Limoncello Cupcakes with Lemon Curd Filling and Raspberry Buttercream

Well here we are at the end of another weekend and you know, as far as weekends go, it's been a pretty good one.

Mr B and I had 3 days off so we made the most of the beautiful sunny weather on Friday, got out of bed early (an achievement on it's own!), packed ourselves lunch and went fishing. Being a Friday it meant the jettys were not packed full of people and we could just sit down and relax in the sun for most of the day which was exactly what the Dr ordered. And as an added bonus we even caught a few fish, most of them were under-size and had to be thrown back, but we did manage to come home with a lovely little Salmon which we had for dinner and it was delicious!

Saturdays are fast becoming my baking / housework day and Mr B's day to potter around outside doing odd jobs. This works out really well because it means we have all day Sunday to spend together and today was no exception. When we finally managed to drag ourselves out of bed this morning we trundled on up to the Derwent Valley Autumn Festival which is held on the beautiful banks of the Derwent River at the beginning of Autumn each year and is just jam packed full of stuff to see and do. Every year it gets bigger and bigger and for a free event, the quality of the stalls is fantastic and you could pretty much spend all day there doing a few laps, listening to the different bands, watching the black smith at work and eating your way around the different food on offer.

So anyway, back to Saturday and the baking.....

A few days ago when I asked Mr B what sort of cupcakes he would like in his lunches this week he came up with this flavour combination and I think he nailed it - although I think he is getting a bit technical in what he asks for, he used to just say vanilla!

Limoncello Cupcakes with Lemon Curd Filling and Raspberry Buttercream

For the Limoncello Cupcakes you will need:

1.5 cups plain flour
1 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
60g butter, at room temperature
60g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
2 tbspns limoncello
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 - 1 cup lemon curd

Pre-heat oven to 180C.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, cream cheese and sugar. Beat until fluffy and creamy.

Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition.

Add the limoncello and beat until combined.

Add the flour, baking powder, salt and milk. Beat on low until everything is just combined.

Divide the batter between 15 lined muffin tins. Bake for 20 mins or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Once the cupcakes are cool, use a teaspoon or melon baller to remove a small section from the centre. Fill with a teaspoon of lemon curd.

To make the Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting you will need

200g cream cheese
150g butter
2.5 cups icing sugar
Handful of fresh raspberries

Heat the raspberries in a microwave safe jug for 60 seconds and set aside to cool completely.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until pale and creamy.

Add the icing sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the raspberries and beat well. You may need to add a little more icing sugar to get a nice stiff consistency, but as my raspberries were still hot when I added them to the mixture, I just placed mine in the fridge for about 30 mins and it was soon ready to pipe onto the cupcakes.

Only thing left to do now is sit down, relax, forget about the bowls and beaters and pans piling up in the sink, eat a cupcake (or two) and enjoy it!

 

Mrs B xx