Bakie Me Sweet: My Dream Cupcakes!

I did it, I did it, I finally...did it! I made my first batch of dream cupcakes. What do I mean by that? Well, it's not just the type of cupcake I made but for the first time in my life, I made a batch of cupcakes that I would ideally like to buy; the ones that look appealing to me when I walk in a bake shop. And here they are:

They've got that perfect little "soft pillow" top, just like I like and these are my first batch! These are the kind that I've admired whenever I have seen them (this style) on some of my favorite sites and shops like The Blushing Bakeshop (which is also on my favorite "sweet spots" list, I might add ;-) So here's how I made them:

I used this recipe and began with:

Preheating my oven & lining my pan:

Then adding my wet ingredients to the stand mixer:

Then I sifted and added my dry ingredients. When it was time to get to the food coloring, we ran into a little "oopsie..." Looks, like someone hasn't bought any gel food coloring in a while. But we made do ;-)

There's my blue velvet mix.

I got my cupcake scoop and begin to fill 'em in...

All done. Baked at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Started on my curd.

Thoroughly cooked and mixed.

Let it cool and then headed to the refrigerator.

I took the centers out of my cupcakes.

Got out my homemade pastry(a.k.a. a mini ziploc)
bag ...

Added the cooled curd filling. (By the way, the blackberry curd set in the fridge for about an hour).
Not to mention that it tastes, absolutely delicious!