Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Lemon Cupcakes


So it is Mat's second week at his new job, and he loves it - yay! So since his new work is treating him well I thought they deserved another batch of cupcakes. This time it was a recipe that I have been meaning to try for some time because I found the method quite interesting. The end result was really good, the cake has a nice soft crumb, isn't too sweet and has a nice subtle lemon flavour. And how can you ever go wrong with cream cheese frosting?


Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (from Better Homes and Gardens - Christmas 2007)
Makes 17 cupcakes

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
1 1/3 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup almond meal
160ml cream
100g unsalted butter, melted
Juice of 1 lemon

For the frosting:
80g unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup icing sugar, sifted (I used 4 cups so that it was nice and stiff)
Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
125g cream cheese, softened (I used 250g)
  1. Preheat the oven to 170C. Line 2 12-hole muffin trays with cupcake cases.
  2. Put the eggs, sugar, salt and lemon rind in a medium mixing bowl, and using the whisk attachment on our electric mixer for 3 minutes or until light in colour. Sift in the flour and baking powder with the almond meal and cream. Whisk until well combined. Add melted butter and lemon juice and whisk again.
  3. Spoon mixture into cupcake cases and bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  4. To make the frosting: beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth, slowly add the icing sugar beating continually, finally add the lemon juice and rind and beat until smooth.

32 comments:

Rose said...

They look so perfect! Good to hear Mat likes his new job.
I made cupcakes today, and then decorated them before I found out that they were actually very uncooked inside :( so they all went in the bin...thats what I get for using egg replacer in place of real eggs I guess!

Rose

Anonymous said...

Jim-49 said
Those look so good, Alicia !! My little granddaughter,made some "Sugar Cookies w / Lemon Glaze & sprinkles",last week,she is 6 years old.I just tell her,what goes in them,and try to stay out of the way,and watch.I put it in the stove,and help there.These girls,have been helping and cooking,since about two,they suprise so many people.Its all for fun and memories,never make them cook.Love the site!!

cookies and cups said...

love the swirls! you definitely cannot go wrong with cream cheese frosting ;)

lori said...

Mmmm..these look delicious. I'm looking at that last photo, thinking about lemony goodness and my drool glands are literally tingling a bit.

SL said...

Absolutely lovely!!

How did you do the swirl?

SL
ibakecupcakes.com

Amanda said...

They look textbook perfect. I love the rose swirl on top. :)

the shoppe owner said...

the correct answer to your cream cheese frosting question (even though I know you meant it to be hypothetical) is that you simply can't go wrong with it. it's the perfect frosting. and yours looks amazing!!! yay for your hubby that he is loving his new job :) and yay for you being such a good wife sending him off with such wonderful goodies.

Saltina said...

That's some awesome frosting work. Looks like a perfect rose.

Rebecca said...

Oh, these look and sound amazing!! And, like everyone else, I'm in awe of that perfect frosting. :)

oneordinaryday said...

Gorgeous piping!!!

Anonymous said...

Sarah-Lyn - I used a 1M tip and started the swirl from the center and went out.

apparentlyjessy said...

Simply gorgeous cupcakes! I love the M1 inside out swirls.

Cat said...

Wow, they are gorgeous! I was going to ask how you did the swirl... it looks so professional! I'll definitely be giving these a go!

Ash said...

I love lemon!! these look super good!

Jelli said...

At first glance, I thought these were real roses. They are a beauty for the eyes and I'd love to try one!

Talia said...

Gah! How do you get the icing so PERFECT?! You've got talent Alicia!

Shelby said...

That is the prettiest cupcake I have ever seen! You are GOOD.

shannon @ bakeandbloom said...

I love how the icing looks like little roses. :)

Emma @CakeMistress said...

Adorable lemon cupcakes with picture perfect frosting. Can't wait to try this

Gala said...

What perfectly frosted roses!

Miss Dot said...

ha-HA! That was a trick question ("How can you ever go wrong with cream cheese frosting?") Answer: THERE IS NO WAY TO GO WRONG WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING! These are beautiful -- I agree with Shannon @ bakeandbloom; they DO look like little roses!

Connie said...

They look amazing, I wish I could make those... I did try, but they for sure don't look as good as yours. I for sure need a muffin tray and a lot off practice:) But they taste amazing.

Kate21 said...

Are you in my mind? :o) I was just thinking geeze I could go a lemon cupcake! These look delish and the inside nice and fluffy. Finally a BHG recipe that works huh?

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

I cannot get over how pretty the frosting is. Unfortunately, I require my cream cheese frosting to have a prominent tang and have yet to find a way to get a stiff frosting without over-sweetening it.

Erin @ SYL: Slipcover Your Life said...

Yum Yum Yum Yum! I love lemon cake! I used to always go for the lemon cake they had at starbucks until they started posting the calorie content! Ouch!

A Canadian Foodie said...

Please describe how you did the frosting - do a photo essay on it - gorgeous!

Future Grown-Up said...

These look so totally yummy..I'm a lemon fan anyway but these are just glorious. I agree with Canadian Foodie...the frosting is gorgeous.

Cupcake Crazy Gem said...

hmm Alicia these look and sound delicious! I love the way your frosting looks just like a rose! how did you do that? I'm entering Iron cupcake London tomorrow and have used your oreo cupcake recipe (with the addition of mint) so fingers crossed everyone likes them as much as I do! glad to have you back blogging yummy treats again, I missed you for a while there! x

Cupcake Crazy Gem said...

sorry i just read the other comments and have seen the answer to how to frost like a rose..will have to try that!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Darn it ....wish I worked with Mat! Those look amazing. Great job on the frosting.
~ingrid

Michelle said...

these are like the prettiest little things i've ever seen!

Anonymous said...

I made these cupcakes yesterday. I used 2 cups of icing sugar (that's all I had). I didn't pipe it, fearing they wouldn't look nearly as amazing as yours and hence I would be disappointed but they tasted amazing. I shared them with friends today and they all raved about them. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Carli