Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes with Honey Buttercream

These cupcakes are one of my favourites for summer. I love the light lemony taste and the surprise of fresh strawberries in the cake. I have posted the recipe here. I made these for a BBQ for Victoria Day weekend and I loved the photos and had to share. 

It turned out to be a gorgeous weekend for the long weekend. They were calling for rain but it never came! I wanted something fresh and bright for the BBQ since the weather was starting to warm up, I wanted a desert that reflected that.  Plus the lemon syrup from this recipe did double duty in Sangria (recipe to come)! 

My roommate (and friends) seriously thought I was crazy, bringing my cupcakes (and props) outside to take photos in the grass. I would think they were used to my "cupcake photo shoots" by now but I guess leaving the kitchen was just too much for them to handle. Lol.  I love how the photos turned out and am so glad I didn't listen to their teasing. Do your friends bug you for taking blog photos? 

Toasted Coconut and Lemon Cupcakes

As promised, the recipe for the Toasted Coconut and Lemon Cupcakes that I posted yesterday. They were a hit with my family and friends this Easter. Lemon and coconut is such a classic combination. The cupcake itself had a nice light texture and the tartness from the lemon cut the sweetness of the buttercream.

For the Cupcake: 

Adapted from: Brown Eyed Baker

Makes 12

Ingredients: 

1 Cup all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon baking power

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup shredded coconut 

1/2 unsalted butter, at room temp 

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 egg whites (save yolks for Lemon Filling)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners. 

In a medium bowl whisk together first four dry ingredients

In a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, (or with a hand mixer) beat together butter and sugar, until light and fluffy

Beat in egg, egg whites and vanilla until completely combined

With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with coconut milk, beat until combined

Divide batter between cupcake liners, filling 2/3s full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean

Remove from oven. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then transfer to wire rack and allow cupcakes to cool completely before filling and frosting. 

Lemon Filling

I used Wilton's Lemon Filling Recipe. Its perfect because it needs 2 egg yolks and it thickens nicely. Allow it to cool before filling. 

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter

3-4 cups icing sugar 

3 teaspoons vanilla 

2 tablespoons heavy cream 

Beat butter until light and fluffy. Beat in icing sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in vanilla and cream.

Toasted Coconut

1 Cup Shredded Coconut 

Preheat Oven to 350. Spread Coconut out on rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 3-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Watch it closely - it burns quickly! 

To assemble: 

Fit pipping bag with round tip - (I used Wilton Tip 10). Fill bag half way full with cooled Lemon Filling. Push tip in center of cooled cupcake and gently squeeze lemon filling into cupcake. 

Frost Cupcakes as desired (I used a large round tip to get a mound of icing). Using a shallow dish, roll outside rim of cupcake in toasted coconut. Top with mini eggs. Enjoy! 

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes a couple of weeks ago for the boyfriend's birthday and just haven't gotten a chance to post them. I was torn about what to make; alcoholic and chocolate cupcakes are always a hit but they are my go to. I wanted something different. Lemon Meringue Pie is one of his favourites so I thought I would go with the cupcake form. 

I used this recipe from Living Eventfully that I have had pinned on my cupcake board on Pinterest for the longest time. I halved the recipe since over 30 cupcakes was a bit much and found the 15 or so the half recipe made to be perfect. 

I was most worried about making the meringue frosting. Egg whites either love me or hate me. They seemed to be on my side this time. The frosting was super light and airy. It was perfect. I have yet to invest in a kitchen torch so I used the broiler on the oven and watched them like a hawk until they were lightly toasted. 

I used the cone method to fill the cupcakes with the lemon curd.  I love the looked peoples faces when they find out the cupcakes are filled. The best is when people ask how I got the filling in the cupcake. The cupcakes were a hit all around and the boy said they are some of his favourites so I am sure they will be requested again in the future. 

Have a good monday! 

- Jaclyn 

David's Tea Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon Filling and Honey Buttercream

 

I have a serious addiction to tea. I cannot go by David's Tea without walking into the store and once I am there I have to get some tea and usually buy a sample pack to take home. Its a serious but delicious problem. My tea cupboard is starting to over flow (yes I do have an entire cupboard dedicated to tea. Don't judge.) I also love cupcakes. So I thought it was about time I combine these two loves. And here you have it the love child of tea and cupcakes. My Earl Grey lemon filled honey buttercream topped cupcakes.

