Little known fact about me, baking is not my favorite. I much prefer cooking meals and experimenting verses the the preciseness of baking. However, my mom has always made my brother and I homemade cakes since we were little. The best part was always the icing and beauty in the homemade. I find the decorating part fun (not that i'm anything close to professional) but I enjoy making the same cakes for my kids. These beauties are a cinch to make and are oh so delicate. The cream cheese icing is always delicious. I made these very quickly on Mother’s day for an extra treat. It worked out perfectly. The cream cheese frosting is the perfect complement to the lemon. I could just eat the frosting with a spoon. In fact, I have actually saved a little for a rain day. It's extremely fluffy and creamy. The main recipe in this post will be the cream cheese frosting as I mostly followed the directions on the cake box with the exception of a couple switch-a-roos.
Ingredients for the cream cheese frosting:
- 1 stick of soften cream cheese
- 1 stick of softened butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 lb (32 oz) of powdered sugar
- Possibly 2-4 T of whipping cream
Directions for the cream cheese frosting:
- In a large mixing bowl add in 1 stick of softened butter and 1 stick of cream cheese *If the butter and cream cheese are not softened you will get lumpy frosting.
- Cream together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer.
- Add in the vanilla extract and blend. (Sometimes i'll switch out the vanilla for almond extract. Just use half as much almond extract as you would the vanilla.)
- Slowly add in 1/2 cup of powdered sugar at a time and mix for about 30 seconds per half of a cup. Blend on a lower speed or you could end up in a cloud of sugar shower.
- Once the entire bag of powdered sugar has been added you'll check the consistency and see if it feels like frosting. For some reason, unbeknownst to my un-scientific mind, the consistency of the frosting could be perfect as is, or extremely stiff and not spreadable. The humidity, temperature of your house, altitude, softness of the butter and cream cheese, are all factors of how much whipping cream you'll need to add. The frosting should be the consistency of room temp. peanut butter. It should be spreadable but not melty/liquidy.
- Add in 1 T of whipping cream at a time and mix.
- Once it's finished, it should have a nice sheen to it and be spreadable.
You can store the frosting in a freezer zip-lock bag for up to 1 month. Just set out and allow to come to room temperature when you're ready to use.
Ingredients for the cake mix:
- 1 box of gluten free lemon cake mix (I used the gluten-free Meyer lemon Aldi brand, it's delish)
- 2 lemons zested and then halved. Save the zest!
- Melted butter (to replace the oil)
- 2 eggs
- Lemon zest from the lemons
Directions for cake:
- Pre-heat oven to 325° (*cook a little lower of a heat if making the mini ones like I did here)
- Follow the directions on the cake mix box. We will just be substituting fresh squeezed lemon juice instead of the suggested water on the back of the box. Also, substituting melted butter for oil. Use the same amount of butter as oil as well as the same amount of lemon juice in place of water.
- With the two zested lemons, you'll add the zest of one lemon to the cake batter. Save the zest of the 2nd lemon for garnishing.
- Bake as directed per the boxes directions. If baking the min-cupcakes just bake for a few minutes less than the least time on the box.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool completely.
- Frost with room temperature frosting.
- Top with 1 quartered strawberry (or any fruit you fancy) and sprinkle with lemon zest.
Hope you enjoy this new sweetness in your life! I'd love to hear any questions or comments you may have.
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