Lemon Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

   Whenever I need a recipe, of course I immediately turn to Pinterest. Lately I've found so many recipes that I would love to make. When I click on the link, they don't include the actual recipe.  Eventually, I found this lovely recipe on Risa's blog, Baked Perfection.

Lemon Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream 

makes 24-30 cupcakes 

3 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

4 teaspoons grated lemon zest

4 Tablespoons lemon juice 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups sour cream

Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well. Add in the flour mixture a little at a time. Dump in the sour cream. Your batter will be thick. This recipe makes a pretty dense cupcake. What I like about that, is that the cupcake stays together while you eat it and won't crumble. Fill lined muffin tins 3/4 full with the batter. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely. 

Strawberry Buttercream

2 sticks butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup strawberry jam

pinch of salt

6 cups powdered sugar 

2-3 Tablespoons milk

             Cream butter and vanilla. Mix in strawberry jam and salt. Be careful if you use preserves, the big chunks of strawberry will get stuck in your piping bag. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Add in milk, 1 T at a time until you reach desired consistency.