Something Yellow.

No, it’s not bananas. It’s lemon. J. Cam had a birthday this week so naturally I scoured my regular sites for homemade cupcake recipes. I have made cupcakes three times before. My favorite so far has been Sally’s Baking Addiction killer Death by Chocolate cupcake recipe that I made last Christmas. However, since Jennifer is fasting from chocolate for Lent that wasn’t really an option. The next thing to come to mind was lemon. It’s sweet, simple, classic. Plus the weather’s been beautiful in Oregon. And happy spring!

There are only five of us in class so I halved her recipe. It made six and Boston and Aaron split the last one. I can always count on college students to help me finish dessert leftovers.  The one thing I don’t have a clue about is frosting. I am too freaked out to make my own buttercream considering the high amount of butter(obviously). However, I didn’t want to leave these unfrosted so I just microwaved some Betty Crocker because I saw that in a youtube video. It was pretty much just me and a knife and man can you tell. Oh well! That’s what the sprinkles are for. Maybe I’ll invest in piping bags later.

Lemon Cupcakes

Slightly adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Yields enough cupcakes for one professor and 5 music students

1/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk*

zest of one large lemon

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Set muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar with a handheld mixer. After 2-3 minutes, add egg and vanilla extract. Scrape down sides of bowl with spatula as needed.

In another medium bowl stir together flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in three additions, making sure to beat on low speed after each addition. Beat in the milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Be careful not to overmix the batter.

Pour batter into six cupcake liners and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remember to cool before frosting.

*I used the Simple Truth Coconut Milk because that’s what I buy. It worked great. I assume regular, soy, or almond would work in place of that.

So there you have it. Lemon cupcakes. A nice change from my usual chocolate chip/banana muffin routine.

Chester wanted in again. But being a well-behaved golden, he didn’t smash his face into these cakes (unlike what my little bichon yorkie would have done had he been that close).

Happy baking.

Liz