Recipe: Strawberry-Filled Lemon-Ginger Cupcakes With Cardamom Cream Cheese Icing

I was introduced to these cupcakes a few years ago by a couple of my friends who baked them and brought them along to a picnic. They were incredible. So recently I demanded that they provide me with the recipe, and they directed me to this LiveJournal entry. Today I went ahead and made them and despite my poor baking skills, they were still incredible. Sure, I could just link you to the recipe and be done with it, but 1) if you're as lazy as I am, you will never click that link and 2) what would one of Architectural Appetite's recipes be without Sarah's fun tips and notes?

STRAWBERRY FILLING

Ingredients

12-14 strawberries

2 tablespoons sugar

Splash of orange juice

Instructions

Chop the strawberries into itty bitty pieces, to the point where you would feel comfortable calling them "filling." Add the sugar and orange juice, then set aside. That was easy.

LEMON-GINGER CAKE

Ingredients

1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter

1¾ cups sugar

2 large eggs

½ teaspoon salt

2½ teaspoons baking powder

3 cups flour

1 cup milk

1/3 cup lemon juice, from 3 lemons

1 tbsp grated raw ginger

zest of two medium lemons

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put the butter into a large bowl and mash it until it's creamy. Add the sugar and beat the combination until it's light and fluffy (it should end up looking like really white couscous). Add one egg, beat for 30 seconds, add the other egg, and then continue beating until it's all mixed together.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add this to the main mixing bowl (with all the butter and eggs and stuff) and mix it together. Then mix in the milk, ginger, lemon juice, and lemon zest.

Fill the cupcake papers or pan or whatever you use half way, add a little bit of strawberry filling, and then put another layer of cake batter on top. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick (or in my case, a fondue stick) comes out clean.

CARDAMOM CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons ground cardamom

Instructions

In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese and butter until it becomes one creamy substance (I needed a machine to do this). Add the vanilla and then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar and cardamom (I just did one tablespoon at a time for the cardamom). Make sure to taste it when it's all mixed together, so you can add a little more sugar or cardamom to adjust to your taste preferences.