Lemonhead

I could say that I hate candy, but that would be an outright lie, so let me say this "My name is Jenny and I think I'm addicted to candy and anything made of sugar." I guess I should call myself a "sugar addict."

Now that that's on the table let's talk about some delicious lemon cupcakes I made about a month ago.

I had a trivia night to go to with friends and everyone said they were going to bring one thing or another, and I decided I was going to bake. I know, shocker. I found a great recipe for lemon cupcakes on Pinterest (as I do with most things) and not only did I want to make them, but wanted to make them in the mini version.  Only problem, no mini-cupcake pan(s).

After I begged and pleaded--more like just asked nicely--with some coworkers; one very nice coworker let me borrow her mini cupcake pans. I was in business.

I have to say I think I like mini cupcakes a lot more than the normal size, mainly because I can eat quite a few and think I'm eating less. This in no way is the truth, but I like to convince myself of things like this; now I'm convincing you of it as well.

Lemon Cupcakes came from a website called "Your Cup of Cake." I have to say, I want to make just about everything on this website; it all looks delicious and quite manageable.

They are to look like this....mine didn't quite look as pictured here, but I thought that they looked even better. I'm OK, this time, with my cupcakes not looking exactly like the picture.
Most times, though, I am not OK with it and beat myself up about the look of my not-so-professional looking cupcakes.

The ingredients, for the most part, were things I had at home; even though I changed a couple things.

Ingredients:

Lemon Cupcakes:

1 box lemon cake mix

1 cup sour cream

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

½ cup milk

¾ cup oil

4 eggs

Zest of 1 lemon --did not use the zest of a lemon, instead I squeezed an additional 2 lemons into the cake batter.

1 small box lemon instant pudding mix

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese

½ cup butter

¼ cup sour cream

3 ½ cups sugar

1 tablespoon honey (optional) --used this and didn't add anything to the frosting, so omitting it isn't a big deal.

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

What to do:
Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix sour cream, lemon juice, milk and oil together.  Add eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffins tins with 24 regular or 60 mini cupcake liners.

      3. Add zest, cake mix, and pudding mix slowly while stirring.

4. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 12 (minis)-18 (regulars) minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.         

5. Frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.  Add powdered sugar slowly.  Add sour cream, honey and vanilla and beat well. Add more powdered sugar if needed for desired taste or consistency.

6. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.  

my finished product.

As you can see my frosting wasn't so fluffy, but I liked the way it looked and tasted. I also decided to use Lemonheads instead of lemon zest for decoration. 

My husband really likes Lemonheads and honestly, who doesn't like sour candy? Normally when I by candy it's Sour Patch Kids or Chewy Spree; anything sour, has a place in our home.

They were a hit at the trivia night, so much so, that I took the leftovers to school and shared them with my advisory kids; they, too, loved them. 

Lemonheads, candy, sugar = my addiction (and quite possibly everyone I surround myself with).