Went to a farewell party this past week and I baked cupcakes for it.  I enjoy cooking a lot more than I enjoy baking but I liked the way these turned out so I thought I’d share.  It’s also a not so subtle nod to Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade.  I don’t like all of her ideas and I rarely like her decorating ideas but I think she’s on the right track to cooking/baking in today’s fast paced world.

Step 1 - Mix Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Lemon Supreme dry cake mix with eggs, vegetable oil and milk (substitute for water).

Step 2 - After filling your muffin cups 2/3 full, put a half teaspoon of lemon curd on top of each cupcake.  The lemon curd will sink during baking.

Step 3 - Bake for 18 minutes in a preheated 325 degrees Fahrenheit oven.  When toothpick comes out clean the cupcakes are done.  Be sure to avoid overbaking because browning isn’t very attractive on cupcakes.  They will appear a little pale when you first remove them but will cool to a pretty golden yellow color.

Step 4 - After the cupcakes have cooled, ice the cupcakes with Pillsbury Whipped Supreme Fluffy White frosting. Note: I ran a little low on frosting and I only iced about 20 cupcakes (I ate 2 or 3 unfrosted — purely for testing purposes of course) so you might consider picking up an extra container of frosting.

Step 5 - Arrange on a platter and enjoy!

I plan to tweak this a little bit as the lemon curd had the tendency to sink too far down the cupcake instead of being right in the middle.  I might mix the lemon curd with cream so that it is lighter and not as dense.  I might also consider making the batter a little thicker.