WHITE CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY LEMONADE CUPCAKE

White Chocolate Strawberry Lemonade Cupcake image

I had invited a bunch of people over to come see my new house recently. I thought it would be nice to have a yummy little baked good offering for them all. Strawberries are officially in season here in Florida so I got the idea for these cupcakes. I love lemon desserts, and I love my lemon cake recipe, so I combined it all into...

Provided by Maggie May Schill

Time 40m

Number Of Ingredients 26

Ingredients

LEMON CAKE
2 1/2 c cake flour, sifted
1 c white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 c unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp lemon zest, finely grated
1/4 c lemon juice, fresh
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 c milk
WHITE CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE FILLING
2 c cream cheese, softened
1/2 c confectioner's sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp strawberry syrup
10 oz white chocolate, melted in a double boiler
STRAWBERRY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
1 c unsalted butter, softened
3 1/2 c confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp strawberry syrup
red food coloring drops to adjust color of frosting
GARNISH
1/4 c sliced strawberries
3 Tbsp white chocolate chips

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350'F
2. For Lemon Cake: In a mixing bowl sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder. Whisk them together and set aside.
3. Cream butter with an electric mixer. Add sugar to butter gradually, continue beating until sugar is completely beaten with butter into a paste. Beat the butter paste until it is super fluffy and light.
4. Add whole eggs and egg yolks to the sugar butter paste one at a time completely incorporating each egg.
5. Add vanilla extract and lemon zest to butter mixture. Completely incorporate.
6. Add lemon juice to butter mixture and beat slowly until completely incorporated. Side note: The mixture will look curdled after you add the lemon juice. This is normal, it'll smooth out when you get to the dry ingredients.
7. Add your dry ingredients in three additions. Add your milk in two additions in between adding your dry ingredients.
8. Beat down sides of bowl and beat on high for 20 seconds.
9. Pour batter out into lined cupcake pans. Bake for 21 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
10. For White Chocolate Strawberry Cheese: In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together
11. Add melted white chocolate to the cream cheese mixture and blend completely. Side note: Be sure the white chocolate is cooled, but not hardening. If the chocolate is scalding it will cook the cream cheese! The white chocolate should be slightly warm to the touch.
12. Once chocolate is completely blended into cream cheese mixture, add strawberry syrup. Blend loosely, this will give the mixture a ribbon of syrup and keep it from turning pink entirely.
13. For Strawberry Butter Cream Frosting: Blend all that goodness together. Add the food coloring as needed to adjust the color to the pink your prefer.
14. Assembly: Once cup cake are cooled core the cupcakes and scoop cheese cake filling into each cake. They will take about a half of a tablespoon each.
15. Frost with butter cream frosting. Garnish as desired and chill before serving.