Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Rhubarb Filling and Lemon Buttercream

When I found out that I was getting rhubarb in my bin, I was really excited remembering the strawberry rhubarb compote at Lola's the other weekend. I just knew that I had to figure out how to make my own version and thought it would make a wonderful filling for a cupcake! 

I added a cup of chopped rhubarb, a cup of chopped strawberries, a cup of sugar and the juice and lemon zest from one lemon to a sauce pan and brought this to a boil.  The heat was reduced and the mixture simmered until it began to thicken and then I removed from the heat to cool.  It turned out pretty great! Not ever having cooked with rhubarb before I was really rather impressed with myself.

So I decided on just a simple vanilla cupcake and figured that the lemon buttercream would compliment the filling pretty nicely.

So far, these cupcakes have been a huge success and have officially been added to my seasonal flavor list for Cupcakes by Jess!