Twilight, Travel, and Treats

Avoiding the dreaded back up

It's about time I wrote a treats post as well. Holidays have been too busy and sad that my eldest son has to settle for mini cupcakes without any figurines. Well he got a ton of presents and has forgotten that I didn't make a Lego cake. There is always next year...

I have yet to find a really good basic lemon cupcake. So, I tried a new recipe this time for Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Kissed Buttercream frosting from The Cupcakery.

Let's get to their recipe.

Lemon Cupcakes

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp. lemon zest
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 325° degrees.

2. Line cupcake pan with mini baking cups. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 4 minutes.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time until the mixture becomes creamy.

5. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt together. Whisk to combine.

6. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk until completely incorporated.

7. Add the lemon zest and fresh lemon juice. Mix batter for an additional minute. Mixture should look light and fluffy.

1 slightly heaped tbsp for each mini

8. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners and bake for 17 to 23 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

9. VERY IMPORTANT to allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Lemon Kissed Buttercream Frosting

4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. whole milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and salt for about 30 seconds.

2. Add half of the powdered sugar and the milk to the butter and beat again until combined. Scrape down the bowl.

3. Add the remainder of the powdered sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice. Beat until combined. Scrape down the bowl again.

4. Beat on high speed for 5-6 minutes or until the frosting is fluffy. Add Wilton gel "Yellow" in small amount to achieve desired pastel color.

5. It is preferable to use the frosting on the same day you make it, but it can keep in the refrigerator for 3 days if tightly wrapped. Make sure and stir the buttercream well before using to get the air bubbles out of the frosting and then pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes.

My two cents

Very easy recipe to follow and the longest process was juicing and zesting the lemons. Note I got enough juice for the whole recipe from 2 lemons and enough zest to even sprinkle on the cupcakes after they were iced.

The batter is quite thick. Easy to spoon out and they evened out well during baking.

Baked them for 18 minutes at 350. Quite pale and had a very light hint of lemon. Heavy and very slightly dry out of the oven - very tasty. Next day a bit dry but nothing a bit of icing didn't fix.

Frosting was also pale and really did need the Wilton's lemon gel colouring. I also substituted 1/2 tsp lemon extract and 1/2 tsp vanilla instead to boost the lemon flavour. Put a little zest on top and they are simple but pretty.

A tasty bite although too heavy to have more than one at a time. The cupcake recipe will actually make a good white cake for fondant and carving as it is quite dense but tasty without too much lemon.

Enjoy!