Darlybird Cupcakes

I am posting Darlybird's cupcakes because I'm always looking for her recipes when I'm craving a cupcake... now I can have them in my online file. ;-)

Below is exactly how it appears on her blog.

CUPCAKE INSTRUCTIONS

i'll give you a quick rundown of the three versions i did. all started with a $1 cake mix . . . and i definitely recommend using a mix since you'll be doing a fair amount of other things, like making fillings, etc. DISCLAIMER: i just reread these instructions and they're a bit frenetic at best. sorry. it's just that they were all a grand experiment. i figured out what i was doing as i did it. so i hope it makes sense.

so, first: Lemon cupcakes with lime curd filling and raspberry frosting

--lemon cake mix....make and bake as instructed

--lime curd: one can sweetened condensed milk with 1/3 c. fresh lime juice. (stir till combined)

--raspberry whipped cream frosting: this recipe is totally approximate, since i was just mixing random ingredients in. so bear with me and my imperfections:

Whipped cream with a bit of almond extract, powdered sugar, a couple TBS of butter, and a bit of cream cheese. mix together. add 1/2 bag of frozen raspberries and blend. let it sit for a bit so the raspberries have time to slightly thaw. then mix more. voila!


Chocolate Whipped Cream Cupcakes

chocolate cake mix -- make as directed

filling=whipped cream with some powdered sugar and almond extract (i had a ton of this left over, so i actually used the leftovers to make the raspberry frosting).

frosting: it's wilton's buttercream recipe. tamra just called me for the recipe and i looked it up online, and i think i have it memorized. dang! that will not be good for the baked good addiction. i've only made it once before, but it is the best buttercream on the planet!

1 c. butter
4 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. clear vanilla (i bought this at shepherds.....it just doesn't color the buttercream brown)
2 TBS milk

beat the butter in your pinky pie mixer (so cute!) until it's totally whipped. leave the butter out for a couple of hours or at least microwave it for a second so it's room temp.
add powd sug one cup at a time, vanilla, and milk last. i made a double batch of this and then took half out for the guava cream cheese cupcakes. then i added 3-4 TBS of cocoa powder and some more milk and that is what makes it a chocolate buttercream. super duper easy!

Vanilla cupcakes with guava cream cheese filling and vanilla buttercream

yellow cakemix- m.a.d. (as directed)

guava filling is found in a weird sealed bag at shepherds. i loved it and think it is awesome. it's a little thick to pipe into cupcakes, so i added some cream cheese and milk to kind of tame it down and thin it.

fill cupcakes and then frost with the vanilla buttercream from above recipe.

FILLING CUPCAKES: there is a tip at shepherds that is 1.50 or something and it looks like a long hollow needle. you put the filling in your bag and then stick that tip into the cupcake at least halfway. squeeze filling out into the cupcake to the point that you can see the cupcake expanding, but not bursting. it's super easy and i think it makes them so much fun.