EAT MY CUPCAKE.

Mara, Greg, and I stayed in a lovely house rental in Napa for my birthday weekend and there was a Meyer lemon tree in the backyard. Mara graciously plucked some for me (while I was grumpy and sick from eating too many pieces of fried chicken at dinner) and I was glad that she did . . . because now I can combine them into this month's Cupcake Hero theme: White Chocolate.

Lemon and white chocolate does sound like an odd combination, but once you taste them together, they are not so odd afterall. As a basic layout, I made lemon cupcakes topped with white chocolate cream cheese frosting.




1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese at room temperature
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners’ sugar



2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. 3. Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the lemon juice, lemon peel and vanilla. Beat in one-half of the flour mixture, scraping down sides of bowl. Gradually add the milk and beat in the remaining flour mixture until the ingredients are mixed.
4. Divide batter among the muffin cups, filling each about one-half full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes and cool completely.

(Alternatively, you can also use the one-bowl whisk method as I did [pictured above]. The cupcakes may not be as "fluffy", but it's quicker and easier if you are on the run.)