Flowerific Cupcakes

Last Friday was one of my co-workers birthdays and as usual, I made her some cupcakes for her birthday.  I made homemade funfetti cupcakes with a lemon zest icing.  

For the batter:

• 1-1/4 cups AP flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 6 tbsp butter, room temperature
• 1 large egg + 1 egg white, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk (I used half-and-half instead)
• 2 tbsp rainbow sprinkles
• 24 Dum Dum lollipops
• Green taffy

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
3. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer, fitted with flat beater, beat the sugar and butter until well combined, about 2-3 minutes. Add egg and egg white, one at a time, beating on low.
4. Then add vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk in 2 additions, ending with the flour mixture. Fold in rainbow sprinkles.
5. Fill cupcake liners about 1/2-2/3 full. Bake for about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting.

** This batter only makes about 12 cupcakes so if you want to make 24 I would strongly suggest doubling the recipe! **

For the Icing: 

• 2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 6 ounces softened cream cheese
• 2 tbsp softened  butter
• 1 tsp fresh grated lemon zest

Direction: 

Beat confectioners’ sugar, cream cheese, butter and lemon zest with an electric mixer at low speed until well blended. Increase speed to medium and beat until smooth and creamy, about 2 more minutes. 

Once the cupcakes have cooled off, go ahead and frost them.  I then covered them with green sprinkles, stuck two tiny (dum dums) lollipops in each cupcake to make them look like flowers.  The final touch was adding a little green piece of taffy to each cupcake to look like a leaf.