Lemon Cupcakes

Lemon cuppies with strawberry buttercream, topped with a lemon infused white chocolate heart (middle cupcakes in picture)

I used Warren Brown's Light and Lemony Cake recipe from "Cake Love". This is an awesome recipe, really loved how moist they were. These take some extra time to make, but totally worth it, in fact I don't think I'll ever use a different lemon recipe, unless I'm in a big hurry. Try these, buy the limoncello - you won't regret it. I frosted and filled these with the same strawberry buttercream that I used from "Fields of Cake" in a previous post.

Light and Lemony Cake

by Warren Brown

Dry:

8 1/2 ounces unbleached AP flour (approx 1 1/2 cups + 3 Tbsp) - I measured, read the book and you'll understand why.

2 Tbsp potato starch

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda (no, that's not a typo. that's all you use.)

Liquid:

2 lemons

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup whole milk

1 tbsp limoncello

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp lemon oil (I did not have lemon oil, so I use 1 tsp vanilla extract)

Creaming:

1 stick unsalted, room temp, butter

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

16 ounces extra-fine granulated sugar ( approx 2 cups)

2 Tbsp turbinado sugar (look in the organic section of your store)

1 tbsp lemon zest

4 large eggs

1 large egg yolk.

zest the lemon, set aside. segment the lemons (basically, you cut the peel-with white- off the lemon and then cut the fruit out as you would a grapefruit, being careful not to get any seeds or membrane in with the pulp.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift flour directly into a bowl on a scale for accurate measuring. Measure the other dry ingredients into a seperate mixing bowl, add the flour and whisk for 10 seconds.

Measure liquid ingredietns into a seperate bowl, whisk to combine - don't try to break up the lemon, the mixer will do it.

In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle, cream the butter, cream cheese, sugars and lemon zest on lowest speed for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs one a time, fully incorporating after each addition (scraping bowl when needed).

Add the dry ingredients alternately with the liquid mixture in 3 to 5 additions each, beginning and ending with the dry. this should take a total of 60 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl and all the way down, then mix on med for 15 to 20 seconds.

Bake approx 18-22 minutes. I got 23 cupcakes, both times I made these