strawberry lemonade cupcakes (gluten-free)

All you ready need for strawberry lemonade cupcakes are some strawberries...

and lemons...

...oh, and maybe some cupcakes.

And frosting, of course.

What is summer? Summer is laying out in your swimsuit, running through the sprinklers, eating a drippy popsicle, wearing no shoes outside, and riding your bicycle in the warm evening air...

These cupcakes are the epitome of summer. They are sweet, tangy, fresh, light, and fun.

If you are feeling sad, eat one of these cupcakes, and I promise you that your day will seem brighter and happier.

I pinky swear.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes 

gluten-free

can be dairy-free

1 cup sugar

6 Tbl. butter (for dairy free, use coconut oil or Earth Balance)

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour mix (1/2 cup brown rice sugar, 1/2 cup white rice flour, 1/2 cup tapioca starch)

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup milk (for extra lemon flavor: 1/8 cup fresh lemon juice + 1/4 and 1/8 cup milk; for dairy free, use almond milk)

grated zest of 2 lemons

2 dashes of xanthan gum

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter (or coconut oil/Earth Balance) and sugar until fluffy. Mix in eggs. Add vanilla. 
3. In a bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients by increments. Stir in milk. Add in lemon zest. Stir well. At last, stir in xanthan gum. 
4. Pour batter into cupcake liners. Bake for 15-20 minutes. (Make sure to keep an eye on them.) Cupcakes will be done when they turn a light golden color. Insert a toothpick into the center cupcake; if it comes out clean, then the cupcakes are done. 
5. Cool cupcakes for a few minutes and then remove them from the cupcake pan and allow them to cool on a wire rack. 
6. When they are completely cool, go ahead and frost them with my Strawberry Lemonade Frosting (see below).

Strawberry Lemonade Frosting

1/2 cup butter (for dairy free, use Earth Balance)

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

3-4 strawberries

2 Tbl. frozen lemonade concentrate, at room temperature (or 2 Tbl. milk  *see alteration below)

1. Before you start making the frosting, chop up the strawberries. (You can also puree them in a food processor, which I did--and I recommend it).
2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream the butter (or Earth Balance) until it is smooth. Add the powdered sugar, in increments. Add in salt and vanilla. 
3. Stir in the chopped (or pureed) strawberries.
4. Stir in the lemonade concentrate. At this point, you will want to whip the frosting very quickly, until it looks light and fluffy.
5. Cool frosting for a few minutes in the fridge, give it a good stir, and then frost your cupcakes!

*The citrus in the lemonade concentrate may cause the frosting to curdle a little, so you can choose to replace the lemonade concentrate with milk. To add in lemon flavor to the frosting (with added milk), you can simply garnish the frosted cupcakes with lemon zest or you can brush the top of the cupcakes with lemonade concentrate before frosting them. Personally, I think the frosting is perfect with the lemonade concentrate added in. If you look at the picture below, you will see that the frosting looks normal (and it tastes amazing). In my opinion, the added lemonade concentrate makes the frosting what it is. (Note: the pictures above and the one below were made with two different frosting recipes. Obviously, my first frosting recipe from the cupcakes pictured above didn't turn out as well as this one...)

click here to see my original strawberry lemonade cupcakes.

Creamy Tortellini Spinach Bacon Bake

Have you ever had that experience where someone gives you a recipe and proceeds to tell you: "You have to try this!" or "This is the best thing ever!"

That happens to me all too often.

Usually I respond by smiling and saying: "I am sure it is...of course I will make it!"

All the while I am thinking: "Yeah right, like this is the best thing ever. I am not going to make this stupid dish of yours..."

Was that a little too harsh?

Sorry, but it's the truth.

1 out of 10 times I will make something that you recommend.

I often think that "mine" will be better than "yours"...

And let's be honest, it often is.

Just kidding.

But today is different.

Because today I must confess that I folded.

Yep, I made that "This is the best thing ever!" dish.

My curiosity got the best of me.

And you know what?

I am here to tell you that this dish got my stamp of approval.

[insert applause here]

Congrats Aleisha, you did it.

What is that?

Tortellini?

Spinach?

Bacon?

All of the above?

It's like a match made in pasta heaven.

Fry up some bacon.

Make a cream sauce.

Possibly add in some lemon.

Throw in a bit of spinach.

And always, ALWAYS have a snack on the side!

I decided to snack on vegan coconut chocolate pudding...recipe to come soon!

