Friday, June 11, 2010

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

Lemon Cream Cheese Cupcakes

This post completes the Cupcake Quartet series where I show how to make four cupcake flavors out of two batters and two icings. Here are the links to the first and second of the three posts.

Last time, I gave you the recipe to make wonderful Vanilla Cupcakes with Real Strawberry Buttercream. To make half of the cupcakes lemon, place half of the vanilla batter in a bowl and add a tablespoon of lemon zest and bake as directed.

The cupcakes are magnificent with cream cheese icing! I used a half batch of the icing recipe in Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. I added lemon zest and pure lemon extract to the icing and it was perfect.

Lemon Cream Cheese Icing
adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

1 stick or 4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 pound (2 cups) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, ½ cup at a time, and then vanilla, lemon zest and lemon extract and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

Pipe the icing onto the cupcakes using a large plain tip and sprinkle with yellow sugar crystals if desired.

Cupcakes

8 comments:

  1. These epitomize spring! Lovely and refreshing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love lemon cake! These are so pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  3. YUMMY! These are SCREAMING my name!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That one right there? It's calling to me!

    ReplyDelete
  5. These look glorious. Your recipe is on my summer to-do list.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful cup cakes! Watching them is like being in heaven. lol

    ReplyDelete
  7. I bet they turned out even tastier than they looked, if that is even possible!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin