A Lemon Cupcake Decorating Workshop

I love it when my family and friends invite me to their house for baking (as I did recently on a trip to a States)… and I also love it when I invite friends over to the house for some baking or decorating fun.  Side note: not everyone says ‘yes.’  #bummerwhentheanswerisno

But today was awesome!  Our good friend Sharon and her mother, who was in town for a short holiday, came over to the house for lemon cupcake decorating.  I baked the cupcakes the night before and prepared the lemon buttercream the following morning.  Sharon’s mother is a quite an accomplished baker, but finds the task of baking less interesting when compared to decorating.  That’s cool.  I’ll take that.

It is the case, that I offer my friends or “students” a blank slate when it comes to flavoring, coloring, and decorating techniques.  Today, they opted to tackle the classic swirl with a combination of flavors and colors. 

The first dozen cupcakes were cored and refilled with a bit of pink lemon buttercream, raspberry jelly, and a fresh raspberry.  Each was topped with a pink lemon buttercream swirl and a fresh berry.  We were on a roll now!

It was decided the second dozen cupcakes should have yellow lemon buttercream (a simple matter of coloring gel; the flavor was consistent with the pink lemon buttercream) – and were filled with buttercream and raspberry jelly only.  The lemon swirl was topped with a fresh raspberry and a small slice of a citrus jellied candy wedge (I found these in Venice).

Finally, with the remaining frosting bits, we filled a special piping bag that can accommodate two colors of buttercream – and the combination swirl was produced.  This isn’t a technique I use very often, so I was glad these amazing women asked about it.  And the topper – one of my favorite go-to edible bites yumminess – the animal cracker.  It’s a perfect little crunch.

After all the oohing and aahing for their handiwork, a few were eaten and enjoyed.  Followed by the requisite photo shoot of cupcakes, “Does this work?”  “Is this the right color?”  “What about more flowers?”

We packed a take-away box and off they went.  It was a wonderful little workshop of decorating, but more importantly I loved visiting with them.  Sharon has a natural eye for color and form and was able to use her whipped-cream-on-top-of-that skillset she uses when on shift at Starbucks.

None of this good fun would be possible if I wasn’t sober.  None of this good fun is even on the radar without the support of my life partner. 

I love my choices.