Cupcake Madness: Part Deux

I’ve had the craziest sweet tooth lately, I’ll post some ‘regular’ food soon, but for now it’s still Cupcake Madness! As promised here is cupcake #2 in my Sweet Six. I decided to try something a little different, so I combined some of my favorite ingredients to make these babies. Well, it was more like what I could make with ingredients I already had stocked in my fridge and pantry. So here they are:

Lemon & Cranberry Soda Cupcakes with Lemon-Lime Buttercream Frosting

Adapted from Bakerella’s Vanilla Cupcakes

Cook Time: About 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings: Makes about 24 Cupcakes

Ingredients (Little Commentary Needed, Super Easy to Make)

Cake:

3 Cups of Self-Rising Flour – Sifted

1 cup of unsalted butter – this is 2 stick of butter, always at room temperature

2 Cups of Sugar

4 Eggs – at room temperature

1 Cup of Cranberry Soda – I used an Italian Sparkling Soda. Have another soda you love? Try it with Blood Orange Soda, or maybe Pink Lemonade, perhaps Strawberry. The sky’s the limit.

1 Teaspoon of Lemon Extract

Lemon-Lime Buttercream Frosting

3 Sticks of Unsalted Butter – at room temperature

3-6 Cups of Powdered Sugar

1/2 Teaspoon of Lemon Extract

1/2 Teaspoon of Pure Vanilla Extract

Zest of 1 Lime

Cream butter on medium speed, add lemon and vanilla extract. Mix in half of the lime zest. Add sugar one cup at a time. The reason why I said 3-6 cups of powdered sugar is because I don’t really like frosting that is super sweet. If you are using more than six cups of sugar then damn, you have the biggest sweet tooth EVER! 🙂

If using a piping bag to frost the cupcakes then you might want to double this recipe, but again, please add sugar one cup at a time. Taste and play with the consistency, until it is to your liking. If you are just frosting the cakes with a knife (like the pictures below), then this should be fine. You can use the other half of the lime zest to top the cupcakes. I call it zest sprinkles, super fresh!

For Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease muffin pan, I use a baking spray infused with flour. While the oven is preheating sift your flour, set aside. Then with a mixer, cream your butter (about 3 minutes on medium speed), and add sugar. Cream for another 5-8 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, blending thoroughly after each addition. Turn your mixer down to a low (stirring) speed and add the sifted flour, alternating with the cranberry soda. Always end with the flour. Divide the batter using an ice cream scooper, or a 1/4 measuring cup. Slightly hold the muffin pan about 2-3 inches off the counter and drop the pans back onto the counter. Again this is a cool trick I learned from bakerella to release air bubbles so that your cakes will be more even. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of the cupcakes, if you can remove the toothpick with no batter then they are ready. Please Note: These cupcakes cook relatively quickly so watch them very carefully around the 15 minute mark, that way they will not burn and/or dry out. Let cool for about 5 minutes in the pan, and then take them out and immediately wrap with plastic wrap to keep moisture in. Place on a wire rack, and once completely cool, remove plastic wrap and frost. Enjoy!

P.S. I’d like to give a shout out to VCU for representing VA in the FINAL FOUR! You’re on the map now! Still love GMU too.

P.S.S. Went to the National Capital Area Cake Show this weekend, and saw some amazing things. It was hard not to buy everything in sight, especially the edible glitter! I also attended their Cupcake Cocktail Happy Hour, and tasted some great cakes, will be doing a post on the event, so stay tuned.

Tags: Baking, Butter, Buttercream, Comfort Food, Cooking, Cranberry, Culture, Cupcakes, Dessert, Easy Meals, Eggs, Flour, Food, Game, Italian Soda, Lemon, Limes, Side Dishes, Vanilla