Lemon Cupcakes

Baking is one of my passions. After university I definitely plan to work my way up in the pastry sector. But for now it will remain as my number one hobby.

This lemon recipe is amazing! It uses freshly squeezed lemon to achieve a delicious tangy flavour. Accompanied with lemon cream cheese frostin it is simply heaven. I definitely suggest it to all the lemon lovers out there. 

Here is my time lapse video of this recipe, to show you the process and decoration, click here to watch.

It makes about 15 cupcakes.

(You can slowly add small amounts of lemon juice/zest to suit your taste) 

Lemon Cupcakes

2  1/2 cups of plain flour

2  1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

8 tbs butter, at room temperature

1  1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1  1/4 cups milk, at room temperature

1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice

1 tbs of lemon zest

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

3. Using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer cream the butter and sugar for 3 to 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Then ass the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.

4. Add the vanilla to the milk in a large measuring cup. 

5. Add one third of the dry ingredients, followed by one third of the wet ingredients. Repeat until is used. Mix slowly until just incorporated. 

6. Add lemon juice and zest into the mixture, still on low speed.

7. Fill cupcake cases around 2/3 full. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes (checking regularly). The cupcakes are done when a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

60 g butter

240 g cream cheese

Add about 1+ cup of icing sugar

Lemon zest

Lemon juice

1. Cream the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer unti it is light and fluffy.

2. Add the sugar and lemon zest/ juice. Continue mixing until combined.

Tip: The longer you mix the frosting, the lighter it will be.

Have a great weekend!

The Art of Procrastination

By far my WORST habit is procrastinating! In fact that's why I'm writing this new post...

I always manage to find myself getting super easily distracted by every little thing. From sitting at my desk to start my assignment, I can end up plucking my eyebrows or even doing the dishes. (The eyebrow part is pretty weird, I know!) Even though everyone knows that procrastination is keeping ourselves from finishing tasks, why do we still continue to do it? We are just digging a deeper holes for ourselves. I can remember the hundreds of times I stayed up to finish my assignment the day before it was due!

Every morning I wake up and think, "I'm going to have a productive day, NO distractions. 2 hours of work. Boom. Get it done." But by the end of the day my so called productive day ends up with me being annoyed at myself for not achieving my plan! I know the consequences of not doing my work, yet I still leave it to the last minute. 

I once read an article about procrastination whilst I was procrastinating and it mentioned that there are two parts of our brain competing with each other. The first part of the brain, knowing our responsibilities and the importance of completing it, the long term benefit of completing the task. The second part of our brain wants to satisfy our short term 'want', leading us to go watch tv, go on social medias or even sleep! As both of these part keep competing with another, usually the second part wins. (In my case, all the time.)

How do we control procrastination? I still haven't figured out that part yet! Looks like this will be another Mid Years resolution... Funny, I mentioned that in high school...

Hope you have a PRODUCTIVE week! I'll try to :) Meg

Comment below: Do you procrastinate? And what is the weirdest thing(s) you've done?

Life is Amazing, Even When it Isn't

Hello world, if you're listening :)

There are times where I'm in the shittiest mood, getting frustrated at everything. Being a university student the pressures are high and I feel like I want to explodeeee. Meltdowns? I've had a couple. Nothing shuts you down more than failing something you worked so incredibly hard for. But it's a learning process... It makes me want to try so much harder for the next time. But how many 'next times' do I actually get? Hmmmm I always wonder. 

Anyways, whenever I feel down or stressed out, I just think of how lucky I really am. Lucky to be able to enjoy life even when I don't (does that even make sense? Hahah I have no idea, it does in my head!). 

I believe in thinking good thoughts as much as I can. It's tougher than it sounds though, but it's my way of moving forward.

BETTER THINGS WILL COME.

Trust me :)