slightly softened
  • 1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 1 egg
  • zest of 1 medium lemon
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two 12-inch muffin ups with paper liners; this recipe made 17 cupcakes for me.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon extract. Add egg and beat well, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add lemon zest and beat until combined.

Add flour mixture and milk alternatively, in three batches, beating until combined.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into prepared muffin tins, filling about half full.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool completely before filling and frosting.

Lemon Buttercream

Ingredients

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 3/4 teaspoon lemon extract

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for about 2 minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until fully incorporated, about 3-4 minutes.

Add lemon juice and lemon extract and beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until fluffy.

To assemble the cupcakes:

Using the small end of a melon baller, scoop out a small amount of cake from the center of each cupcake; reserve for a trifle or another use.

Fit a piping bag with a large plain tip; twist the tip end of the bag so the filling doesn’t start to run out when you pour it in. Fill the bag, then carefully pipe filling into each cupcake.

Fit a 14-inch piping bag with a Wilton M1 tip and pipe swirls of frosting onto each cupcake.

Store in an airtight container at a cool room temperature for up to 3 days.

lemon raspberry cupcakes 2Here’s a look inside the cupcakes.