Office Birthday and Department Bake-Off Cupcakes

Last night I made two separate batches of cupcakes.  One was for a coworkers birthday celebration and the other was for a fellow book club member's office bake off.  Both we my Lemon Surprise cupcake - Vanilla cupcake filled with fresh lemon curd and topped with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream.  I just purchased Madagascar Bourbon vanilla paste - it's a little stronger than vanilla extract and you get those nice flecks of vanilla in your frosting.  I liked the amped up vanilla flavor!