I wanted to make something light and yummy for spring, so I decided on using strawberries. While looking at recipes on Pinterest, I found one for a yummy lemon cake with lemon-strawberry cream cheese frosting and I was sold! Let’s see how they turned out!
This Week: Strawberry and Lemon Cream Cheese Cupcakes (courtesy of Chatelaine)
Ingredients:
For Frosting
- 250g brick cream cheese, at room temperature
- ½ cup store-bought or homemade lemon curd (see below)
- ½ cup finely chopped strawberries
- 6 small strawberries, hulled and halved
For Cupcakes
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp. lemon zest
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2/3 cup milk
For Lemon Curd
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 3 egg yolks, at room temperature
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 2/3 cup lemon juice
Making the Lemon Curd & Frosting
1. Beat sugar with butter, eggs, egg yolks and salt in a medium saucepan, with an electric mixer on high, until creamy, about one minute.
2. Beat in lemon juice. (Mixture may curdle, but will smooth out during cooking.)
3. Set saucepan over medium-high. Cook, whisking constantly, until curd is thickened and smooth and coats the back of a spoon, 3 to 5 min.
4. Beat cream cheese in a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, until fluffy. Gradually beat in lemon curd until smooth. Refrigerate frosting and strawberries until ready to use.
Making the Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper cups.
3. Combine flour with baking powder and salt.
4. Beat butter with lemon zest in a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy.
5. Gradually beat in sugar until combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then vanilla.
6. Gradually beat in a third of the flour mixture, then half the milk. Repeat additions, ending with remaining third of flour mixture.
7. Spoon into muffin cups, filling three-quarters full.
8. Bake in center of oven until a cake tester inserted in center of cupcakes comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cupcakes cool completely.
9. To assemble, insert a small paring knife 1-inch deep into a cupcake at a 45-degree angle, halfway between the center and the outside edge. Cut out a small cone and save for another use. Repeat with remaining cupcakes. Stir ½ cup finely chopped strawberries into frosting. Fill and frost each cupcake with a palette knife or spoon, then top with a strawberry half.
Final Product
Time Spent in Kitchen: 50 minutes
Rating: 6
This recipe is a little much to do unless you really have the entire night free. Making the lemon curd was actually amazing because the recipe the website gives you makes two cups and you only need half a cup for the frosting. I froze the other cup and a half with strawberries to make a lemon sorbet. Next time, I’d probably add honey to the frosting to add a little sweetness. The recipe was pretty good, but definitely not amazing.
Peace, Love & Pinterest
-Katherine