My friend is celebrating her birthday tomorrow... She loves lemon, the color yellow, and stars, so I decided to make little lemon cupcakes with pretty yellow buttercream and super cute confetti star candies! It wasn't really a stretch for me, I do have an addiction to lemon anything...
You know when you go to a cupcake shop and try the lemon only to find out it tastes something like lemon household cleaner?? I recently had this bad experience and have decided to make it my crusade to come up with awesome natural lemon-flavored cakes.
Here it is - all my own creation! Makes 24.
Perfect Lemon Cupcakes
By Dulce Doll
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
Zest of 3 lemons
Juice of 2 1/2 lemons
1 cup milk
1 tsp. lemon extract
3 cups AP flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat together butter and sugar in a stand mixer until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add rind, milk, lemon juice and lemon extract. Beat well until completely combined.
Add flour, one cup at a time, beating well between each addition. Add baking powder and salt and beat until smooth.
Line 2 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners. Fill each cup with about 1/4-cup of batter.
Bake 18 to 22 minutes depending on your oven, rotating pans halfway through.
Lemon Buttercream
By Dulce Doll
1 cup butter, room temperature
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar (may vary depending on desired consistency)
Yellow gel food coloring
Beat butter until creamy and smooth. Add lemon zest and juice and beat until incorporated.
Start adding sugar, one cup at a time, beating after each addition until you have desired consistency for piping or spreading.
Beat in a few drops of gel coloring until you get the color that you'd like.
