Lemon Cupcakes

I was meeting a long-time friend for dinner at Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie @ Raffles City. We were both dessert lovers, so it seemed like an ideal choice. But unfortunately the main courses were very limited, and the taste was too bland. It just not acceptable for the prices they charge. But the desserts were good, and we enjoyed their macaroons.

Another friend of mine who is a Vanilla lover, requested me to try out some vanilla cupcakes. For me personally vanilla is just too plain. I couldn’t bring myself to just make plain old vanilla cupcakes; it seemed too much of an effort. 

I have been wanting to try out some lemon/carrot cupcakes for a while now. And this dinner seemed like a perfect opportunity for some lemon cupcakes. I also had some cream cheese and lemon in hand, so I decided to add some cream cheese frosting. These cupcakes are not too sweet, so they need a sweet frosting to balance it out.

The recipe was super simple, and the added lemon zest was so refreshing a taste! This was my first successful attempt at “piping” frosting, and I am so glad that it turned out well. I stored the frosted cupcakes in the refrigerator until I left for dinner. And they were out of the fridge for 5 long hours, before my friend could take them home and put them in back in her fridge. And I was surprised to see that the frosting was still in shape, and not melted like I thought they would.

So now I have a perfect cream cheese frosting recipe which I can use for my future cupcakes!!

Lemon Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 tablespoons grated lemon zest (plus more if it’s not lemony enough for you!)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg

Directions:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Line muffin tin with baking cups.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and salt; mix well.
• Add wet ingredients and mix well.
• Pour batter into the lined muffin tin. Bake for about 16 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry.                          
• Let them cool.
• Pipe Cream Cheese frosting on top. And refrigerate. 

The added lemon zest on top was a very, very wise decision. With each bite, you get moist lemony cake goodness, sweet cream cheese frosting and an added zest from the additional lemon! It’s like a summer party in your mouth.