Lemony Lemon Cupcakes with Mango-Pineapple Frosting

Normally I’m not a big fan of cupcakes. That’s putting it lightly. I really don’t like them; I don’t make them, and don’t like eating them. It’s been years [no actually, to be honest I don’t even remember the last time] since I made cupcakes. They’re kind of lame, too sweet, and dry. But last night, I had some yummy vanilla cupcakes with blueberries and lemon frosting and it made me rethink my cupcake stance. They were light, fluffy and fresh. The blueberries helped to tone down the sweetness. And they inspired me to give cupcakes a second chance.

Today I set out to make some yummy cupcakes. I wanted something light and fresh, and since I’ve been on a mango craze - mango frosting sounded delicious. I figured lemon cupcakes would be a nice pairing. I found some recipes online, altered them to fit my needs and voila!

Of course I couldn’t go without taking pictures throughout the entire process. What kind of photographer/baker would I be if I didn’t take photographs of my baking creations? Then I got to thinking.. I’ve always wanted to make my own cookbook. [okay on a sidenote.. I have a list of a million things I’ve always wanted to do, or want to do someday – among them, related to this blog are: have my own photo studio, have my own gallery, own a coffee shop/smoothie shop/ sandwich shop, make my own cookbook] Anyway so I have this huge thesis I’m suppose to do over the next two semesters before I graduate, and I’ve been completely at a loss of what to do. The thesis is supposed to mainly focus on producing photographic work, but there also has to be a research component (and research paper 50-100 pages), and should (ideally) be something I’m very interested in. I’ve been racking my brain for ideas for months now, and nothing seems feasible or interesting enough to do for an entire year. Until now. How cool would it be to use my thesis to create (and possibly even publish) my own cookbook with my recipes and photography?!? Making a cookbook has always been a small dream/goal, but one I never really put much thought into because I figured I’d leave that for years down the road. But I’m beginning to think that a cookbook might be the perfect topic for my thesis. I don’t know a whole lot about food photography, so that could be one element of the research, I’d have a reason to bake and cook fun meals for the next year, and I’d have a chance to make my own book! I’m excited thinking about it, and I’m praying for clarity about the idea, and would really really appreciate your prayers too! It’s still in the idea stage, and it needs a lot of refining and focusing if I’m going to use it as my thesis project.

Even if I don’t end up using it for my thesis, I hope that since I’ve grown in my photography I can start working on a cookbook anyways and slowly build on it until I have enough recipes and photographs to complete it!

So back to the baking. I halved and then altered the cupcake recipe and something didn’t translate quite right and they sunk a little in the middle, but they were still very moist and lemony. The frosting was delicious (I think I’ll omit the few pieces of pineapple I threw into the frosting next time to try pure mango frosting). It was tart and sweet at the same time and didn’t dry and get all crusty because honey keeps it moist. My only complaint about the frosting was that it wasn’t thick enough to pipe and then hold its shape. But everyone that had them only had good things to say so I’m pretty pleased. I promised some girls from church (who saw my Twitter or Facebook postings about the cupcakes) that I’d make more for them on Sunday, so hopefully I’ll be able to perfect some of the flaws from this first round.

I’m stoked to find some more yummy recipes and start creating my own. I usually bake cookies and cakes, so I’m taking a break to try out and find the best cupcake recipes. I’m not sure whether to find some more light and delicate fruit cupcakes or go all out for a rich chocolate espresso cupcake. Any suggestions?