Neve's Lemon Cupcakes

Baking is truly my passion, so I'm really excited to share my recipe for lemon cupcakes right here, on my blog. Before I get into the recipe, I just wanted to take the time to remind you of some things that don't just apply to baking, but life in general. Firstly, I have been baking since I was very young, I didn't get to be as good as I am overnight. Over the years, I have watched my family and many online videos, bought the right equipment and practiced, practiced, practiced! If you don't try, then you don't learn. Believe me, I have had many failed cakes, and I still do. They don't always taste perfect or look great, but I know that next time, I'll change my methods and make them better. Please don't get disheartened, baking is meant to be fun. So if your cake isn't great, just laugh at it, pick up your ingredients and try again.

Secondly, yes, I did just say, 'I didn't get to be as good as I am overnight'. I don't know if its because I'm British or if it's they way that society tells us to be, but people just can't seem to accept compliments or recognise their own achievements as amazing! Others will tell them that they are bragging or being arrogant, and to be honest, I'm quite fed up of it. I've received so many compliments about my baking, but I can never seem to actually accept them or turn around to someone and say, 'hey, I'm a great baker', out of fear of judgement. My message here is, recognise how great you are at something, big or small, and tell yourself. Forget about the people who shame, they are not worth the time and energy in your life. Love yourself and your ability, you're amazing!

Equipment:

Large Mixing Bowl

Weighing Scales

Grater

Mixer

Cupcake Tray

Cupcake Cases

Piping Bag

Star Nozzle Piping Tip

Ingredients:

For the Cakes -

6oz Self-Raising Flour

6oz Caster Sugar

6oz Unsalted Butter

3 Large Eggs

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

3 Large Lemons

-Makes 12

For the Buttercream -

60z Unsalted Butter

120z Icing Sugar

(Reserved Lemon From Cakes)

My Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 150°C Fan.

2. Take the butter out of the fridge until it becomes soft, then weight and combine the flour (sieve the flour into the bowl), sugar, butter, eggs and baking powder in the mixing bowl.

3. Grate the rind of 2 1/2 of the lemons and add to the bowl with the other ingredients. Squeeze the juice of 1 1/2 whole lemons (the ones that you have just grated) into the mixing bowl. Make sure that the lemons you choose are not the one with half the rind left intact.

4. Mix the contents of the mixing bowl with an electric mixer, until pale (about 2-3 minutes).

5. Fill a cupcake tray with your cake cases and add an even amount of mixture into each one. Place your cakes in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. If you stick a skewer into your cake, it should come out clean.

6. Leave the cakes to cool and meanwhile, make the buttercream by adding your unsalted butter to a clean mixing bowl and whisking with the electric mixer until soft.

7. Weigh your icing sugar and sieve one third into the bowl with the butter. Stir with a wooden spoon until the butter and icing sugar are combined and then mix with the electric mixer for about one minute, until pale. Repeat this twice more with the remaining icing sugar.

8. When all of the icing sugar and butter is combined, you will notice that the mixture has gone quite stiff. This mixture will be difficult to pipe because of this, so add a squeeze of lemon juice from the remaining lemons and mix until you think that the mixture is the right piping consistency (it should still hold its shape but become easier to mix). Take this time to also grate the lemon zest left on the final lemon and mix with the electric mixer until combined.

9. Place your star nozzle inside of your piping bag and fill the bag with the buttercream. If the cakes have completely cooled, go ahead and pipe a swirl onto of your cupcake and you're done! If you're new to piping, you can use baking paper to practice on, and then scoop the icing back into the piping bag and pipe onto the cakes when you've mastered it. Also, if you find that you run out of buttercream, don't fret, the recipe is just twice as much icing sugar as butter plus a little lemon juice for a flavoured icing, or milk for plain.

I love these lemon cakes and the best thing about them is that you can alter the amount of lemon you put in depending on your preferences. If you find that you think I've added too much or little, go ahead and add more. I would shy away from adding any more lemon juice to the cupcakes though, just because they are already very moist, add zest instead. You also don't have to pipe a swirl, you can do any decoration you want or even make lemon flavoured glace icing by adding lemon juice to icing sugar instead of water. If you do this though, make sure to put the cakes in the fridge right away to let the icing harden and avoid it running to the edges of the cake. You could also make one large cake with this recipe. In other words, the possibilities are endless. Take my recipe and make it your own!

Overall:

Easy to Make - Yes. Take it slow, read the recipe and don't rush, you're not on Bake off! That's when you make mistakes in baking.

Time Taken - About 1 1/2 hours. A long time on a busy day, but this is perfect therapy for de-stressing on a day off.

Taste - Not too strong, moist and soft! A lovely cake if I do say so myself!

See my totally unfiltered, candid pictures below and enjoy!