One of my favorite co-workers turned back to work from being on maternity leave, so I wanted to do something special to welcome her back. I decided on cupcakes as they are easy to share! This recipe comes from Baked By Rachel, Rachel’s cupcakes feature a lemon curd that I decided to leave out, but follow along with her recipe if you’d like to add. I added a little extra lemon juice & zest as I like my cake really punchy. I also ran out of powdered sugar when making the frosting, so it wasn’t my best, but we are all works in progress.

Ingredients

Blueberry Puree

• 1 1/2 Cup Blueberries,
• Zest of 1 Lemon
• 2 TBSP Lemon Juice
• 1/4 Cup Sugar

Lemon Cake

• 1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, softened
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 TBSP + 2 TSP Lemon Juice
• Zest of 1 Lemon
• 1/2 TSP Salt
• 1/2 TSP Baking Soda
• 1 1/4 TSP Baking Powder
• 1 1/4 Cup Flour
• 1/2 Cup Sour Cream

Frosting

• 1 Cup Unsalted Butter, softened
• 3 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 3 TBSP Blueberry Puree

Let’s Get Baking

To make the blueberry puree: combine blueberries + lemon zest + lemon juice + sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over MED heat, stirring occasionally. As the blueberries begin to soften, mash them and continue cooking until the sauce thickens. Once thickened, press the mixture through a mesh strainer into a clean bowl and allow to cool.

Preheat your oven to 350F and prepare your cupcake cups.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter + sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs + lemon juice + lemon zest, scraping the bowl as needed. Add in salt + baking soda + baking powder. Alternate the additions of flour & sour cream, mixing until combined.

Divide the batter into prepared cups and bake for 16-18 minutes. Allow cupcakes to cool before frosting.

To make the frosting: beat the butter, adding in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time. Drizzle in 1 TBSP of blueberry puree at a time. Mix until fully combined & no streaks remain. Transfer to a piping bag and decorate as you desire.

Enjoy!

Made with Love,

Hannah