lemon & vanilla cupcakes

(recipe adapted from howtocakeit.com – if you’re not following the amazing Yolanda on youtube, drop everything and go watch her make incredible cakes)

For the cupcakes, this is what you’ll need:

The process is quite simple: preheat your oven at 180 C. Cream together your room temperature butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla, then drop your eggs in, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go. Add the dry and wet ingredients in 2-3 additions, alternating between the two and making sure you start and end with the flour mixture. Give everything one final big stir and divide the mixture into your lined muffin tins. Bake for 25-35′, until they’re golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

This recipe yields about 30 cupcakes, so you’ll need at least two pans. Make sure you switch positions midway through baking to ensure an even bake.

Allow your little army of cupcakes to cool completely before filling and icing them.

For the lemon curd, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Whisk everything except for the butter in a large mixing bowl and place it over simmering water. Whisk continuously until your mixture thickens up and turns a lovely yellow hue, about 10-15′. Place your butter in another bowl with a sieve on top, and strain the hot curd over your butter. Stir until incorporated and cover the surface with cling wrap. Allow it to come to room temperature before refrigerating.

Finally, let’s make the italian meringue buttercream:

The process is fairly simple but you need to monitor your temperature, so a candy thermometer is essential. Follow the step-by-step instructions here (just omit the chocolate).

To assemble your cupcakes, use a small paring knife (or a special coring tool if you have it) to remove the center of your cupcakes and fill them with the chilled lemon curd. A piping bag or just a ziploc bag with a small opening snipped at the corner will make your life a lot easier for this.

(note: you could even up the lemon flavor by drizzling your cakes with a lemon simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar, brought to a boil, with a couple of tablespoons of lemon squeezed in, and then cooled completely), but there’s plenty of zing in that lemon curd. Still, this is a handy trick to keep your cakes from drying out if you won’t be serving them right away.)

Now frost your cupcakes however you want: I opted for the simple swirl, with a few crunchy bits of candied lemon zest and some yellow sprinkles on top.

 

About telethonrunner

I watch copious amounts of TV and write about it. I also watch movies and am ridiculously addicted to cooking shows.

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