2 kinds of pre-birthday cupcakes!

Yesterday I had a little pre-birthday celebration with friends. Since I was going to be out of town on my actual birthday, I held a little fake birthday party last night that involved some yummy Jamaican food (and a whole lotta rum drinks) and a night of shuffleboard and good times at the ol' Legion. A good mix of veterans, hipsters, karaoke, shuffleboard, cheap drinks and good friends equals fun times for all! Of course there were 2 kinds of cupcakes made by yours truly. Cornelius and I strapped 2 containers full of the frosted treats on the back of our bikes and made the short 4 km trek with only a few face-planted cupcakes. I shrieked every time I could see a cupcake bounce up and over whenever Cornelius hit a bump in the road!

And how were the cupcakes? Delicious! I made 2 different kinds–a vegan spicy chocolate cupcake with a fluffy peanut butter frosting and a limoncello & coconut cupcake filled with lemon curd topped with a lemony buttercream. While it was hard to pick which cupcake I liked best, I'm definitely on the side of the lemon filled ones while Cornelius liked the spicy chocolate ones best. My friend Carley however thought they both were the best cupcakes she'd ever eaten. High praise indeed!

More on the spicy chocolate cupcakes below. For the lemon ones, I used a homemade limoncello that I had made to give as gifts at Christmas. I saved a bottle or two for myself, of course. If you don't have lemon liqueur on hand, you could use lemon juice, lemon oil or lemon extract to no ill effects. With the frosting, I'm not one to really measure things out. Just let your tastebuds and the resulting consistency be your guide. Buttercream is really easy to make so take my recipe as a guideline and make it work! The lemon curd was adapted from a recipe by Baking Bites. It was tart, lemony and tasted incredibly fresh. It was the perfect counterbalance to the sweet frosting.

limoncello & coconut cupcakes filled with lemon curd
½ c butter, softened
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1½ cups ap flour
½ c shredded sweetened coconut
lemon zest from 2 lemons
1 t baking powder
¼ t salt
½ c milk
1 t limoncello

low fat lemon curd:
1/3 c fresh lemon juice
2 t fresh lemon zest
5 T sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 t vanilla extract

limoncello buttercream frosting:
½ c soft butter
3 c powdered sugar
2 t limoncello
2 t lemon juice
1 t vanilla

1. Prepare lemon curd by combining sugar, zest and lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved completely. In a medium bowl, beat egg and slowly add lemon mixture in a slow stream over egg, whisking as you go. Whisk for 2 minutes and then strain mixture back into saucepan. Bring to a simmering boil, whisking constantly until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Let cool.

2. In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl, combine flour, coconut, zest, baking powder and salt. Alternate between adding flour mixture to the butter mixture with the milk; adding the flour in 3 separate goes and the milk twice. Spoon into paper-lined muffin tins and bake for 15-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

3. When cupcakes are cool, use the cone method to fill them with lemon curd. The cone method involves cutting out a cone shape from the cupcake and filling them space with the curd. Remove the cone from the cut out piece and place the top back on the cupcake. It's easier than it sounds. For a picture description, check out master cupcaker, Chockylit.

4. For the frosting, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy, add in limoncello, lemon juice and vanilla. Beat until fluffy, adding more sugar a spoonful at a time if needed to get correct consistency. Frost cupcakes and decorate as desired.

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The spicy chocolate cupcakes were just a riff off of the standard wacky (cup)cake recipe that I've made before. I just spiced these up with cinnamon, cayenne and a few other spices and decided to top off the whole thing with a peanut butter frosting. It was a match made in heaven as the spiciness of the cupcake worked deliciously with the fluffy peanut butter. Yummy.

spicy chocolate vegan cupcakes with peanut butter frosting
1½ c ap flour
1/3 c cocoa powder
1 t baking soda
½ t salt
1 t ground cinnamon
¼ t ground nutmeg
¼ t ground ginger
¼ t ground cardamom
1½ t cayenne pepper
1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
1 c sugar
½ c canola oil
1 c cold coffee
2 t vanilla extract
2 T vinegar

peanut butter frosting:
2 T peanut butter
1 T agave syrup
½ c Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine)
2 c powdered sugar
1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients together from the flour to the sugar. In another bowl, whisk together the coffee, oil and vanilla. Dump the dry ingredients into the wet ones and mix until combined. Stir in the vinegar until the vinegar combines with everything. You'll see streaks from the vinegar which means the magic is working. Pour into paper-lined muffin tins and bake for 15-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

In a small saucepan, melt peanut butter and agave syrup over medium heat. Remove to cool slightly. Using a mixer, briskly beat margarine and sugar together until fluffy. Add in peanut butter mixture and vanilla. If necessary, whisk in more sugar to stiffen or some soy milk to thin slightly. Once the consistency is ideal and your cupcakes are completely cool, frost and decorate cupcakes.