For the cake (makes 24):
1 c unsalted butter at room temp
2 c sugar
4 eggs
1 1/4 c milk
2 tsp David's Tea Cream of Earl Grey
2 tsp David's Tea Decaf Earl Grey
4 Earl Grey Tea bags
3 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking soda

Directions

In small sauce pan on the stove combine milk, loose leaf teas and 2 tea bags. Heat until milk starts to boil. Once milk is boiling remove from heat and let sit for 15-30 mins

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar and beat until combined. Beat in eggs one at a time. Making sure to beat well after each addition.  Sift together flour, salt, baking soda and tea from remaining 2 tea bags.  Remove tea bags from milk mixture and strain out loose leaf tea. Mix in half of the flour mixture.Then add milk and tea mixture. Finally mix in remaining flour mixture.  

Fill cupcake pans about 2/3 to 3/4 full.  Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in centre of cupcake comes out clean. 

For the Lemon Curd: 

3 eggs

1 c sugar

1/4 c butter, melted

1/2 fresh lemon juice 

zest from 1 lemon 

In a double boiler whisk together eggs and sugar. Add butter, lemon juice and zest. Stir constantly for about 15-20 minutes or until mixture coats back of spoon. (Don't worry if it doesn't thicken up right away. It took a while for mine to thicken before I realized a lot of the water had evaporated from my double boiler...oops)

For the Icing: 

1 c butter at room temp

1/4 c honey 

3-6 c icing sugar 

Beat butter until light and fluffy. Add icing sugar cup at a time until you reach your desired sweetness/consistency. Add honey to taste (I used about 1/4 cup but it will depend on the type of honey you are using and how strong you want your flavour to be). 

Assembling the cupcake:

Cut a cone out of each of your cupcakes. Fill with about 1 tbs of lemon curd. Ice cupcakes as desired. 

Notes: I found that this recipe made the perfect amount of lemon curd and icing for the 24 cupcakes. If you like a lot of icing I suggest you double the recipe as it was just enough icing. 

You can use any type of Earl Grey tea you have on hand. I found mixing the 3 different earl greys gave  a stronger tea flavour in the cupcake overall. 

Enjoy! 

Jaclyn

Strawberry and Lemon Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

My friends have caught onto the fact that I love to make cupcakes and have begun to request cupcakes for their birthdays. Usually they come to me with a recipe, a specific flavour combination or send me a cupcake that they have pinned. My one friend however decided to give me a long list of about 10 different items that she liked and asked me to pick a few and make her a cupcake. 

Lemon, strawberries, honey and cheese cake were all on her list and stuck out at me. So I decided to make her a Strawberry Lemon cupcake with Honey Cream Cheese icing.  I had made the cake part of the cupcake before and used an Annie's Eats recipe (surprise, surprise).  It was my first time making the honey icing and it turned out great. It is one of my new favourites for sure. Now I just need to think of something else that will go well with honey! 

Ingredients:

For the cake: 

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. lemon zest

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped

Lemon Syrup 

1/2 cup water 

1/2 sugar 

2tsp lemon zest 

juice from 1/2 a lemon 

Icing: 

1 (8oz) package cream cheese 

1/4 butter 

1/4-1/2 honey 

1-2 cups icing sugar 

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Line muffin pans with paper liners.  In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest.  Stir together with a fork and set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until it is light and fluffy.  Add the sugar and beat until well combined.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.  Add half of the flour mixture to the bowl and beat on low speed until just incorporated.  Add in the milk and mix until smooth.  Add in the remaining flour mixture and mix on low speed until just blended.  Fold in the fresh strawberries with a spatula.
Divide the batter evenly between the paper liners, filling them about 3/4 full.  Bake about 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the syrup bring water to a boil in a small pot. Add sugar, lemon zest and juice to the water. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Let simmer for a couple of minutes or until syrup has thickened slightly. 

To make the icing beat together cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.  Add in 1 cup icing sugar, beat until combined. Add 1/4 cup honey.  Keep adding honey and sugar until desired taste/sweetness is reached.  ( I think I used just over a cup of icing sugar to add sweetness and volume to the icing and around 1/2 a cup of honey. I stopped adding the honey once I could clearly taste honey flavour in the icing). 

Enjoy!
Jaclyn

Ps. Did you notice I ran out of cupcake liners and had to use both Disney Princess and Black and White Flower ones.