Lemon Filled Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

This is my new favorite cupcake. Hands down. The light vanilla cupcake is such a delicious backdrop for the sunny lemon flavor of the lemon curd. The whipped lemon-cream cheese frosting is so tasty that you could eat it with a spoon (not that I did that or anything!). This recipe is deceptively simple. It doesn't take incredible baking skill; you just need some simple techniques. You can play around with fillings and frostings (my husband has requested strawberry filling with fudge frosting for next week's dessert) and make it your own.
Below is a shot of the cupcakes right after I filled them with lemon curd. YUM.

Cupcake Ingredients:

1/2 cup lemon curd (you can buy this or make it yourself...this is one of the few ingredients I tend to buy rather than make)

1 stick of softened butter

2 tsp. vanilla

3 jumbo eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 cup vitamin D milk

Frosting Ingredients:
8oz. softened cream cheese

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1/3 cup lemon curd

1 tbsp. lemon juice

zest of 1/2 lemon

Cupcake Assembly:

Cream the butter and sugar over medium high speed until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix. Add the vanilla and continue mixing. Add the flour, baking powder and salt then mix on low to combine (don't over-beat or your cupcakes will be too dense). Fill silicone cups or a cupcake tin 3/4 full and bake at 325 for about 12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely. Use a paring knife to cut a circle from the middle of each cupcake (about 1/2 inch down). Pop out the center and fill each cupcake with lemon curd (a piping bag is great, but a spoon works too!).

Frosting Assembly:
Whip butter and cream cheese. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix on medium until light and fluffy. Put the frosting in a piping bag and use a large star tip. Frost each cupcake in a circle, starting at at the outside and working your way inward. Chill for 30 minutes to allow the frosting to set before serving.