Salutations Steemit Friends!

Firstly, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank my first 500+ followers! I've been enjoying my time on the Steemit platform since I first started publishing here in late May. Again, thank you all for your support!

To commemorate this milestone, I'd thought we'd kick off the celebration with some petite sweet treats - mini cupcakes! Today, I'll share with you the recipes for these darling and delish lemon cupcakes with Mascarpone cheese frosting.

Now, I chose to make mine miniatures or you can choose to make 'em like the standard sized variation. Either way, they sure are scrumptious! To me, they taste like lil' bites of lemony sunshine; perfect for summertime or anytime of the year.

As a side note, these aren't too sugary sweet. So, if you detest saccharine desserts these should be right up your cupcake alley.

So, throw on your apron and let's get started! First, we'll make and bake the cupcakes...

Lemon Cupcakes with Mascarpone Cheese Frosting Recipe

Lemon Cupcakes

Ingredients

3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temp.
2 eggs, room temp.
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole milk
5 drops yellow food color*
zest of 1 lemon
*optional

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

2. With an electric mixer beat together the white sugar, 1/2 cup butter, eggs, and lemon and vanilla extracts together until smooth and creamy.

3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Slowly add flour mixture, alternating with cold milk, into butter mixture until batter is just mixed.

5. Add zest of lemon and yellow food color (coloring is optional).

6. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups about 2/3 the way full.

7. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.

That was quick and easy! A cakewalk, so to speak. Next, we'll make the Mascarpone frosting. You can purchase a tub of store-bought Mascarpone, or, with a little patience you can easily make your very own.

I made my frosting with homemade Mascarpone. I'll create a separate tutorial teaching you how can do the same soon, so stay tuned! In the meantime, below is the recipe for the frosting...

Mascarpone Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

8 oz Mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup whipping cream
zest of 1 lemon
Yield: ~ 3 cups

Directions

1. First, whisk together the Mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl until blended.

2. Next, beat whipping cream at medium speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

3. Gently fold into Mascarpone mixture along with added lemon zest.

4. Now you're ready to frost your cupcakes! Use immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Again, easy-peasy! Now that your cupcakes have cooled you can get to the fun part of decorating them. When I made these cupcakes, I just happened to have a slew of of strawberries and rhubarb in the fridge.

So, I whipped up a strawberry-rhubarb compote! In keeping with summertime flavors, the compote made for a lovely filling.

I live in the Northeast (U.S.A.) and the peak growing season for field grown rhubarb is May - July. Really, rhubarb is deserving of its own post, so that might be a topic for another time!

I hope you enjoyed the dish on these cutie cupcakes and that they brightened up your day! Thanks for commenting, upvoting and resteeming this post. Until next time...

Bon Appétit!

Michelle

xx

P.S. In case you missed it, discover my Parisian foodie adventure...

Dine with Me in the Eiffel Tower at Le Jules Verne Restaurant!

Link: https://steemit.com/travel/@michellectv/dine-with-me-in-the-eiffel-tower-at-le-jules-verne-restaurant

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