Lemon Filled Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream

The last time I made these cupcakes I was not totally happy with the frosting. The last time I didn't have any fresh raspberries or any seedless preserve so I made the frosting with raspberry extract.... Not impressed!

This time I was making these for a customer order and used seedless raspberry preserve for the frosting and it came out divinely!



I also changed up the cupcake batter itself. I started out with my go to vanilla cupcake and then zested an entire lemon into the batter. I seriously cannot express my love for the scent of zested lemons or limes! The citrus smell is just so bright and fresh... it makes me happy!





Ok sorry for my zest tangent.... back to the cupcakes!

Once they were baked and cooled I "cored" the cupcakes and filled them up with lemon curd.





Lastly I piped on my yummy Raspberry Buttercream!





I don't usually taste test my own finished cupcakes... but when there is lemon involved I can not resist! I found them to be mouth watering and I hope my customer feels the same way!

I hope everyone enjoys their week!

Recipe: Raspberry Buttercream

1/2 cup of butter softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp clear vanilla extract
1 tsp raspberry extract
1/4 cup seedless raspberry preserve
pinch of salt
1lb confectionery sugar
water

Directions:
Cream butter and shortening with vanilla, raspberry extract and salt. Beat in raspberry preserve. Add confectionery sugar until incorporated. Add water a tsp at a time to get to desired consistency and mix on medium speed for 30-45 seconds.

Cupcakes and Raspberry Buttercream

Last time I baked lemon filled cupcakes I wished I had made raspberry buttercream to frost them with. This weekend I had the opportunity to make that wish come true :)

I had an order to make 5 dozen assorted cupcakes this weekend. One of the flavors was lemon filled with raspberry buttercream.

I started with basic vanilla cupcakes and this time to fill the cupcakes I used the cone method. What is the cone method you ask? Well........

basically you cut a cone shaped piece of the cupcake out so you can fill it with filling. For these cupcakes I used lemon curd. So tart and refreshing! Once the cupcakes are filled you place the piece of cake you cut out back onto the cupcake.







Now for the frosting I had a moment of failure. I wanted to use raspberry preserves in the frosting.... however, when I bought the preserves I didn't buy seedless like I meant to. I didn't want to have a million raspberry seeds in my frosting so I went for plan B and used the raspberry extract I had and a little bit of red food coloring.



The taste of the frosting was good.... but I know with raspberry preserve it would have been better! Hopefully next time I buy the right thing at the grocery store :)

In addition to my lemon cupcakes I had some extra chocolate cupcakes so I decided to top those off with the raspberry as well!







My house was full of cupcakes this weekend! It was hard not to eat them all! hahaha
I hope everyone has a great week!

Recipe:
Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

1 Cup of softened butter
1 Cup Vegetable shortening
1 tsp vanilla
5 tbsp water
2lbs confectionery sugar
Raspberry extract (to taste)
Red food coloring (optional)

Directions:
Combine butter, shortening, vanilla and water until smooth. Add in confectionery sugar and mix until smooth. Scrape down sides at least once to incorporate all ingredients. Add raspberry extract 1 tsp at a time to get desired flavor. (you can add more water or sugar to get desired consistency) Add and stir in 2-3 drops of food coloring to get pinkish red raspberry color.

Lemon Filled Cupcakes

Lemon used to be one of those flavors I wasn't a fan of until my mid 20's. I am now IN LOVE with Lemon! The light tart taste in my favorite in cake, pie, cookies and of course CUPCAKES!

I decided to whip up a batch this weekend!

I started with a basic vanilla cupcake recipe and added a splash of lemon extract. They baked up beautiful and golden!



For the filling I mixed up some buttercream frosting with lemon curd. The mixture was creamy and tart... seriously the perfect combination!

To fill the cupcakes I used a pastry bag and filling tip. This method always works out fine but next time I think I will try out "the cone" method of filling so I can get more of that delicious lemon flavor in my cupcakes!



I didn't want to go too crazy with the flavors this time so I made a basic buttercream to frost these... next time I think I would like a light fluffy raspberry buttercream. It would be a pairing made in heaven!

To finish off these beauties, I sprinkled some granulated sugar on top and garnished with half of a "Lemonade" Girl Scout Cookie.




It is not often that I eat my finished cupcakes... well because if I did I would have some serious issues.... but this time I could not resist! They were simply marvelous! Quickly becoming a fast favorite of mine :)





I hope everyone enjoys their week!