The evolution of a cupcake

I've been trying and trying to find a lemon cake recipe that I like. The box mixes are too fakey tasting for me..(and that's not how I roll anyway)...And most of the scratch recipes have been too mild in the flavor department.

It's almost like my search for the perfect white cake recipe. It took me forever, but I finally climbed that mountain. And that story is for another post, on another day.

Anyhoo, I did find the most wonderful lemon cake recipe in a book called The Well Decorated Cake by Toba Garrett. It's actually a lemon coconut cake recipe, but by omitting the shredded coconut (which I don't care for anyway), it became my long sought-after lemon cake recipe.

(Btw, this book is a worthy purchase as Ms. Garrett is a wealth of knowledge on decorating technique, etc. )

Anyway, back to the lemon cake. It's hard to describe the smell that emanates from the oven when this cake is baking. And when you finally take it out, and snitch a piece, the lemon flavor just explodes in your mouth. Which doesn't surprise me since the recipe calls for the zest of 3 lemons, lemon curd and lemon juice. That's a 1-2-3 punch!!! I've been using this recipe for a while now, with wonderful results.

But, tonight, I decided to put that lemon cake together with strawberry, and this is what I came up with:

These cuppies, wearing their pretty little wrappers made by yours truly, are a veritable delight. In the center of this luscious lemon cakette is a slice of strawberry, which is a pleasant surprise for your taste buds as you bite into it.

On top of the cuppie, I made an oh-so-fluffy Strawberry buttercream which isn't at all cloyingly sweet like some buttercreams can be. The flavor of the strawberry is a definite complement to the lemon.

Finally, I garnished the whole thing with some fresh lemon zest, just to keep the flavors all balanced and working together. It really is a delicious cupcake. My name for it?? The STRAWBERRY BLONDE. :-) I hope you'll try some at SWEETCAKES.