CUPCAKES! (Lemon edition)
After my 'baked bads' cupcake/muffin experiments, which yeilded less-than-entirely-tasty-treats, I felt like making some normal cupcakes that actually were meant to taste good. If for nothing more than to prove to the people who had to endure taste-testing the last ones that I can in fact make decent-tasting ones as well. XD But also this was made for a special event.
So, I don't even recall where I found these recipes (sorry), I just know I grabbed them online somewhere. I crawled around a lot of places looking for something that looked good, and ended up using a cupcake recipe from one site and a different frosting recipe I found elsewhere. Anyway, here is the recipe I pieced together (again, I altered this from other recipes, I do not claim to own it):
Lemon Cupcakes
CUPCAKES:
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 tbsp plain yogurt
2 tbsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine salt
1/2 cup buttermilk (at room temperature)
FROSTING:
1 tsp lemon zest
3 tbsp butter (softened)
3 cups confectioner's sugar (sifted)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp water
dash of salt
Directions:
PREHEAT OVEN TO 325 F.
YIELD: ~a dozen cupcakes
1.) Beat butter until fluffy; add sugar and beat again until fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Blend in eggs, one at a time. Add lemon zest, juice, and yogurt.
2.) In a seperate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then gradually add flour mixture to the wet mixture at a slow speed, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat the batter until it is smooth.
3.) Use an ice cream scoop to distribute the batter into muffin tin lined with cupcake liners. Tap the tin to dispel bubbles.
4.) Bake on the center rack for ~25 minutes. Insert toothpick in center of cupcakes; when it comes out clean cupcakes are done. (Note: Tops will not turn golden when cupcakes are done; cupcakes will be pale yellow, with possibly a golden ring around the tops) Allow to cool completely before frosting.
5.) Mix lemon zest with butter and cream well. Blend in half a cup of sugar.
6.) Combine lemon juice and water and add to creamed mixture gradually, alternating with the remaining sugar. Beat after each addition until smooth. Pay attention to the consistency. If needed, you can adjust the mixture-- if the mixture is too runny, add a little more sugar; if it is too thick, add a little more liquid. (Lemon juice: water ratio is a 2:1 ratio) Stop when you've reached a good spreading consistency.
7.) Blend in salt. (Now? Why now? I don't know why the recipe waited until the end to add the dash of salt. Eh, whatever.)
8.) Liberally frost completely cooled cupcakes (I just spread it on with a butterknife, if you wanna put it in a large ziploc bag and pipe it on, or do even fancier stuff, knock yourself out). If desired, sprinkle a little lemon zest on top.
I needed two dozen cupcakes so I doubled this recipe. They came out great, (I had enough batter for exactly 25 cupcakes) very good lemony cupcake, but I think next time I'll try adding a bit more zest and juice to make them even more lemony. The frosting, meanwhile, came out AWESOME. I added an extra teaspoon of zest (& a little extra liquid) while I was making it. It tastes perfect.
A note on 'zesting' lemons: Make sure to get enough lemons. Because, um, you may stand there and get an entire lemon done and lift up the grater and think, "That's ALL?!" ;) I went through 11 small lemons with this recipe, and it's the hardest part, because you've got 11 slippery round objects you're expected to grate without injury. ^_^" Only grate the outermost part of the peel, the white stuff is bitter-tasting I am told. Also, Meyer lemons are supposed to be the best, but they don't seem to be in season right now so I used regular lemons-- it still comes out great, though.
Last but not least, pictures! Well, a picture:
Yaaaaay, eat them.
So, I don't even recall where I found these recipes (sorry), I just know I grabbed them online somewhere. I crawled around a lot of places looking for something that looked good, and ended up using a cupcake recipe from one site and a different frosting recipe I found elsewhere. Anyway, here is the recipe I pieced together (again, I altered this from other recipes, I do not claim to own it):
Lemon Cupcakes
CUPCAKES:
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 tbsp plain yogurt
2 tbsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine salt
1/2 cup buttermilk (at room temperature)
FROSTING:
1 tsp lemon zest
3 tbsp butter (softened)
3 cups confectioner's sugar (sifted)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp water
dash of salt
Directions:
PREHEAT OVEN TO 325 F.
YIELD: ~a dozen cupcakes
1.) Beat butter until fluffy; add sugar and beat again until fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Blend in eggs, one at a time. Add lemon zest, juice, and yogurt.
2.) In a seperate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then gradually add flour mixture to the wet mixture at a slow speed, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat the batter until it is smooth.
3.) Use an ice cream scoop to distribute the batter into muffin tin lined with cupcake liners. Tap the tin to dispel bubbles.
4.) Bake on the center rack for ~25 minutes. Insert toothpick in center of cupcakes; when it comes out clean cupcakes are done. (Note: Tops will not turn golden when cupcakes are done; cupcakes will be pale yellow, with possibly a golden ring around the tops) Allow to cool completely before frosting.
5.) Mix lemon zest with butter and cream well. Blend in half a cup of sugar.
6.) Combine lemon juice and water and add to creamed mixture gradually, alternating with the remaining sugar. Beat after each addition until smooth. Pay attention to the consistency. If needed, you can adjust the mixture-- if the mixture is too runny, add a little more sugar; if it is too thick, add a little more liquid. (Lemon juice: water ratio is a 2:1 ratio) Stop when you've reached a good spreading consistency.
7.) Blend in salt. (Now? Why now? I don't know why the recipe waited until the end to add the dash of salt. Eh, whatever.)
8.) Liberally frost completely cooled cupcakes (I just spread it on with a butterknife, if you wanna put it in a large ziploc bag and pipe it on, or do even fancier stuff, knock yourself out). If desired, sprinkle a little lemon zest on top.
I needed two dozen cupcakes so I doubled this recipe. They came out great, (I had enough batter for exactly 25 cupcakes) very good lemony cupcake, but I think next time I'll try adding a bit more zest and juice to make them even more lemony. The frosting, meanwhile, came out AWESOME. I added an extra teaspoon of zest (& a little extra liquid) while I was making it. It tastes perfect.
A note on 'zesting' lemons: Make sure to get enough lemons. Because, um, you may stand there and get an entire lemon done and lift up the grater and think, "That's ALL?!" ;) I went through 11 small lemons with this recipe, and it's the hardest part, because you've got 11 slippery round objects you're expected to grate without injury. ^_^" Only grate the outermost part of the peel, the white stuff is bitter-tasting I am told. Also, Meyer lemons are supposed to be the best, but they don't seem to be in season right now so I used regular lemons-- it still comes out great, though.
Last but not least, pictures! Well, a picture:
Yaaaaay, eat them.