Lemon Butterfly Cupcakes

Like I said in a previous post, the Easter Bunny brought me the cookbook in which I found this recipe (500 Cupcakes). It's nice to know that he knows me so well. Anyway, these are called Lemon Butterfly Cupcakes because one is supposed to cut a thin slice from the top of each cupcake, cut the slice in half, and then position the halves on the frosting so that they look like wings. I was short on time so I skipped this step. Needless to say, they tasted just the same and still looked wonderful. And they were perfect -- very delicate and very yummy. The frosting, which calls for lemon zest, was amazing!

Ingredients for the Cupcakes:

1 cup (2 sticks) sweet butter, softened

1 cup superfine sugar

2 cups self-rising flour

1 tsp. baking powder

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Ingredients for the Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) sweet butter

2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tbsp. lemon zest

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place 18 paper baking cups in muffins pans. Combine all ingredients for the cupcakes in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and pale (about 2 to 3 minutes). Spoon the batter into the cups.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pans from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack. Prepare the frosting by beating the butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest until smooth. Wait until the cupcakes have cooled completely, then frost.

Notes:

Sweet butter is just unsalted butter.

Fill the baking cups 2/3 of the way full.