When life gives you lemons, make lemon mascarpone cupcakes

I don't mean to toot my own horn here, but, let's be honest, these lemon, mascarpone cupcakes are true perfection. There is a certain book author, and perhaps one national grocery chain, that deserve some credit for the success of this recipe, but - toot toot! - I might reserve most of the confectionery acclaim for myself. Every home cook or baker has a real show-stopper in their recipe arsenal; this is mine.

After making an attempt at the notoriously tricky french macaron (in a tiny city kitchen with an ancient gas stove, antique even), I found that the resulting cookie was not nearly as tasty as the filling I had made to put inside -- a mixture of lemon curd and mascarpone cheese -- and I ate the extra by the spoonful. The creamy mascarpone smoothed the tangy sweetness of the lemon curd creating a balance that I later discovered was the absolute perfect topping to a classic vanilla cupcake. Rather than mixing cheese and fruit curd together from the get-go to frost this perfect cupcake, I built it in layers, first spreading a small amount of curd on top and then frosting the cakes with a slightly sweetened mixture of heavy cream and mascarpone cheese, whipped into an airy cloud.

The cupcake recipe comes from Amy Sedaris' I Like You, a must-have guide to entertaining that includes both recipes and tips on things like entertaining the elderly and how to turn your living room into a discount movie theater. Sedaris notes that this recipe "should produce 24 cupcakes, but I get 18 because I'm doing something wrong." She must be doing something right because they were voted best cupcakes in the city by New York Magazine, and won me a blue ribbon when I entered my version in a local cake contest. For the winning cake, I doubled the recipe and cooked the batter in four cake rounds, using three to create the final layer cake (pictured below). To win the contest I beat out a cake shaped like a sexy, bikini-clad lady torso. Yes, this recipe is that good. Make it, share it, and don't hesitate to do some horn-tooting of your own.

Lemon Mascarpone Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

"Tattletail's Vanilla Cupcakes" from Amy Sedaris' I Like You

Yields 24 (or 18) cupcakes

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups milk

1 batch Whipped Mascarpone Frosting (below)

5 oz. Lemon Curd (you can make your own, but I like to use Trader Joe's)

Lemon Zest and Blueberries for garnish (if you want to get fancy)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill 2 muffin tins with paper liners. Beat sugar and butter. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Sift in dry ingredients, then beat until well-combined. Pour into prepared pans and cook until tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle. Let cupcakes cool fully.


Frosting:

2 cups heavy cream
8 ounces mascarpone cheese
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar

Place all ingredients in bowl and whisk/mix with electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Spread a teaspoon of lemon curd on each cupcake, then frost. Grate fresh lemon zest over the frosting, and top with a blueberry. Devour.