Lemony Secret

I made cupcakes for the birthday of a good friend of mine. She happens to love cupcakes, and cupcakes happen to be the one thing I'm actually getting pretty good at making. One of her favorites of my repertoire is our Luscious Lemon, so Amie, (my cupcake cohort...and sister in law... and possible non-spousal soul mate,) and I made lemon cupcakes with lemon butter cream frosting. Yummers!
People flip for these cupcakes. Every time we make them we get rave reviews; in fact, after this last batch someone actually accused me of putting crack in them. There are two things that make these cupcakes stand out and neither involve crack. One is the little citrus-topper secret, the other is the frosting.
In the spirit of sharing, and because some people have been begging for the recipe-- but have promised not to share it when I start my global cupcake domination (think: the Starbucks of cupcakeries)-- I thought I'd divulge our recipe for lemony goodness. Below is the recipe I use for the cakes; it makes ~18:

1 stick unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teasp. salt
2 1/2 teasp. baking powder
3 cups flour
1 cup milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
zest of two medium lemons

1. Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds
2. Add sugar and beat with butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes
3. Add eggs one at a time and beat for about 30 seconds between each.
4. Wisk or sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl
5. Add to butter mixture and then add milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest and combine.
6. Scoop into cupcake pans (using an ice cream scoop works best for me)
7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-22 minutes. Don't overcook! They won't turn golden, so check with a toothpick after 15 minutes and every few minutes afterward. These can easily lose too much of their moisture if overcooked even by just a few minutes.
As the cupcakes cool, poke them a few times with a fork and drizzle a little orange juice concentrate (like from the frozen cans) on top. It will soak into the areas where you've poked the fork holes and coat the top a little. Once the cupcakes cool completely, the concentrate will function like a glaze and you can frost right over it. It ads a little moisture at the top and packs a punch of flavor that blends into the lemon flavor and just makes the cakes even more delectable.
We always do the frosting sans recipe, but we start with two sticks of unsalted butter and about a box and a half of powdered sugar. Add lemon juice until you have the flavor you like. We usually use juice from 1-2 lemons, depending on the size of the lemon. We like it really lemony so sometimes we add some lemon oil too; just don't skimp on the juice, it won't make it sour-- not with that much powdered sugar, people. A teeny pinch of salt will help the flavor, too.
And that is the Luscious Lemon recipe. Don't say I never gave ya nuthin'.