Thursday, May 19, 2011

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes



After making almost 200 mini cupcakes over the weekend for hubby's pinning ceremony, I thought I'd be sick of making cupcakes for a while. Tonight is one of those nights where I didn't feel like cooking dinner, so I wanted to clean out the fridge by having all the leftovers for dinner. But for some reason, I had the urge to do some baking. I guess my hands always want to stay busy in the kitchen.

I had bought some blueberries earlier in the week with the intent of making this recipe for Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes from Annie's Eats. It looked really light and refreshing and so I saved it on my reader to make later on. I felt like now was the time to do it. So when hubby and my daughter went for a bike ride around the neighborhood this evening, I went to work. And when they returned from the bike ride, the cupcakes were almost done baking in the oven.

I was right about these cupcakes. They were light and refreshing. A perfect cupcake for the spring. I had been looking for a good lemon cupcake recipe and I think I've found the one. Yummy!

3/4 cup, plus 2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup, plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup, plus 2 Tbsp. milk, at room temperature
1 cup fresh blueberries

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Line cupcake pans with liners.

2) In a medium bowl, combine 3/4 cup all purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter, sugar and lemon zest. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and lemon juice. With the mixer on low speed, mix in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Blend in the milk. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated.

3) In a small bowl, toss blueberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. Gently fold blueberries into the cake batter with a spatula. Divide batter evenly into prepared liners, filling about 3/4 full. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until toothpick test comes out clean. Cool in pans for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Lemon frosting
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
5 Tbsp. butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
additional blueberries for garnish

1) Combine cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in lemon juice and lemon zest. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in confectioner's sugar until totally incorporated. Increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes.

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