Lemon Cupcakes
Whenever I have a cup of tea in hand I always, always fancy something sweet! And with the sun shining I felt inspired to create something not too sickly, but just the perfect combination. Citrus fruits with their zing of bright flavour are the ideal companion to a sweet sponge.
These beauties have a lemon sponge and lemon buttercream, made simply amazing by the addition of lemon juice and zest and using light soft brown sugar. I also used muffin cases instead of the smaller cupcake cases as I prefer taller cupcakes but feel free to use the latter if you have those in the cupboard - you’ll make around 24 cupcakes using the smaller cases.
And (probably controversially haha!) I prefer to melt my butter on the hob then adding the sugar instead of creaming softened butter and sugar together. This technique always makes great sponges with a good texture and crumb. Also it’s a life saver if you’ve forgotten to get your butter out of the fridge to soften!
You can use a pallet knife to add your icing but if you fancy piping you can be fully creative with the nozzle you choose. For these I chose a Wilton 2D tip and worked my swirl from the outside to the centre for a look similar to a Mr Whippy ice cream!. Piping from the centre out will crate a beautiful rose effect.
Lemon Cupcakes
Author Ella Nurse | Date 14/07/2019
prep time: 30 minutes
cook time: 20 minutes
total time: 40 minutes
Servings: 16
Ingredients:
Cake
250g butter
250g light soft brown sugar
250g self raising flour
4 large eggs
juice from 1 lemon (2 tbsn appx)
zest from 2 lemons
Icing
250g butter
500g icing sugar
juice from 1 lemon (2 tbsn appx)
zest from 2 lemons
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C fan and line a muffin pan with muffin cases
Melt 250g butter on a low heat
Add the sugar to the butter and stir to combine
Add the eggs then the flour to the butter and sugar mix and whisk to fully combine
Add the lemon juice and zest and whisk once more
Spoon the mixture evenly in the muffin cases and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean
Once baked allow to cool fully on a cooling rack
Add the remaining 250g butter to a bowl and beat until softened
Slowly incorporate the icing sugar, lemon juice and zest and continue to beat until creamy (leave a little zest aside for decorating)
After around 3-5 minutes of beating use a spatula to beat out the air bubbles by hand
Add your desired nozzle to a piping bag and fill with the icing
Ensuring the cupcakes have completely cooled, gently pipe the buttercream starting from the outside working in
Sprinkle the remaining zest on the top of the finished cupcakes
