Arnold Palmer Cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup milk
5 black tea bags
1 cups unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt


Directions
In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat milk until hot to the touch. Place tea bags in hot milk, and let steep for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and discard tea bags. Let milk cool.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with paper liners.


In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 1/2 cup milk and tea mixture, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix well.


In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add dry mix into the wet ingredients.


Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. Spread or pipe Arnold Palmer Frosting evenly over cupcakes.


Arnold Palmer Frosting:
1 cups unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar, divided
1/2 cup reserved milk/tea mixture
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
In a large bowl, beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar alternately with tea/milk mixture slowly. Beat in lemon juice until creamy.


SOURCE

Cupcake

Apple Strudel

Ingredients

Apple Strudel:

• 1/4 cup bourbon or apple juice
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 2 to 3 Granny Smith apples (about 1 pound), peeled, cored, halved, and thinly sliced
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup crushed shortbread cookies
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
• 5 sheets phyllo dough from 1 pound package of frozen dough
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted, for brushing phyllo sheets, plus more if needed
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• Confectioners' sugar
• Caramel sauce, purchased

Glaze:

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 1/2 tablespoons milk

For the Strudel:

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, pour the bourbon or apple juice over the raisins and microwave on high for 45 seconds. Let sit for 15 minutes.

Combine the raisins, apples, lemon juice, lemon zest, cinnamon, brown sugar, cookie crumbs, pecans, and butter in a large bowl.

Remove the phyllo dough from the box, unfold, and cover with a damp towel. Place 1 sheet of phyllo on the work surface and brush lightly with melted butter. Repeat with the remaining sheets, brushing each with melted butter, stacking when done, being sure to keep the unbuttered phyllo covered.

Place the apple mixture on the nearest third of the phyllo stack, being sure to leave a 2-inch border. Gently lift the bottom edge of the phyllo stack to cover the filling and fold the side edges over. Continue to roll the stack away from you until the filling is completely sealed in and the seam is on the bottom. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown. Pour over the glaze and sprinkle with cinnamon and confectioners' sugar. Pass warm caramel sauce, to drizzle over the strudel.

For the Glaze:

Mix ingredients thoroughly.

*Cook's Note: If too thick add a little bit of milk. If too thin add a little bit of confectioners' sugar.
SOURCE

Apples

Pink Lemonade Layer Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more, for coating pans
• 1 (18 1/4-ounce) box white cake mix
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons sweetened pink lemonade drink powder
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar
• 5 tablespoons frozen pink lemonade concentrate
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper or waxed paper.

Prepare the cake batter according to the package directions. To the batter, stir in the lemon zest, vanilla, and pink lemonade powder. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Carefully turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting by beating together the confectioners' sugar and remaining 1 cup butter until fluffy. Beat in the remaining frosting ingredients until combined.

Transfer one cake to a cake stand or large platter. Using an offset spatula, spread the top of the cake with a layer of frosting. Place the second cake on top of the first. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of both layers.

SOURCE

Sweet Lemon