We are in the midst of summer and all I crave constantly are refreshing fruits, salads, vinaigrette-based pastas, barbecued meats, and ice pops. Yesterday, Court invited Kevin and I to her home for a cook out and asked if I could bring my famous (amongst our friends) cupcakes. I had initially planned on bringing my tomato basil pasta salad because I had yet another pasta salad craving this weekend, but Court insisted I bring some cupcakes. Whenever there is an event going on, our friends always ask me to bring my cupcakes. This time around, I wanted to make some refreshing cupcakes, so I decided to make lemon strawberry cupcakes, a spin on my strawberry cupcakes. I decided to combine my love for lemons and strawberries into lemon strawberry cupcakes since I tend to make strawberry lemonade a lot during the summer. The sweetness from the sun ripened strawberries combined with the tartness from the fresh lemons are just the perfect pairing for a refreshing summer dessert. Summer time is also a wonderful time for pool days and after dinner evening strolls. The only downside to summer is the unavoidable battle with mosquitos. For some reason, I can’t seem to go for a walk outside and not get at least one mosquito bite. I find myself having to cover my arms and legs in bug spray constantly. Luckily, I love cooking and baking and both activities do not require me to go outside too often. I started working on my lemon strawberry cupcakes early Saturday morning. I left a pound of butter out on my kitchen counter to come to room temperature. I had to double my usual cupcake recipe to make enough for everyone at the cook out. The base for my cupcake recipe is the same as my strawberry cupcake recipe. I folded in the zest from a lemon to add a refreshing lemon flavor to the cupcakes. Once the cupcakes were prepared, I let them cool before frosting them with lemon strawberry buttercream frosting. My lemon strawberry frosting starts off with room temperature butter. I then slowly fold in confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, pureed strawberries (strained to remove the seeds), and some vanilla extract. All of the ingredients continue to get gently stirred until the frosting turns into a fluffy buttercream consistency. My favorite part of making cupcakes is decorating each cupcake individually. I had some candy Sixlets and topped half of the cupcakes with the candy-coated chocolate pieces. By the time I finished decorating my lemon strawberry cupcakes, the temperature in our home was on the warmer side from all of the baking. I placed the cupcakes into the cupcake carrier I got as a gift from Ada and popped the entire carrier into the refrigerator to set and stay cool. In the evening, we headed over to Court’s place for a chill Saturday night of food and conversations. It made for the perfect ending to a hectic week.
Lemon Strawberry Cupcakes
(Makes 12 cupcakes)
For the lemon strawberry cupcakes:
· 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
· 1½ teaspoons baking powder
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· Zest of a small lemon
· ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
· ¾ cup granulated sugar
· 2 large eggs, room temperature
· ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
· ½ cup pureed strawberries, strained to remove the seeds
· ¼ cup whole milk
For the lemon strawberry frosting:
· ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
· 1½ tablespoons pureed strawberries, strained to remove the seeds
· Juice of half of a small lemon
· ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
· 2-3 cups confectioners’ sugar
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2) In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Set aside.
3) In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the vanilla extract, and pureed strawberries. Mix until combined. Add half of the flour mixture, and half of the milk. Stir to combine all of the ingredients. Add the remaining flour mixture and milk. Combine until the batter is smooth.
4) Distribute the batter evenly into the muffin tin lined with cupcake liners.
5) Bake the cupcakes in the center rack of the oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool completely before frosting.
6) To make the frosting, combine the butter, pureed strawberries, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Mix well. Add the confectioners’ sugar half a cup at a time and mix until desired consistency is achieved. You may not need to use all 3 cups of confectioners' sugar.
7) To decorate the cupcakes, use a large star tip and pastry bag. Make large swirls on top of the cupcakes, starting at the outer edge and finishing at the center. If desired, you can top each cupcake with a piece of candy-coated chocolate.
Kevin snapped a photo of me preparing to decorate my lemon strawberry cupcakes.
Takeaways: This recipe yields a dozen cupcakes. I doubled the recipe to make 24 cupcakes. When making cupcakes, I like to prepare and measure out all of the ingredients ahead of time to make sure they are ready when I need them. The mixing process goes pretty quickly. Having all of the ingredients already measured and prepared also helps with keeping track of each step.
For more cupcake recipe ideas, check out some of my other favorite cupcakes.
· Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes
· Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Frosting
· Green Tea Cupcakes
· Rainbow Cereal Cupcakes
· Strawberry Cupcakes
· Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cupcakes
You can also try my savory rosemary and cheddar cupcakes.