I made these cupcakes four weeks ago today.

I’ve stared at these cupcake pictures everyday for four weeks.

 

I just don’t like these cupcakes.

 

I don’t know why. They never did anything to me. They were insanely delicious, that is not the issue. They have a sweet and slightly tart lemony base and the strawberry buttercream? Well… let’s just say that me and a spoon… we had a good time. The lemon buttercream? Love. It’s fabulousness plus twelve.

I’m just annoyed by these cupcakes. I want to chuck them out the window. But I want to eat them too. I want them to be prettier. But have less frosting. I want them to do a little dance for me, you know… a jig or something. But they just sit there. DO SOMETHING! Maybe I’m just doing some of that blah blah projecting or whatever. You know.

 

Bad news bears. Cupcakes don’t dance.

They are sort of like that boy in seventh grade… who is really nice to you… and is sort of cute… but kind of boring… and not adventurous… and sort of nerdy… and who your mom really loves, which just makes you not like him even more… and who asked you to dance then stood 8 inches away from you with his hands on your hips… and who is inevitably now a billionaire with three of the most gorgeous children you’ve ever seen… and all you want is the bad ass punk rocker with spiky black hair who goes through girls like socks.  And then, when you’re 25, you realize that this boy was really nice and that you are whacked out and that your mom is always right. Yeah. These are like that.*

 

Perhaps I shall revisit these cupcakes in 5 years? That sounds about right.

Lemonade Cupcakes

makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup sugar

6 tablespoons butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup milk

grated zest of two lemons

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream butter, sugar, and eggs together until fluffy. Add vanilla and lemon zest.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the milk. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients.

Pour into cupcake tins and bake for 20-25 mins at 350. Let cool, then frost.

 

Strawberry and Lemon Buttercream

2 sticks of butter, at room temperature

3 cups of powdered sugar + 1 cup extra

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 -1/2 cup chopped strawberries

grated zest of two lemons

1-2 tablespoons of milk (just have on hand if needed)

In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream butter until smooth. Add in powdered sugar slowly with the mixer on low, increasing to combine. Add in vanilla extract. At this point you need to separate the frosting in two. It all depends on how much you want to frost each cupcake. I choose to take about 3/4 of the mixture and make it strawberry, with the rest being lemon. Whichever you decide to do, leave the frosting for the strawberry IN THE MIXER. Put the frosting for the lemon flavor in a separate bowl.

For the strawberry frosting: once the berries are chopped, press them with a paper towel to just release any extra moisture. Add 1/4 cup of the berries and turn the mixer on high, scraping down the sides as you go. Being that strawberries have a high water content, you may need to add some (or all) of the extra cup of powdered sugar. This will depend on the water content of YOUR strawberries, so add 1/4 cup, then more sugar if needed. Repeat until desired flavor/consistency is readers.

For lemon frosting: take the remaining butter mixture and either add it to a clean bowl of your electric mixer or a bowl large enough that you can whisk with some elbow grease. Fold in lemon zest and add milk if needed. I was able to do this by hand with a whisk (whisking VERY hard), but it will also work with an electric mixer.

*My emotional instability and physical incapacity to love these cupcakes does not reflect their supercalifragilisticexpi deliciousness. Make them. They obviously deserve a good home.