Trouble is a Friend

So, I suppose I should talk about the cupcakes I made yesterday. They were deee-licious. I went with Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes. I found the recipe on a blog called Annie's Eats.  I saw them and decided that they looked and sounded like a tasty summer treat, perfect for a pool party, which my sister's friend was having the next day so I decided to try them. They were fairly easy to make, just a lot of ingredients.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
Yield: about 21 cupcakes

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

For the lemonade syrup:
1 cup lemonade concentrate, thawed
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the frosting:
1 cup fresh strawberries, roughly chopped
12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
18 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For garnish:
Fresh strawberries
Lemon slices

Directions:
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.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, whisk together the lemonade concentrate and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl to make the lemonade syrup.  Poke several holes in the top of each cupcake with a skewer and pour the syrup over the cupcakes, allowing it to soak in.  (Place wax paper underneath your cooling rack so you don’t make a mess!)

To make the frosting, puree the strawberries in a food processor or blender.  Strain the puree through a mesh sieve to remove the seeds, and set aside.  Beat the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and very fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.  Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix until incorporated.  Mix in strawberry puree, a tablespoon at a time, until you achieve your desired texture and flavor of frosting (I added about 7 tablespoons of puree).  Frost cupcakes as desired and garnish with fresh strawberries and lemon slices. 

Again thanks to Annie's Eats, because her blog is full of yummy-looking recipes that I will hopefully try soon!

They turned out really well and I had fun making them.  Plus I think they're kinda pretty :P
 I guess I had forgotten how fun it is to make something from just a pile of ingredients. This recipe gave me looads of extra frosting though so now I'm trying to figure out something to go with strawberry lemonade frosting.  I'll probably go with some chocolate; I think that'd be tasty!

Ain't She Sweet

Cupcakes!!!

Today we had a yard sale at a friend's house and she has been on a cupcake-baking-spree. She made the most delicious cupcakes today- Lemon Blueberry. They were absolutely amaaaazing! So, I have spent a good part of the past hour looking for cool cupcake recipes online and am planning to begin my baking career tomorrow :]

Falling or Flying

So, it's been about 6 months since my last post and I guess my only excuse is that life got in the way.

I am now almost ready to go into my junior year of college, if I could only get a loan because apparently that's like the hardest thing in the world. 

I made it into the education program at my school after months of nerve-wracking waiting.

I have become obsessed with Harry Potter. Call me a band-wagoner if you will, but I don't care. My love is true :P I have read the books three times this summer, just sayin.


But, as I mentioned I have read Harry Potter and, not matter how cheesy it sounds, those books have helped me tremendously. I don't know what it is about them, but it's like being taken to another world (which I imagine is the point) and I forget about my problems. I mean come on, Harry is fighting the world's most powerful wizard at the age of 17!


Also, the last movie came out this summer and I was all over that shit! :) Me and my friends went to the double feature and were the first ones in line. Because we got there three and a half hours early. Which means we were at the theater for about 9 hours. 

And it was amazing.


I cried for pretty the whole second half of the second half. Especially when Fred dies because I love me some Weasley twins. Well, them, Hermione and Neville. But, my shirt....

..had to be devoted to Gred and Forge :)


I have seen the movie again twice since that first night and have cried every time. 


Also, we are having this garage sale. It's tomorrow and thank God. It has been nothing but cleaning and moving heavy crap from here to the other house. I definitely can't wait for it to be over.


And I just found out that we are currently under a tornado watch until 1am. In July. Seriously?


Well, my brain is too sleepy to think of anything else to write right now. So I think I shall go read some HP and the Sorcerer's Stone before I go to sleep :)