Would you be so Kind as to be my Cherry on Top?

"So we grew together,
Like to a double cherry, seeming parted,
But yet an union in partition.”

-William Shakespeare

 

Lately I've found myself in a trance of Shakespeare's quotes. There's something about the wording of his writing that just works; it successfully portrays an idea yet at the same time is a piece of art. And who knew that he Shakespeare had a quote about cherries...well not exactly about cherries but in regards to cherries.

 

Anywho...how's life been treating y'all? I've been pretty busy lately with a bunch of different stuff, ranging from essay writing to scholarship applications to university applications to school essays...okay so I've been doing a lot of writing lately. But I do enjoy writing, so writing I shall do.

 

And surprisingly I've been baking a fair amount too...one always manages to incorporate their favorite activities into their busy schedule. Weird..."Ya I'm too busy to do anything...oh wait, my cookies are done!" Hmm, and such is my life.

 

A few weeks ago one of my dearest friends had a birthday, so in response I baked up some cupcakes for her surprise party. Surprise would be putting it mildly...surprised she was!

 

All too often I feel like when I bake I just use other people's recipes without altering them enough to call them mine...yet over the last few weeks I've been tweaking every recipe I use.

 

These....

...for example, are supposed to be Orange Cupcakes. Yet somehow they turned into Lemon Cherry...I don't even know how! Okay, I lied. I do know how. The only store within walking distance had no oranges so I was forced to find a way around it. And somehow I ended up buying lemons and cherries.

And since said friend loves cream cheese frosting, that is just what these cupcakes got.

Lemon Cherry Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 3  eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup milk

*pre-heat your oven to 350*
*Blend sugar and lemon zest until moist
*Beat in butter and eggs, one at a time
*Add vanilla and lemon extracts
*In a seperate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt
*On low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk to the previous mixture
*Fill cupcake liners and bake for 18-20 minutes

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon shortening
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups icing sugar

*Mix first 4 ingredients
*Slowly add the icing sugar until you reach the consistency you're looking for, more or less than stated
*Pipe or spread over cooled cupcakes

Can we please just take a moment to notice how nice the yellow sprinkles look...so yellow, only yellow. Okay now lets journey back to the hour before I decorated these guys

 

OCD...maybe. But hey, I really wanted only yellow sprinkles and this was the only way I could achieve that goal. Mission accomplished.

 

Well, my darlings, that's all I've got for you tonight. Thanks for tuning in and feel free to drop me a comment anytime you feel like it,

Have a good one,
Sydney :)