On a whim, I decided to take up the duty of baking cupcakes for my boss' birthday. I quickly volunteered my "expertise" baking skills as an alternative to buying a cake from who knows where, (which i'm sure would have been fabulous) I go ahead and assure my co-workers I won't dissapoint.

Whew! So now there's a lot of pressure to be baking the right cupcake for such an important occasion. I decided to ask around and see if anyone had a preference on flavor which resulted in my deciding to bake some sort of lemon cupcake.

I immediately consulted Martha. I searched around (www.marthastewart.com) for "lemon cupcakes"and after a few results popped up, this very recipe sang to me.

It's basically a vanilla/vanilla cupcake with lemon curd filling and a gorgeous ruby red raspberry on top. So while I can tell you, for sure, the recipe is no easy feat, it is worth every sweet sweat! 

Everyone was so impressed by the presentation, the flavors, the fresh fruit and the bite size goodness of this little cupcake. I actually don't even like lemon (that's why I used 1/3 less lemon juice) so my modifications to this recipe made it a sweet lemon taste rather then too tart. 

Adapted from MarthaStewart

Makes 5 dozen mini or 2 dozen regular

The Cupcake:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
• 5 large eggs, separated
• 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup plus 1/3 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.

2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla; beat to combine. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Sift together both flours, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. With the mixer on low, add flour mixture; mix until well combined. Add sour cream; mix until well combined.

4. In a clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter.

5. Fill each muffin cup half full with batter. Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until a skewer inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes for mini or 20 - 24 minutes for regular size cupcakes. Let cupcakes cool completely.

6. Using an apple corer, make a hole in the top of each cupcake, taking care not to push the corer through the bottom; remove cake from hole. Fill a squirt bottle with lemon curd and squeeze curd into holes.

Lemon Curd:

• 1 cup sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 3 large eggs
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2/3 cup Meyer lemon juice
• 5 ounces unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1. Prepare and ice-water bath. Set a medium bowl in ice-water bath and set aside.

2. Place sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and stir to combine and release the oils. Transfer sugar mixture to a medium heatproof bowl along with eggs and egg yolks; whisk to combine. Place over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until sugar has dissolved. Add lemon juice and continue whisking until mixture is thick and reaches 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Add butter and whisk until well combined.

3. Strain lemon mixture through a fine mesh sieve set over prepared bowl. Cover lemon curd with plastic wrap, pressing plastic wrap directly onto surface. Transfer to refrigerator until completely chilled.

The Frosting: 

• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla bean paste
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup milk

1. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat to combine, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.

2. Add vanilla bean paste or seeds and vanilla extract, and beat to combine. Slowly add milk and continue beating on medium-low speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes.

To Finish:

Fill each cupcake with lemon curd, pipe vanilla bean frosting neatly onto top of each cupcake and garnish with a fresh raspberry. Viola! Cupcake perfection!