Luscious Lemon Cupcake recipe

Baking with lemon has got to be one of the hardest flavors to work with. We struggled in the shop to make these cupcakes with a strong lemon taste. To do so you must add sooooo much lemon juice that it waters down the batter and the cupcakes don’t rise. Believe me we tried everything. We found that making a lemon reduction out of the juice worked well but was painfully long and arduous. What worked well for us is to fill the lemon cupcakes with lemon curd. One of my other tricks we used is citric acid. It comes in a dry powder, it is used in lemonade drinks. You can buy it at most markets in the dry lemonade mix section under natural lemon juice packets. If you really want a lemony flavor you can add it to both the frosting and cake batter, but either way it’s just an optional item. Try it and tell me what you think. Here goes…………………………………….

You can print this recipe by going to my signature at the end of this post and click on the ” To Print”.

Luscious Lemon cupcakes

preheat oven to 325 degrees, makes about 2 dozen cupcakes

1 /2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon lemon juice

zest from 1 lemon

1 packet of dry natural lemon juice (citric acid) or 1/4 teaspoon - optional

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups sugar ( .14 oz)

4 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 1/2 cups flour (.13 oz.)

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Lemon Curd filling below

Lemon Buttercream frosting below

1. In a bowl mix together buttermilk, milk, lemon juice and zest, packet of dry lemon juice, and baking soda. Set aside.

2. Sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside.

3. Using a mixer on medium speed blend together eggs and sugar until blended. Blend in oil. Next add flour mixture and then milk mixture alternating beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Blend thoroughly for about 3 minutes. Fill baking cups about 2/3 full. Bake until just golden. Don’t over bake ! Remove cupcakes from the pans and cool completely. Using an apple core tool remove a piece from the center. Fill with Lemon Curd and pipe with Lemon Buttercream frosting.

Lemon Curd

Makes enough for 2 dozen cupcakes

1 cup of granulated sugar

Zest of 3 lemons

3 large eggs

4 large egg yolks

1 cup lemon juice

Prepare an ice-water bath. Set a medium bowl in the ice-water bath and set aside.
Place sugar and lemon zest in a mortar and grind with a pestle to combine and release the oils. If you don’t have a mortar you can take the handle end of an ice scoop and use a cutting board to do the same thing. Transfer sugar mixture to medium heatproof bowl along with eggs and egg yolks; whisk to combine. Place over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until sugar has dissolved. Add lemon juice and continue whisking until mixture is thick and reaches 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, scraping down sides of the bowl as necessary. Add butter and whisk until well combined.
Strain lemon mixture through a fine mesh sieve set over prepared bowl. Cover lemon curd with plastic wrap, pressing plastic wrap directly onto surface. Transfer to refrigerator untill completely chilled.

LEMON BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Makes enough for 2 dozen cupcakes.

This frosting is right in the middle. Not too sweet, not too buttery.

1 lb. soft butter unsalted (4 sticks)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

zest from 1 lemon

1 packet(dry) of lemon juice, citric acid or 1/4 teaspoon – optional

1 lb powdered sugar sifted

Blend the butter, lemon packet, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a mixer at medium until soft and blended well, about 3 minutes. Slowly add powdered sugar a little at a time on low-speed. Once it is all in and mixed beat at high-speed until light and fluffy for about 4 minutes. You can store the unused frosting in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about a week.

REMEMBER TO EAT SOMETHING SWEET EVERYDAY!