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Lemon cupcakes, tangy, fresh and a taste explosion on the taste buds with every bite!
Published 26 July 2012 by Veronica Stillwater
This week I chose to make lemon cupcakes, they are light, moist and have that lovely lemon fresh flavor, which I find ideal for these hot summer days that we are finally having! They are not too sweet and not too sour, just right to be refreshingly good for a cupcake in this heat!I chose to make an additional lemon decoration using real lemon for an extra hit of lemon and a pretty glistening detail to finish the decoration. The smell when baking these is one that is heavenly! That subtle waft of baked lemon is in the air and you just can't wait for them to cool down to frost them and have them ready for the eating! The frosting is made with the addition of Greek yoghurt and is a really pleasing outcome, I am certain you will enjoy these.
For the cupcakes you will need:
Food processor Spatula This week I chose to make lemon cupcakes, they are light, moist and have that lovely lemon fresh flavor, which I find ideal for these hot summer days that we are finally having! They are not too sweet and not too sour, just right to be refreshingly good for a cupcake in this heat!
Tablespoon
12 cup muffin baking tray
12 muffin paper cases
Teaspoon
Grater
Ingredients:
220g Self raising flour
100g granulated sugar
3 Medium sized eggs
100g Butter or margarine
1 Heaped teaspoon baking powder
145ml Milk
Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
Turn on the oven and set to 180°
Place the butter and sugar in the food processor and pulse blitz until pale and fluffy. Add the grated lemon zest and pulse blitz to incorporate. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse blitz again until all the ingredients are fully combined and a smooth spoon dropping consistency is achieved. Using a tablespoon, spoon a tablespoon of mixture into each of the 12 muffin cases.
Place in the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes checking at the 30 minute mark on their progress. You can always test by inserting a clean skewer into one of the cakes; if it comes out clean they are ready, if not return to the oven checking with the skewer again at 5 minute intervals.
For the frosting you will need:
Food processor
Piping bag
Large open star nozzle/tip
Spatula
Grater
Ingredients:
750g icing sugar
35g butter
1 tablespoon of Greek yoghurt
Grated rind of ½ lemon
Place all the ingredients in the food processor and pulse blitz on a low speed setting at first to combine all the ingredients, once you can see a piping consistency starting to take form, turn the machine off, remove the lid and using the spatula, scrape any dry ingredients from the sides and lid into the centre of the mixture to avoid any lumps. Replace the lid turn the machine back on and pulse blitz on a high speed setting until a smooth piping consistency is achieved.
As Greek yoghurt can vary on its water content, depending on how watery the yoghurt is, you may need to add a tablespoon more of icing sugar or a little extra of the Greek Yoghurt, I would suggest by adding a teaspoon of the yoghurt at a time or a tablespoon of the icing sugar depending on whether or not when checking the consistency if it is too thick or too runny. You will be able to tell which if at all necessary by using a spoon to lift some of the frosting, if its holds its shape in a peak without being too stiff, then it's perfect.
Using the spatula, fill your piping bag ready with a large open star nozzle/tip, with the frosting.
I chose to decorate them with a simple large swirl this week and kept the frosting decoration uniform.
Start at the edges on the outside of the cake, start to pipe, circling inwards in a continuous sweeping motion until you reach the centre, when at the centre, finish off with a star or peak by easing off on the pressure and pulling up and away from the cake. Repeat for all 12.
For the lemon wedges:
You will need:
Small sharp knife
Chopping board
non-stick Baking tray
Grill
Palette knife
Ingredients
½ lemon
2 teaspoons of sugar
Slice a lemon to get 3 round slices of about 3-4mm thickness. Then quarter the slices to make 4 small triangles of lemon from each slice. Place your triangles on a baking tray with at least a centimeter of space between each of them and then sprinkle as evenly as possible with the sugar.
Place under the grill on the middle shelf of the oven so as not to burn the sugar, grill on a medium setting for approx 3mins until caramelised. Caramelise the sugar until golden and no crystals of sugar can be seen. Once you have caramelised your lemon quarters, allow to cool completely.
Once the caramelised lemon quarters have cooled, remove them gently one by one using a palette knife to ease them from the baking tray and place one as a topper on each of your cupcakes ready for the eating!
I have detailed 6 with the lemon wedges and 6 without. I found that some prefer just the sweetness and not the bitterness of the additional lemon wedge, but those who did enjoy the lemon wedge said it was a great flavour impact on the taste buds in contrast to the sweet lemon sponge with the sweet frosting and really enjoyed it. Happy baking! Until next week!