Couture cupcake

I have never been the girl with just the right outfit for every occasion. You know the kind of girl the always wears the perfect shoes and has the perfect outfit for every occasion just hanging in her closet. Not me, I give it my best shot but usually just go with black. Black dress, good for most dressy occasions, nice black pants good for most semi dressy occasions and good ole jeans with a nice black sweater, top...well you get my drift. I do wear other colors but I find that my "go to" outfit is your basic black. Nothing wrong with that I suppose, but sometimes I just wish I be more like my friend N. She's got a closet full of just the right outfits for anything and the perfect shoe for every one of them.

Instead of reading the fashion magazines, and keeping up with the trends, I read cookbooks and food blogs for fun. I spend my time reading more about cupcakes than I do about couture. I was doing just that recently, reading one of my favorite cupcake blogs Cupcakes take the Cake. The blog features everything cupcake and they often interview or feature cupcake bakeries. I was going down their list of cupcake shops in the U.S. I love seeing what other people are making and how creatively they decorate their cupcakes. I came across the website for Dozen Cupcakes in Pittsburgh PA and was intrigued by their creative flavors and beautiful looking cupcakes. They have a cupcake called "Tiffany". It's aTiffany blue iced vanilla cupcake with white sprinkles. Perfect for my friend N, I thought. Living about 1000 miles from Dozen Cupcakes, I'd have to make my own. *This is the only drawback to surfing all these wonderful sites most times they're too far away to pop in and sample their goodies. So I made some vanilla cupcakes baked in silver cupcake liners and iced with a decadent cream cheese icing and gave them to her. She loved them so much that she asked me to make more for her to give as a gift. We decided to kick them up a notch and fill the cupcakes with a lemon filling. Just like a box from Tiffany's...blue and white on the outside with a surprise on the inside! I may never be the girl with perfect shoe for every occasion, but maybe I have the perfect cupcake for those girls:)

To make these cupcakes, use your favorite vanilla cupcake recipe. Martha Stewart's Vanilla Cupcakes is a nice basic vanilla cupcake. I'm aways trying out new recipes looking for the perfect one...kind of like the perfect shoe?!

For the cream cheese frosting, I used my favorite recipe. It's from "The Joy of Cooking" It so easy and it can be made in your food processor!

Cream Cheese Frosting

about 2 cups

Combine in food processor, and pulse until smooth and creamy:

8 oz cold cream cheese

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted

If frosting is too thick pulse a few seconds longer. Don't over process or it'll will be too soft and be difficult to decorate with.