Orange Blossom Cupcakes

Today I am taking a break from actually baking. Its been a long week and I have been baking every night since Sunday and this girl needs a rest.  But, I still wanted to share some cupcakes with you since I decided this was cupcake week. 

I recently gained a very special sister in law when I got married last month.  She is a beautiful person inside and out and she got married to my husband's brother last October.  Our mother in law is the sweetest nicest lady you will ever meet, she is most definitely an angel here among us, so you can only fathom how happy she is to finally have some daughters around after being outnumbered by men in her household for so many years. Now that there are 2 daughter's we are creating a new status quo!  We've had a nail day, we've scrapbooked, we shop.....sure beats watching the game while the debate goes on......

When my sister in law got married, my mother in law and I had such a fun time planning her bridal shower.  She loves cupcakes and her very favorite cupcakes are the Orange Blossom cupcakes from DC Cupcakes in Washington DC.  Her hubby loves her so much that he's had them shipped to Michigan for her not once, but twice......nothing says lovin like a cupcake! Don't you agree?

Well, my pockets aren't deep enough to have cupcakes shipped, so instead I tried to replicate her favorite cupcake to try to make her shower as special as she is.  My boss at the time had the book, The Cupcake Diaries, written by the DC cupcake ladies,

which is where we got the recipe for lemon cupcakes. I just exchanged oranges for the lemons that the recipe called for.  You know a cupcake is going to be good when the batter tastes oh so yummy.....these cupcakes were so fresh and light, they were like bites of sunshine.  We displayed the cupcakes on a cupcake tree and I made the little picks with their names on them with the help of my friend Lacy and her cricket machine. Everyone enjoyed these cupcakes and I hope you do too if you ever make them!