Hello Cake Blog readers.  It’s Lauren from Crave. Indulge. Satisfy. I want to start off first by thanking Carrie for asking me to be a part of her amazingly gorgeous and always inspiring cake blog!  I am honored to be a new contributor on The Cake Blog and look forward to sharing many great cupcake recipes and photos with you monthly!   Today I am sharing my first cupcake creation to kick off summer, Honey Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting!

The star ingredient is fresh local honey that I picked up at our local farmer’s market a few weeks ago.  While my husband and I were scoping out all the vendors we were quickly persuaded to sample some fresh honey.  After one taste of a sweet wild flower honey I was sold and quickly purchased a mason jar full!  Honey is an ingredient I always keep on hand (usually in the shape of the honey bear) to add some sweetness to smoothies, corn bread, a bowl of oatmeal, homemade granola bars or even dog biscuits for my black lab.  Everything tastes better with a little honey right?  All it took was one spoonful of honey and I was inspired to create a honey cupcake that I hope you are going to love!

Before we jump right to the recipe, I wanted to share with you some basic tools I use all the time when making cupcakes.  I find that using a standard size ice cream scoop with a release mechanism is very helpful when filling the cupcake liners and making uniform sized cupcakes.  I picked up my scoop at a grocery store a few years ago for just a few dollars and it is one of my absolute favorite kitchen gadgets!  When it comes time to decorating cupcakes I absolutely love using a large round piping tip to create a tall swirly design like on these cupcakes!  Don’t have a piping tip, just scoop your icing into a large zip lock bag, snip off one bottom corner and start swirling away!

Just looking at these cupcakes makes me happy!  These little cakes are extra special because you get a double pop of honey in both the cake and frosting!  Add some sugar sprinkles on top and you’ve got a vibrant sweet that is perfect for those bright summery days!  Honey Cupcakes would be the perfect addition to a summer picnic or family reunion.  You could even add some fresh lemon juice or zest for an extra punch of flavor!  Don’t let summer pass you by without giving this recipe a try!

HONEY CUPCAKES WITH HONEY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
a recipe by Lauren Kapeluck
{makes 1 dozen cupcakes}

For the cake:

1 stick butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In medium bowl mix together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
3. In small bowl mix together wet ingredients: buttermilk, honey and vanilla, set aside.
4. In bowl of stand mixer cream butter and sugar on medium speed until combined.
5. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
6. Gradually add the dry and wet ingredients, alternating starting and ending with dry ingredients and mix until combined.
7. Using ice cream scoop fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full.
8. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
9. Let cupcakes cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.
10. Once cupcakes are completely cool, ice with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting.

For the frosting:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
3 Tbsp honey
yellow food coloring (optional)
yellow sugar sprinkles

1. In bowl of stand mixer cream butter and cream cheese until combined.
2. Gradually add confectioner’s sugar and continue to mixing scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
3. Mix in honey.
4. If desired add a few drops of yellow food coloring to slightly tint the icing.
5. Place the icing in a piping bag fitted with a round decorating tip and swirl the frosting on top of the cupcake going in a circular motion.
6. Add some yellow sugar sprinkles and enjoy!

These cupcakes are amazingly delicious and absolutely scream summer time!  Enjoy!

	Lauren Kapeluck Lauren is a monthly contributor for The Cake Blog. She is a self-taught baker and lover of all things sugar. Read more about Lauren on her bio page.