Lead Belly Cupcakes :(

Sometimes more of something you love mutates into just TOO much! This was the case with the Paula Dean recipe for Arnold Palmer cupcakes. My baker's antennae were vibrating when I saw the amount of butter and sugar in both the cupcake batter and frosting, but I love Paula Dean and thought - "What the heck do I know?" Well I guess tastes are as diverse as our individual personalities, and although the batter tasted great, the baked end-result was waaaay too heavy and too fatty for this Momma.

Elephants in Tutus!
I baked the cupcakes the evening before the birthday, and frosted them the next day, so maybe if we could have eaten them freshly cooled from the oven the result would have been more pleasing. The flavour of lemon and tea was lovely, but it was overpowered by the butter and bulky texture. The dry heft of these cupcakes reminded me (and not in a good way...) of some day-old Hovis bread I bought in my university days when I was trying to eat healthy on less than $40 a week! How could something infused with so much fat be dry?

Canadian Content?
I am wondering if some of the challenge was in my technique (whipped all by hand, not with electric mixer), and also with our local ingredients. I know my Uncle Chuck in Florida has purchased flour and butter when he is in Canada -- he loves to cook and swears that the butter and flour in the Southern USA are different (???).Different variety of wheat? What are the cows eating? Anyway - no disrespect to the fabulous Paula, but I am wiping this lil' ole recipe right offa my memory banks! Thankfully I have another birthday coming later this month and can redeem myself :)