Lemon Cupcakes with French Vanilla Buttercream

Has Spring sprung in your neighborhood?  It certainly has here.  We have beautiful blooms everywhere and the bright sunshine reminds me that I need to share these cheerfully scrumptious lemon cupcakes with you.  Be careful though... they're addictive.  Happy Spring!!!

Lemon Cupcakes with French Vanilla Buttercream

makes 24 cupcakes using a #20 scoop (recipe may be halved)

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups cake flour (see substitution below)

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk (see substitution below)

• 4 large egg whites (reserve yolks for French Vanilla Buttercream below)

• 1 1/2 cups sugar

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon pure lemon oil (see notes below)

Directions (no need to preheat oven at this point - the cupcake batter needs to rest for 20 minutes before baking so turn the oven on after you finish mixing the batter)

1. In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk, egg whites, vanilla extract, and lemon oil; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, cream butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 minutes.

4. Turn off the mixer and add 1/3 of the flour mixture; mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

5. Add 1/2 of the wet ingredients; mix just until incorporated.

6. Repeat process with 1/3 of the dry, remaining half of the wet, and remaining third of the dry ingredients, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl.

7. Set mixture aside to rest for 20 minutes.

8. Preheat oven to 350F.

9. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

10. Fill each liner with a level scoop of batter using a #20 scoop.

11. Bake for 15 minutes, cool completely.

12. Pipe with French Vanilla Buttercream (recipe below)

Notes

• To substitute 1 cup of cake flour - combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch and enough all-purpose flour to equal 1 cup (bleached all-purpose flour is preferred)

• To substitute 1 cup of buttermilk - combine 1 tablespoon vinegar and enough milk to equal 1 cup

• Be sure to use culinary grade lemon oil. To substitute 1 teaspoon culinary grade lemon oil - use 1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract plus the zest of 2 lemons

French Vanilla Buttercream

makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 75 grams egg yolks (about 4 egg yolks)

• 100 grams sugar (1/2 cup)

• 110 grams light corn syrup (about 2 2/3 tablespoons)

• 300 grams unsalted butter, softened (about 2/3 pound)

• 4 grams pure vanilla extract (about 1 teaspoon)

Directions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks until light yellow in color; turn off the mixer until you're ready to add the hot sugar syrup.

2. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the sugar and corn syrup together, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a full rolling boil.

3. Immediately pour a small amount of the hot syrup into the beaten egg yolks and turn the mixer on right away for a few seconds; turn off and scrape the inside of the bowl with a spatula.

4. Repeat the process using 1/2 of the remaining sugar syrup; mix again for several seconds, turn off, and scrape bowl.

5. Add the remaining sugar syrup and turn the mixer back on, this time allowing it to continue to mix until the egg mixture is completely cool, about 5 minutes (feel the bottom of the bowl to gauge the temperature of the mixture).

6. When the egg mixture is completely cool, beat in the softened butter and vanilla extract, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice.

7. Pipe buttercream onto completely cooled cupcakes.

8. Garnish as desired and serve cupcakes at room temperature.

9. Refrigerate unused buttercream - allow to come to room temp before using (you may need to whisk the room temp buttercream to restore its creamy texture).

S'mores Cupcakes

Such a long recipe title... don't know why they don't just call them S'mores Cupcakes. Anyway, this recipe is from Jennifer Shea of Seattle's Trophy Cupcakes, and they are fabulous!!! I got the recipe from the Martha Stewart Website here.

Let's start by preheating the oven to 350F. Now, combine all the dry ingredients together in a big bowl. Separately combine the wet ingredients together. Set aside and prepare the crumb mixture that will line the bottom of these cupcakes.

In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar. Place approximately 1 tbsp. of the crumb mixture into each muffin cup. I used a #50 ice cream scoop to keep things nice and neat.

The recipe says to pack down the crumbs with the bottom of a glass, but all of my glasses were too wide so I used my Pampered Chef wooden-mini-muffin-crust-press-thingy (I've had this thing for years, but I think this is the very first time I've ever used it... it worked great btw).

On the left, the neat little mounds of pre-measured crumbs. On the right, the crumbs are gently tamped into place to form a bottom crust.

Next they get a nice healthy dose of chocolate. The recipe calls for chopped bittersweet chocolate, but I was in too much of a hurry to chop 9 ounces of chocolate so mini semi-sweet chips fit the bill. Add 2 tsp. to each cup. Then into a 350F oven for 5 minutes (the chocolate will be soft after 5 minutes, but will still hold it's shape).

Now it's time to combine the wet and dry ingredient. Mix together on low for 30 seconds. Scrape bowl and increase speed to high and mix 2 minutes. Add boiling water and combine. Batter is very, very liquid-y. Looks like chocolate milk.

