Friendship cupcakes:Raspberry Cupcakes with Lemon frosting

Baking as a form of expression is one of my favorite ways to say thank you. Recently, I want thank two special women who have been very helpful so I went to the kitchen to see what I would come up with. After searching the ingredients I had to work with, I came up with this combination - lemons from my parent's tree and raspberries from the local farmers market, a perfect combination for these Raspberry Cupcakes with Lemon frosting! I found this recipe for Raspberry Cupcakes and the frosting was an adaptation from my Banana Boat Cupcake frosting recipe.  This recipe came out exactly the way I wanted, fresh, sweet and tart.  The cake is perfect, not too dense. And the frosting is light with bright lemon flavor.  

 

I hope you give this recipe a try.

Happy Cooking everyone!

Friendship Cupcakes: Raspberry Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting
Makes 1 dozen cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:
2 1/3  cup Flour 
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cup sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs (beaten)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cup whole milk
1/3 cup pureed fresh raspberries

Frosting Ingredients:
1 cup of unsalted butter (softened)
1 vanilla bean (scraped)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-7 oz jar Marshmallow Cream
2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup half and half milk or whole milk
12 raspberries for decorating

Prep Work:
1. Preheat oven 325 degrees
2. Line cupcake pan with 12 liners. (I prefer the ones that have the aluminum interior)
3. Take about ½ cup of fresh raspberries and puree them using a fork and small bowl.  Set aside

Recipe
1.  In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Using a mixer, slowly add oil until the mixture looks crumbly. 
2. Add eggs, milk, vanilla and pureed raspberries to flour mixture. Beat for 2-3 minutes.
3. Fill each cupcake liner with raspberry batter till its about ¾ filled.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

FROSTING:
1. Beat butter until it is smooth.
2. Add vanilla ,lemon zest, lemon juice and marshmallow cream and mix until combined.
3. Gradually add powdered sugar at low speed.
4. Add half and half milk or milk and beat at high speed till nice and fluffy.
5. Place frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a decorating tip or in a plastic storage bag with the corner cut off. Frost as desired.
F. Garnish each cupcake with a fresh Raspberry.

Enjoy!