Oh, I have a sweet tooth

I try and hide it and most days I succeed.
Search my pantry.
Take a quick peak behind the easter candy
{yes, my children have not finished their easter candy and I am o.k. with that}
You won't find a stash of cookies or candy bars.
That happens on purpose.
If I don't put it in my cart, it won't end up in my cupboards or on my hips.
If there isn't any "junk"to be found and I am craving something sweet the only thing that will give me that sweet release is a piece of fruit.

But,Every now and then my sweet tooth rears it's ugly head.
It doesn't happen very often but when it does oh, look out!
I can't flip through a magazine without having visions of sweet treats.


Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes {makes 12 cupcakes}

What you need:

1 cup sugar

6 tablespoons butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup milk

grated zest of two lemons & 3tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream butter, sugar, and eggs together until fluffy. Add vanilla, lemon juice & lemon zest

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the milk. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients.

Pour into cupcake tins and bake for 20-25 mins at 350. Let cool, then frost.



Strawberry and Lemon Buttercream

1 cup butter, at room temperature

3 cups of powdered sugar + 1 cup extra

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 -1/2 cup chopped strawberries

grated zest of two lemons

1-2 tablespoons of milk (just have on hand if needed)

In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream butter until smooth. Add in powdered sugar slowly with the mixer on low, increasing to combine. Add in vanilla extract. At this point you need to separate the frosting in two. It all depends on how much you want to frost each cupcake. I choose to take about 3/4 of the mixture and make it strawberry, with the rest being lemon. Whichever you decide to do, leave the frosting for the strawberry IN THE MIXER. Put the frosting for the lemon flavor in a separate bowl.

For the strawberry frosting: once the berries are chopped, press them with a paper towel to just release any extra moisture. Add 1/4 cup of the berries and turn the mixer on high, scraping down the sides as you go. Being that strawberries have a high water content, you may need to add some (or all) of the extra cup of powdered sugar. This will depend on the water content of YOUR strawberries, so add 1/4 cup, then more sugar if needed. Repeat until desired flavor/consistency is readers.

For lemon frosting: take the remaining butter mixture and either add it to a clean bowl of your electric mixer or a bowl large enough that you can whisk with some elbow grease. Fold in lemon zest and add milk if needed. I was able to do this by hand with a whisk (whisking VERY hard), but it will also work with an electric mixer.  

Just An Update....


The cupcakes were a huge success!
Next time we will double the recipe because they went so fast and I think we will be adding more strawberries to the buttercream for a sweeter kick.