photo courtesy of jamieanne
One of my favorite kinds of cupcakes is lemon cupcakes. I've always been a fan of anything with lemon, and when it comes to cupcakes there's no exception.
The great thing about lemon cupcakes is that they are a good substitute for regular vanilla cupcakes. Sometimes you just get bored of using the traditional cupcake base, and this recipe should offer you a nice alternative. If you scale back on the lemon a bit, it'll give the cupcakes a nice subtle zing. But the recipe I'm providing is for the lemon lovers!
Lemon Cupcakes - The Real Deal
2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup milk
splash of vanilla extract
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp lemon zest
-Preheat oven to 325ยบ and line the cupcake pan
-In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until creamy. Add the milk and lemon juice and lemon zest.
-In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. You can either use your hands or a whisk to do this.
-Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Careful not to over-mix!
-Divide the batter up into prepared cupcake baking sheet.
-Bake for between 17 and 21 minutes.
-Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
-Enjoy!
Let's talk about frosting now. Lemon cupcakes can be paired with many different frosting. The most popular is buttercream frosting of course! This balances out the tanginess of the cupcakes with a softer, sweeter frosting. You can also use cream cheese frosting for a nice and tangy finish. A favorite of mine (not everyone may enjoy this) is chocolate frosting. This is a great way to finish off your lemon cupcakes!
If you like the idea of having a subtler lemon zing, you can halve the amount of lemon juice and lemon zest in the cupcakes. Then these cupcakes will be a great alternative to vanilla cupcakes and they will go with virtually any frosting. Lemon cupcakes are my favorite thing to eat in the winter, as they remind me of warmth and spring. They go great with any type of fruit, and you can add poppy seeds if you'd like. Raspberries are especially compatible with these cupcakes, and taste great sprinkled on top of buttercream frosting. Or, if you're feeling really adventurous why don't you try to add some raspberries to the batter and bake them in there! I promise you won't be disappointed.
Well folks, that's all for now! I hope you enjoy this. I'll post a recipe for lemon frosting soon to go with these and come back for more of the best cupcake recipes!!!!
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