Lemon's Cupcakes

You read that right- Lemon's Cupcaks.  Not Lemon cupcakes- as in cupcakes that are of the lemon variety.  We are taking cupcakes which belong to Lemon.

Who is Lemon you ask?  My dog- that's right, I'm making cupcakes for my dog.

I know, I know, this site it generally dedicate to food porn- but we are switching gears and I'm going to show lots of pictures of my cute puppy.  Because if the interwebs weren't built to look at food and pictures of dogs and cats, I sure as heck don't know what it's for. 

Anywhoo- let me explain my thought process on this one.  I'm still on Cheat Day probation- which means I can't eat anything delicious that I bake, but I still have that unnatural urge to break out the kitchen aid and mix up something amazing.  So what's a girl to do? 

I first started by trying to make a new, fun recipe that didn't seem all the exciting to me personally (see: S'mores Brownie Bars.)  This was a catastrophe- because despite me not liking s'mores, they were still a HUGE temptation.

Attempt at not cheating while baking two: Ganache filled cupcakes with butter cream.  Ok- so I've done this a million times.  No need to test the recipe- no worries that they didn't turn out.  Yet I sampled anyway!  Why?  I've made them a million times because I love them!  So that was fail number two.

And since this I also tried making something out of my typical health food ingredients- cause, you know, I'd be less tempted to sample the Almond Monster Cookie Bars cause I eat almond butter and oatmeal every day.  About a billion crumbs picked off of the tray later, I was clearly proven wrong.  

My only other option at this point was to make something not meant for human consumption: Dog Treats.  I know- I'm weird.  But to defend this decision- it WAS my dogs birthday (the big 0-2!) and I really didn't want to do anything productive.  So doggie cupcakes it is! 

These are made with human food- so despite not being delicious or... you know... meant for a human to eat- my husband did sample anyway.  He liked them a whole lot better when I covered them in left over butter cream.  Lemon liked them as is.  And by "liked them" I mean she licked the spot on the deck floor where she ate the cupcake for 20 minutes after it was done.  Happy puppy.  

Doggie Cupcakes
These are great- because they are made with puppy safe ingredients that are pretty common to have on hand.

Pretty simple, grab peanut butter (I did natural, so there are less artificial things in it to mess with puppy's tummy), honey, carrots, flour, baking soda, vanilla, oil and an egg and blend them together. 

The batter should be pretty thick.  Spoon it into muffin tins.  These do not have to be lined, but you most certainly can to add a new level of adorable!

Which of course I did.  Because I'm me.  And I love buying cupcake liners- which means I always have them on hand.  

Throw these into the oven at 350 for 13-16 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Next, you'll be whipping up some icing to top these off!









To make the frosting, soften an 8 ounce container of fat free cream cheese and add about a half a cup of honey, or to taste.  This will be kind of sticky and hard to manage, so if you are piping it on, I suggest putting the piping bag in the fridge for a few minutes before topping the cupcakes.

Next, it's time to serve it to your dog.  Who is at this point completely unaware that she is getting a cupcake, and that it's her birthday.  Soon she will be aware that she gets a cupcake- yet no matter how loudly you sing, no matter how much your embarrass yourself in front of the neighbors, she will still have no idea that it's her birthday.

Dog picture time!!!

Lemon anticipates receiving the cupcake.

Lemon daintily tastes the frosting.

Lemon ditches the plate and takes the sucker out.  Just like mama.  Good girl.

I would rate the recipe, but I sure didn't try this one.  At last!  A recipe made during cheat day probation that I didn't try!  Go me! 

But Lemon loved it- so I give it an A+!

Puppy Cupcakes

Recipe From: http://www.dog-treat-recipe-exchange.com/dog-birthday-cake-recipes

Ingredients

Cake

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup peanut butter

1 cup shredded carrots

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup honey

1 egg

Frosting

8 ounce brick fat free cream cheese

1/2 cup honey

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350.

Blend all the cake ingredients together and spoon into muffin tins (lined or unlined.)  Bake 13-16 min or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Blend cream cheese and honey and top cupcakes.

Sing happy birthday to dog.

Serve cupcakes to dog.

Take pictures.