Limoncello Cupcakes

Nothing is more refreshing during a hot summer day than a nice glass of lemonade.  To kick off summer, my mom hosted an "Everything Lemon" party last week and asked me to bake something for it.  Inspired by one of my family's favorite Italian liqueurs, I ended up making Limoncello cupcakes and they certainly were delicious!

Cupcake Ingredients:

4 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tbsp limoncello

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup lemon juice

zest of one lemon

lemon curd

Limoncello Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

4 tbsp unsalted butter

4 oz cream cheese

1 tbsp limoncello

2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350.  In a medium bowl, cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar together with an electric mixer.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.  Add the limoncello and mix.  Add half of the flour and half of the buttermilk, mixing between each addition.  Add the rest of the flour and buttermilk in the same manner. Finally add the baking powder and salt and mix followed by the lemon juice and zest.  Divide the batter evenly among 12 cupcake liners and bake for 20 minutes.

To make the cream cheese frosting, cream butter and cream cheese in a medium bowl with an electric mixer.  Add the limoncello and mix.  Finally, gradually add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

To assemble the cupcakes, cut out the top of each cupcake and hollow out the middle.  Fill the empty space with lemon curd and frost as usual.

Makes 1 dozen cupcakes

(Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)