The recipe said to fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full.

The cupcakes domed nicely in the oven, but cooled with these weird kind of humps. I filled the second batch about 4/5 full....

They looked much better, but there was still a little hump action... don't know what that's all about, but I wasn't too worried because I knew the marshmallow frosting would hide all flaws!

Speaking of the marshmallow frosting... place your stand mixer bowl over a barely simmering pot of water. Whisk egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar together until sugar crystals are completely dissolved and the egg whites are warm (3-4 min).

Then transfer the mixer bowl to the stand mixer and whip the warm whites until stiff peaks form (5-7 minutes) - add vanilla and beat just a minute to combine.

I piped frosting swirls using a size 1M tip, then got out one of my favorite kitchen toys...

My torch :). It's so much fun to use. Great for browning Creme Brulee and Meringue.

Voila! The look yummy, don't they?

These cupcakes were for a school party. Check out this neat cupcake carrier I found. It actually came with 3 tiers, but I'm only using 2 of them here - each one holds 12 cupcakes.

I had extra cupcakes to play around with - here's what happens when you use the same piping tip, but vary the application slightly. The cupcakes in the back were piped in a swirl motion, starting from the outside and swirling in, resulting in an ice cream cone-like dollop. The cupcakes in the front were piped in a swirl motion starting from the inside and swirling out, resulting in a flatter top that resembles a rosette.

Mmmm - enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• #50 ice cream scoop https://amzn.to/3qWyKpO

• cupcake carrier https://amzn.to/3f8Tns9

• professional cupcake pan https://amzn.to/2InwodR

• foil cupcake liners https://amzn.to/2I7ZnTD

• kitchen torch https://amzn.to/2IdzIZI

• butane https://amzn.to/2Inyg6n

• tamper https://amzn.to/2D3qzyE

• cupcake carrier https://amzn.to/2D6CXOB

• disposable piping bags https://amzn.to/2IoX2Tq

• large open star piping tip https://amzn.to/2Gbr8Zg

• pure vanilla extract https://amzn.to/2UHQtCi

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S’mores Cupcakes

makes 24+  cupcakes

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon natural cocoa powder (substitution listed below)

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 large eggs

• 1 cup whole milk

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• 1 cup boiling water

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 20 squares)

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

• 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (or mini chocolate chips)

Marshmallow Frosting:

• 8 large egg whites

• 2 cups sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

To make the cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.

3. Sift 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into the bowl of an electric mixer.

4. Using the paddle attachment, mix ingredients together on low speed.

5. In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk, oil, and pure vanilla extract.

6. Add to flour mixture and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds.

7. Scrape down sides of bowl if necessary and continue mixing on medium speed for 2 minutes.

8. Add boiling water and stir to combine; set cake batter aside.

9. Place graham cracker crumbs, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and melted butter in a large bowl; stir until well combined.

10. Place 1 tablespoon graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each prepared muffin cup.

11. Use the bottom of a small glass to pack crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake liner.

12. Reserve remaining graham cracker mixture for topping. (note - I didn't have any crumbs leftover from making the bottom crusts so I skipped this step)

13. Place 2 teaspoons chocolate in each muffin cup.

14. Bake for about 5 minutes.

15. Remove from oven and fill each muffin cup 3/4 to 4/5 full with cake batter.

16. Sprinkle each with remaining chocolate and graham cracker mixture.

17. Return to oven and bake until tops are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.

18. Cool on a wire rack in pan for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely.

19. Transfer frosting to a large pastry bag fitted with a large start tip.

20. Pipe frosting in a spiral motion on each cupcake.

21. Transfer cupcakes to a baking sheet.

22. Using a kitchen torch, lightly brown the frosting, taking care not to burn the cupcake liners. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container, up to 2 days.

To make the marshmallow frosting:

1. Place egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the heatproof bowl of a stand mixer.

2. Set bowl over a saucepan with simmering water.

3. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are warm to the touch, 3 to 4 minutes.

4. Transfer bowl to electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat, starting on low speed, gradually increasing to high, until stiff, glossy peaks form, 5 to 7 minutes.

5. Add pure vanilla extract, and mix until combined. Use immediately.

Note  

• The marshmallow frosting is very sweet and you might want to have a wet paper towel handy when you eat one of these cupcakes... despite how careful I tried to be, I ended up with little spots of sticky white marshmallow all over my hands and face (not a graceful cupcake - don't want to see what will happen when a little one eats one of these). Aside from that, these are really moist and delicious! I had quite a bit of leftover cake batter... enough for 6 additional cupcakes (no graham cracker crumbs leftover for crusts though). And I think I have enough leftover meringue frosting to frost another batch of cupcakes.