Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

Ah spring time. If it wasn't for the thin layer of pollen on everything, I'd really be able to enjoy it. I'm loving the fact that it's finally warm out (not that this past winter was that cold anyways) and it stays light later...which is even more awesome now that I finally have some porch furniture and can sit outside and enjoy it.

Of course, with spring comes a whole new set of baking flavors. For me, fall is all about warm spices, winter is spices and peppermint, and spring and summer are about light fresh flavors...like lemon and blueberry! It's a fantastic combination of fruit, and perfect to put in...cupcakes! One of my best friends just moved back to town and had a housewarming party, so I decided to bake some lemon blueberry cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting for her since that recipe has been sitting on my Pinterest board for months just begging to be made.

This recipe made about 16 cupcakes, but it can be give or take a few depending on how much you fill up each cupcake wrapper. You'll want to have the oven at 350, and the pan lined with the liners so the process will be smoother.

Start with 3/4 cup regular all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup cake flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder, and 1/4 tsp salt mixed together in a bowl and set aside.

Then you'll combine 8 tbsp room-temperature butter, 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar, and the zest of a whole lemon to be mixed together on medium speed for about 2 minutes...just until it's light and fluffy!

 Then add in two eggs (one at a time, and beat about 20 seconds after each addition), plus 1 tsp vanilla extract and 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice.

Once all those ingredients are mixed well together, you'll add in half of the dry ingredients and mix well for a couple minutes, then add 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp milk, mix well, and then add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is perfect.

Once the batter is done, in a separate bowl, toss about a cup of fresh blueberries with 2 tbsp flour (this helps them not sink in the cupcake batter as they bake), and then lightly fold the berries into the batter with a spatula.

 Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 with batter and bake for about 22 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean!

Now for the frosting!!!! I do love a good cream cheese frosting, and with a lemon kick to it? So awesome.

You'll start by beating 8 oz of cream cheese and 5 tbsp room temperature butter for a few minutes until well nice and smooth.

 After you add in the zest from one lemon and a tbsp of fresh lemon juice, mix in 3 cups of confectioner's sugar, one at a time, until you have a good consistency for your frosting. You'll want to beat the frosting for a couple minutes at medium speed to make sure there are no sugar clusters in the frosting.

After frosting the cupcakes, I topped them off with some fresh blueberries!

These were seriously delicious. They were light, fresh, and the lemon flavoring wasn't too powerful, just enough of a sour kick to them. I think my favorite part of these cupcakes had to be when you got a bite with a blueberry (not the ones on top, the ones in the batter) and you get a rush of juiciness in your mouth. It was a refreshing flavor combo that's for sure, and I have a few other lemon-blueberry recipes that will definitely be made in the next couple months!

Eggnog Cupcakes

In the continued spirit of the Christmas season, I decided to try a new festive recipe, Eggnog Cupcakes! Eggnog, while very delicious, is so thick, so it's hard to drink too much of it. So the best way to get the flavor of it is to put it in to recipes! I've made Eggnog ice cream before, so when I saw a recipe for Eggnog Cupcakes, I just knew I would be making them this holiday season. 

This recipe makes about 18 cupcakes. If you only want to make a dozen cupcakes, just do 2/3 of each ingredient (yes, sometimes baking means doing math...it's not just a science!)

First, you combine 2 1/4 cups flour, 3/4 tsp baking soda, 3/4 tsp baking powder, 3/8 tsp salt, and 3/4 tsp nutmeg (my apartment ended up smelling like nutmeg the rest of the day...not a bad thing). I used my whisk to make sure the ingredients were mixed well together.

Then you beat 3/4 cup unsalted butter that's been softened to room temperature and 1 1/2 cup sugar until it's light and fluffy, which takes about 3 minutes on medium/high speed.

Then you add in 3 eggs, one at a time, and make sure each is incorporated well before adding in the next one.

Once the eggs are all added in, you'll alternate the dry ingredients with the Eggnog!

You'll use a total of 1 1/2 cups of Eggnog, so you'll do 1/3 the dry ingredients, 1/2 cup eggnog, and then do that two more times. Once everything is combined and the batter is smooth, you spoon the batter into the baking pans with the liners. The best way to do this, in my opinion, is to use an ice cream scoop! It's the perfect size and I don't make much of a mess.

You'll bake the cupcakes for about 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. I ended up having to bake them a little bit longer, and rotating the pans because the ones in the back of the oven were cooking faster than the ones in the front. So I probably baked them all in all about 25 minutes. Either way, you'll want to check them after 20 minutes, and keep them baking until a toothpick you stick in them comes out clean. 

And now it's time for the frosting!!!

You'll want to beat 3/4 cup unsalted room temperature butter until it's smooth.

Then you'll add in 3 3/4 cup powdered sugar, about 1 cup at a time.

I recommend beating the frosting on medium/high for a couple minutes after each addition to make sure it's smooth and creamy. Then you'll add in 3/16 tsp nutmeg.

And then add in about 6-9 teaspoons of eggnog until it's the consistency you prefer. 

Once the frosting was done, I put it on the cupcakes!

Let me tell you. These things are eggnogy, delicious, sweet, and awesome. You definitely cannot have more than one (unless you reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally love eggnog), but they are a perfect holiday treat!