Hi everyone! This is my recipe. Because it's kitchen tested I think the yield may have been modified- my original submission was for mini cupcakes, and I always use a piping bag and tip for frosting (which makes them mile-high, but no one ever seems to complain about it if you catch my drift)! That said, you should carefully watch larger cakes in your oven as this is the time I use for miniature cakes. If the batter seems way too dense, add a bit more milk to your liking, and always remember to use a stand or hand mixer. Enjoy!
These are amazing. I made these for Easter and everyone said they were the best cupcakes they'd ever eaten. I only gave this recipe four stars not for ingredients, but for yield. I used regular muffin pans and the recipe only made 19 small cupcakes - I was wondering what they would rise like or I could've made 12. That being said, the frosting recipe makes enough for 3 times what you need...so next time I make this (which will be often!) I will double the cake recipe and half the frosting recipe.
The frosting seems too sweet on its own, but don't be fooled - once you put it on a lemon cupcake the flavors balance perfectly!
I also added fresh blackberries on top for a pretty garnish to the cupcake.
Amazingly delicious! 5 stars for taste! Rave reviews from the family. Only change I made was that I used red raspberry preserves instead of blackberry simply because that is what I had. It worked perfectly. So lemony and refreshing - the flavors compliment eachother wonderfully. As written the recipes does NOT produce 24 cupcakes, I got 16 out of mine. I cut the frosting in half and had the perfect amount to frost 16 cupcakes...if I would have made the entire amount of frosting it would have been way too much.
I must be honest that as I mixed up both the cake batter and the frosting I was initially somewhat disappointed with both. The batter due to the lemon juice was just a teensy bit on the curdled side but once it was good and mixed it seemed to have corrected. The frosting appeared sticky and gummy not light creamy and "cloud-like" as I would have liked. The cupcakes did bake up real pretty and when I put them together with the frosting I was very pleased. Took a bite of the cake by itself - great lemony vanilla flavor light and fluffy with an airy crumb and very moist even it being a butter cake! But I do have a criticism - while the cake was indeed moist and airy it was also somewhat crumbly unable to support itself with its fragility. Too much baking powder may be to blame -were I to make this again I'd probably reduce it to maybe 1-1/2 teaspoons. The frosting piped on much better than it looked in the bowl and when I took a forkful of the cake and the frosting together it was sheer bliss. Very nicely flavored frosting with neither too much nor too little flavor from the jam. Whether you use blackberry as directed or raspberry as I did the lemon/berry contrast in this cupcake is a match made in heaven. This falls short of perfection only for the fact that the cake was moist but crumbly - something easily remedied I believe by simply reducing the amount of baking powder. One other critical issue is the yield - I got 14 not 24 standard-sized cupcakes!
I thought this cupcake was pretty tasty. My lemons were a little on the smaller side so I used two and had a good lemon flavor. The frosting was a tad too sweet on its own but had a balance when eaten with the lemon cake. I personally think it would have been better if I added more blackberry jam to it or mixed in fresh pureed blackberries. I'll try that next time! Mmmm. I will also be trying this with different berries in the future. Note: My first batch of cupcakes came out really dense and flat on top. I tried it again with a new can of baking powder and it made all the difference! Second batch came out nice and fluffy. Make sure your baking powder is still active by placing a half tsp. or so in hot water it will bubble immediately if still good. Don't go by the exp. date on the can. The first can I used wasn't expired but barely bubbled. I should've tested it first before I baked that first batch. =/
I love the cupcakes themselves. I did add more lemon juice since I wanted the flavor to really stand out. They are very dense, so add more milk if you want them to be lighter; leave as is if you want more muffin consistency. Now the frosting... I've made buttercream tons of times, so seeing the ingredients/instructions on this already had me raising an eyebrow. Before I even added the jam, it tasted like nothing but butter. I would never, ever, in my life, make it again. These went to work with me - I work up early to make them and was simply out of time. Not one single person didn't comment on how it tasted just like butter & jam. Most buttercream recipes call for a mix of butter/shortening to avoid the pure butter flavor which I think is exactly where I think the frosting recipe goes wrong.
Made the raspberry version and it was DELICIOUS! I cut the whole recipe in half to make 12 cupcakes and I had the perfect amount of icing (ok I lied I had about 1 cupcake's worth of icing left which I ate. With a spoon.). I had a beautiful swirl of icing on top. The cupcakes didn't fill their whole liner so I guess they could have made fewer cupcakes then what the recipe called for and then of course less icing would have been used. But anyways delicious!
I made these today to top my Mother's Day off. I had my children help me with this. The cupcakes came out so nice and fluffy, I let them bake for 20 minutes. The buttercream came out great. I think next time I make the buttercream I may add just a tiny squeeze of lemon juice to carry on the lemon in the cupcakes. The taste testers in my house gave an all thumbs up. I just finished mine and I think it is wonderful. It reminds me of the cupcakes I would get from our local cupcake shop. This is my first fully homemade cupcake and I think I am hooked. It took the same amount of time as the box stuff. We have found a new love. Will make again!
Very yummy! Substituted strawberry preserves (just my preference).
