Triple Lemon Heaven!

Start with Lemon cake infused with real fresh squeezed lemon juice, add fresh grated zest. Top the cup cake with a puddle of lemon curd cream cheese, then top with a huge swirl of lemon juice infused butter cream and sprinkle with more zest. Heaven indeed!

Basic cake rules for S'mee:

Use whatever cake recipe you want. If you use store bought (don't come crying to me) no worries, just know they ain't what they used to be. Grab a good cook book and try out a recipe for homemade cake. It's easy as pie. Wait no, pie is hard, cake is EASY!

So you'll need one recipe for Lemon. You're gonna change the recipe a bit.

Dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in the other.

With the Lemon I want you to add 1 cup of lemon yogurt, 1 large box of lemon pudding mix - the kind you cook, and the juice and zest of 1 lemon.

Blend all of your add ins before you blend the dry with the wet.

Fill your cup cake liners or cups to 2/3 and check them at about 20 minutes or whatever time your recipes calls for, using the first time. (like if your recipe say 20-23 min. go with 20) The idea here is that you want to catch them when they are "just" done, not over baked. It may take longer than the 20 minutes, but bring them out when they spring back or pick test clean.

Let them rest for about ten minutes and then your are going to seal them with a simple syrup. For 1 recipe 1/8 to 1/8 water and white sugar should give you plenty of syrup. Put the sugar and water in a small sauce pan and bring it to a boil until the sugar dissolves, set it aside and grab a pastry brush. When the 10 minutes is up, brush the tops of the cakes with the simple syrup, turn them out onto a rack and let them cool.

The middle:

For the Lemon Curd Cream Cheese, again, 50/50 cream cheese with really good lemon curd. Make your own or buy a good brand. Soften in the MicroRhonda for about 20 seconds and beat with a spoon to blend. STOP eating it! This is like Lemon Crack, resist the urge or you won't have enough for your cup cakes! Put the lemon amazement into a pastry bag fit with an 802 round tip. Push that tip into the center, and then into the middle of the cake and begin to fill the cup cake until it begins to bulge. Pull the tip out and there you go. OR you can just pipe a little puddle on top. Place the cakes in the fridge to cool and firm up the filling before you frost.

The butter cream: Again, use ANY butter cream recipe you want. I prefer my sister Robyn's over anyone else's I've tried - even Pioneer Woman's- and it spanks. Her recipe is:here. My exception to her recipe is as follows: I s-l-o-w-l-y add the water, and most of the time I don't use the full cup. Also I almost always use 50/50 butter and shortening. It may have something to do with where I live (Mojave Desert) and the amazingly dry climate coupled with the altitude.

Lemon is pretty easy, but here you go. Butter cream in a bowl, add 1/2 to 1 whole lemon depending on your taste, blend and pipe on top of the cup cakes using a 807 round (channel a Dairy Queen ice cream gal). Sprinkle with lemon zest. Done. : )

All cup cakes are best covered and put in the fridge until about a half hour before serving... but again it won't kill you to do otherwise. I like those disposable baking tins that have the clear plastic lids. They are tall enough not to smash the frosting and large enough to carry a dozen, plus the lid keeps them nice and moist. Trust me, these are moist.