Toss it all together in a pan.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Creamy Tortellini Spinach Bacon Bake

• 12 oz bag Barilla Cheese & Spinach Tortelini (usually in the dry pasta aisle)
• 5-6 strips bacon
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (add more if you like it spicy)
• 1 small lemon
• 2 cups loosely packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.  Add tortellini and cook according to package instructions.
2. Place bacon in a skillet on the stove-top at medium-high heat.  Cook until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan and set on paper towels to drain.  Crumble when cooled. Reserve two tablespoons bacon drippings in pan and discard the rest.  Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant and tender, about 1 minute.  Add flour to pan and stir with a whisk for about 1 minute. Slowly add milk and continue to stir with whisk until smooth.  Add salt, pepper, basil, and red pepper flakes and bring sauce to a simmer.
3. While sauce is heating, zest your lemon (a fine-holed cheese grater works well).  Then cut lemon in half and remove juice.  Add 1 teaspoon zest and 2 teaspoons lemon juice to sauce.  Continue to stir until thickened (about 2-3 minutes).  Remove from heat.
4. Drain tortellini and place back in stock pot.  Reserve a small handful of the cooked/crumbled and set aside.  Add rest of bacon to the pasta mixture.  Add spinach, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese.  Add in sauce and gently stir to combine.  Place pasta mixture in an 8×8 (or 9×9) sprayed baking dish and top with remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, and remaining crumbled bacon.
5. Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until cheese on top is melted and pasta is bubbly throughout.  Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 4-6

Kudos to Our Best Bites. Love you guys.

 

Yes, I am a nerd who doesn't have enough counter space, so I prepare dishes on top of my dryer. Judge me all you want.

Nom noms.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Cupcakes are my latest obsession. Cute. Petite. Delicious. Where can you go wrong? Plus with summer in bloom all I can think of are things to cool you down: popsicles, ice cream, snow-cones, lemonade. And who doesn't love strawberry lemonade? These cupcakes have the perfect lemon punch and the strawberry lemonade frosting is so satisfying that it's almost scary. I will have you know that my nieces and nephews were licking the frosting from the cupcakes and even sneaking it out of the bowl. My nephews Taylor and Austin asked me when I was going to make these cupcakes next, and cute little Austin asked me for my recipe! I was flattered.

Ring a round the rosie...

Photo courtesy of my nephew Taylor.

Cuppy cakey.

My niece Addie with her daddy (my brother) Ira.

Lemonade Cupcakes

[makes 12 cupcakes]

1 cup sugar

6 tablespoons butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup milk 

grated zest of two lemons

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream butter, sugar, and eggs together until fluffy. Add vanilla and lemon zest.
3. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the milk and lemon juice. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients.
4. Pour into cupcake tins and bake for 20-25 min at 350. Let cool, then frost.

Strawberry and Lemon Buttercream

2 sticks of butter, at room temperature

3 cups of powdered sugar + 1 cup extra

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 -1/2 cup chopped strawberries

grated zest of two lemons

1-2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream butter until smooth. Add in 3 cups powdered sugar slowly with the mixer on low, increasing to combine. Add in vanilla extract. Add in the strawberries, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mix in the additional cup of powdered sugar. (You may need to add even more). 
2. For the best consistency, place the frosting in the freezer for 10 minutes. Frost the cupcakes either by dunking them or use a knife to spread the frosting.
3. Lick the knife clean :)
4. Garnish with slices of strawberry and lemon.

Lemon Raspberry Layer Cake

I have come to the conclusion that I love pretty food. I really enjoy making desserts--not eating them necessarily, but making them. I get excited to frost a cake, to add layers to a trifle, to top off a pie with chocolate curls. My dream is to go to culinary school and become a pastry chef. Eventually I want to open up a bakeshop where I can share my love of baking with the world. At my job at Station 22 Cafe, I am in charge of making all the desserts. Every day I get to go into work and let my creative mind go free. Lately, I have been making White Chocolate Coconut Brownies, Peanut Butter Cups, Bananas Foster Mini Cream Pies, and Snickerdoodle Blondies. And let me tell you, they have really been a hit with the customers. Not that I am bragging or anything :) But seriously, I absolutely LOVE to bake. For Memorial Day, I wanted to make a dessert that reminded people of a beautiful summer day. So I came up with this cake: Lemon Raspberry Layer Cake with Whipped Cream. And boy oh boy was it good.

My brother and his beautiful wife.

Mom and little brother.

Gorgeous sister.

My dad. Isn't he so cute?

Visiting my aunt Yvonne's grave.

Lemon Raspberry Layer Cake

For the Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk [I prefer buttermilk with the lemon]
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable [I made a raspberry spread with sugar, lemon, and water]

Getting Ready
Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Assemble the Cake
Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.
Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
Spread it with one third of the preserves.
Top with another layer, spread with preserves and then do the same with a third layer
Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and frost with whipped cream.

Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days.