Nantucket's Daffodil Weekend Cupcakes

Daffodil Weekend is one of the most popular and busiest weekends of the year on the island of Nantucket. Crowds gather to watch the annual Antique Car Parade, which is the Festival’s signature event. Vintage cars are decked out in the pretty spring flower, you guessed it… Daffodils. After the parade, residents and visitors make there way to the other side of the island in Sconset, where they have a spring picnic.

For this years Daffodil weekend I decided to cook up some floral themed cupcakes. I thought these cupcakes would be perfect for the occasion as they are simple yet sweet. A lemon poppy seed  cake makes up the base of this cake, which is topped with a lemon flavored butter cream frosting.

It's one of the first signs of spring for the tiny island and people from all over come dressed in their Nantucket Reds, Lilly Pulitzer sundresses and Nantucket basket pocketbooks to celebrate the occasion. Below I posted some throwback photos from the year my family got 1st place. Our theme was "The Big Birthday" as it was my grandmas 60th. We made everything oversized, including us kids, who dressed up as ants to "crawl" all over our oversized picnic! Happy Daffy Weekend Nantucket!

* This recipe is from www.foodnetwork.com, under Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes.

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

1 box Lemon Cake Mix

1 (3-1/2-ounce) box lemon pudding mix

1/4 -cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 -cup water

1/4 -cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 Tbs. lemon zest

3 Tbs. poppy seeds

For the Frosting:

1/2 -cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 -cup heavy cream

Juice from half a lemon plus zest

  

Directions:

1. Combine the cake and pudding mixes in a large bowl, stirring to blend. Add the oil, eggs, water and lemon juice, stirring after each addition. Fold in the lemon zest and poppy seeds until just blended. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared cupcake tins, about 3/4 full. Bake on the middle oven rack until the tops of the cupcakes spring back to the touch and are not too golden; about 15 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, and then allow to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting or decorating.
2. For the frosting, using a wooden spoon, cream the butter in a large bowl, Add the remaining ingredients, and continue creaming until the frosting is well blended and fluffy. Frost the cupcakes with a small spatula and decorate with the candied lemon strips.