Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes

i found the most beautiful raspberry's at the grocery last night, and picked up a lemon, and figured i'm game for anything with this combo! after some research of what i could make that i actually had ingredients for, i came up with these little babies! i had to improvise a few things.

This is what they looked like before i frosted with lemony frosting. i pureed 1/3 of my raspberries and added a bit of sugar to the mix, and spooned a teaspoon of it into the middle each cupcake.

cupcake:

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup half and half (or you can use milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Combine milk and extracts; add to creamed mixture alternately with dry ingredients. pour into cupcake papers. (my batch made 32)
- puree some raspberries with a little sugar or you can always use raspberry jam. spoon in 1/2 teaspoon (or more) of raspberry puree into middle of cupcake.
- Bake at 375 degrees F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

lemon frosting:

6-8 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

- In a mixing bowl, beat butter until smooth. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice and peel.