Final Four Maize and Blue Swirled Cupcakes

About a year and a half ago, I made Maize and Blue Swirled Cupcakes to celebrate the start of the Michigan football season. Now, I’ve done it again, switching up the recipe a bit and in celebration of a far more momentous event — the Michigan men’s basketball team is in Atlanta, GA for the Final Four!

I’ve been struggling to find the right words to express my excitement all week because I haven’t been a fan for very long. Without question, basketball has taken a back seat to my love of Michigan football and I’ve only tuned in to the bigger games and watched recapped of other games. I’m your quintessential fair-weather fan in that I hardly followed this season before Michigan secured their spot in the Sweet 16.

However, last week’s game against Kansas drew me in. 

Like so many others, I watched the game and formed the conclusion that Kansas was the stronger team. Michigan was putting up a solid fight and would likely lose the game knowing they put in their all. For over 37 minutes, there was no question in my mind that Michigan would lose.

Then, one phenomenal three-point shot awakened a sense of hope and blind faith that we could make a comeback. 

Suddenly, we only needed three more points to push the game into overtime. For the first time, I felt the overwhelming sense of excitement and panic that I’ve felt many times before while watching Michigan football. Suddenly, I really felt like I got it. Win or lose, I was a converted fan.

Then we won in overtime. Then we creamed the Florida Gators. Now, here we are, in the Final Four for the first time in over 20 years and I’m beyond nervous and excited about this night’s game. 

These cupcakes mimic the Maize and Blue Swirled Cupcakes I made in the past, but are blue velvet swirled with lemon cake and topped with this Lemon Almond Frosting. 

I tweaked the Magnolia's Best Red Velvet Cake and the Lemon Almond Cupcakes so that they would swirl together seamlessly. 

Thanks for reading, happy baking and LET'S GO BLUE!! 

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