Well, except that it isn't really fair to say that life gave me lemons... more like lemonade, which I have only a mild distaste for. Either way, I bake cupcakes and today I decided to bake lemon cupcakes with a lemon buttercream frosting. The recipe is from ourbestbites.com.
Sadly, I learned today that following the recipe exactly does not always turn out well. While my lemon cupcakes taste incredible, the cake is too light/crumbly for cupcakes and the tops expanded and burned to the pan.
Here are my pictures:
The recipe said to fill the muffin cups to the top and that the batter would not rise.
Well, they rose and spread and burned to the pan. :/
I have two muffin pans. One large (the first picture) and one smaller.
The cupcakes in the smaller pan dripped over the edge.
Sadly, I will need to clean my oven before my next batch.
As the cupcakes started to cool, they started to shrink.
I had to cut them out of the pan.
Not so pretty.
You can see in the background the cake that was left on the pan.
I was hoping that the frosting would hide some of the rough edges.
Sadly, it didn't really work.
I added blueberries and raspberries to add a festive flair.
The cake was so crumbly that it was falling apart as I unwrapped it.
However, the taste... so so so good.
I'm definitely going to try this recipe again (hopefully with less burning); although, not anytime in the near future. Not only does it call for a ridiculous amount of butter, eggs, and sugar, but I also had a really hard time refraining from licking the batter and frosting from the bowl. Not a good habit. :/
As for this batch, I'm bringing them to my Parents' place for the 4th of July weekend. Hopefully, they'll be so blown away by their yumminess that they won't notice the crummy construction. Thankfully, I have this lovely blog filled with digital proof that I can make a decent looking cupcake.
Here is the recipe (modified slightly):
Makes 24 cupcakes
INGREDIENTS
Cupcakes
1 1/2 c. (3 sticks) of REAL butter
2 c. sugar
3 c. cake flour (no substitutions here--you really need the lightness of cake flour)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
5 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Zest of 2 lemons (just zest the other lemons before you squeeze them)
1 c. buttermilk
Lemon Buttercream
1 1/4 c. butter (2 1/2 sticks)
2 tsp. grated lemon rind
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3 c. powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Don't go skimping here--you want the mixture to be almost white and super fluffy. This is absolutely essential to the outcome of the cake.
1/2 tsp. baking soda
5 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Zest of 2 lemons (just zest the other lemons before you squeeze them)
1 c. buttermilk
Lemon Buttercream
1 1/4 c. butter (2 1/2 sticks)
2 tsp. grated lemon rind
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3 c. powdered sugar
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 325.- Line 2 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Don't go skimping here--you want the mixture to be almost white and super fluffy. This is absolutely essential to the outcome of the cake.
- While butter and sugar are mixing, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- After butter and sugar have mixed sufficiently, with the mixer running, add eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition.
- Beat in vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
- With mixer on low speed, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating until fully incorporated.
- Pour batter into cupcake liners (filling to 2/3). These cupcakes won't have a nice, curvy crown, but that's okay--no one will ever know or care.
- Bake about 20-25 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. You don't want to overbake these even a bit, or they'll start to lose their delicious moisture.
- With mixer on low speed, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating until fully incorporated.
- Pour batter into cupcake liners (filling to 2/3). These cupcakes won't have a nice, curvy crown, but that's okay--no one will ever know or care.
- Bake about 20-25 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. You don't want to overbake these even a bit, or they'll start to lose their delicious moisture.
- Remove from oven and cool completely. Frost with lemon buttercream and garnish with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or fresh mint leaves.
Lemon Buttercream
- Beat butter, lemon rind, and lemon juice in an electric mixer until creamy. - Gradually add powdered sugar, beating to spreading consistency. Makes 2 3/4 c.
Have a good holiday weekend! :)
if any survive 'til sunday, i'll take one! love lemon-flavored anything (including lemonade) :)
ReplyDeleteDon't listen to her, folks. These were among my favorites so far. Soooo good. The crumbly bit also subsided somewhat when they were refrigerated.
ReplyDelete