Lemon and Black Raspberry Cupcakes

Apologies are in order for this week's cupcake poll mixup. I looked at the poll last night and saw that Lemon Raspberry was beating Lemon Butterflies by a few points, so I assumed that wouldn't change much overnight... Well we all know what happens when we assume! I made Lemon Rasperry cupcakes this morning, and THEN logged into blogger to find out I MADE THE WRONG CUPCAKES! Lemon Butterflies had pulled ahead by 2 votes! Oops... No worries though. You can use the same cake and frosting recipes to make the Butterflies. I'll even add the instructions at the bottom :) Also, in the poll entry I said all the recipes were going to be from Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans, but I got this lemon cupcake recipe from Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella. It's delicious, but you can be mad if you want.
EDIT: I mentioned in the last post that I wasn't a big fan of citrus desserts. Even though these cupcakes did taste good, I still don't prefer the taste of lemon in sweets.

ingredients! I had enough batter for 30 cupcakes, so I had to use my old rusty 6-cup muffin pan.
Lemon cupcakes cooling on the back porch...Cut a cone out of each cupcake, spoon 1 tsp black raspberry perserves, and replace the top.Mmmm... these are so yummy!

MY NOTES: I added 1 tsp vanilla extract to the cupcake batter. I got 30 cupcakes.

Lemon Cupcakes
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or lemon concentrate
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (my own addition)

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.
2. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time to creamed mixture, beating 1 minute after each addition.
3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk. Mix until completely integrated. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix the batter for 30 seconds.
5. Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan.

Whipped Lemon Buttercream (my own recipe)
Makes 2-3 cups
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/3 cup heavy cream

Cream the butter and confectioners' sugar in an electric mixer on low to medium speed until fluffy. With the mixer on low, add lemon juice and zest, then slowly add the cream. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

WANNA MAKE BUTTERFLIES?
Use a sharp knife to slice the top (about 1/4-inch thick slice) off each cupcake. Dust the top with powdered sugar and cut in half. Put frosting on the cupcakes, and press the tops into the frosting (powdered sugar side up), tilted slightly so they look like butterfly wings.

photo from flickr user indigomuse