Lemon cupcakes

Lemon Cupcake/Muffins

Course Dessert
Servings 12 cakes

Ingredients
  

Cake Sponge

  • 225 g self-raising flour
  • 175 g golden caster sugar
  • zest 2 lemons
  • 1 tbsp poppy seeds (toasted) heat up a dry frying pan and toast for a few seconds then tip into a bowl
  • 3 large chicken eggs
  • 175 g  butter melted and cooled a little
  • 100 g natural yogurt  weigh it out and bring to room temperature so as not to solidify the butter

Frosting

  • 225 g butter , softened 
  • pinch salt
  • 400g  icing sugar sifted at least once but preferably twice
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Few drops yellow food colouring

Instructions
 

Sponge

  • Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4
  • Line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake or muffin cases.
  • Sift the flour and sugar into a large mixing bow
  • Add lemon zest and poppy seeds to the flour and mix
  • Beat the eggs into the yogurt, then tip this into the dry ingredients along with the melted butter.
  • Mix together with a wooden spoon or whisk until lump-free (just use the mixer)
  • Divide the mix between the cases.
  • Bake for 20-22 mins until a skewer poked in comes out clean. The cakes will be quite pale on top still.
  • Cool for 5 mins in the tin, then carefully lift onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Frosting

  • Beat the softened butter until really soft in a large bowl
  • Gradually beat in the icing sugar (Using the same method as for the carrot cake).
  • Also add the lemon juice a little at a time. Taste as you go
  • Stir in enough food colouring for a pale lemon colour (A little at a time and let it mix in)
  • spoon the icing into a piping bag with a large star nozzle.
  • Ice one cake at a time, holding the piping bag almost upright with the nozzle about 1cm from the surface of the cake.