Sunday, March 7, 2010

Lemon Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing


As I've said many, many times, cupcakes always manage to put a smile on my face. They're not the best desserts in the world by any means, but these individually wrapped packs of sweetness always do the trick for me. They put anyone near them in a light, blissful, childish mood - something most of us could use more of.

I like to play around with recipes and mix and match depending on my mood of the day. These matched a lemon/chocolate type of day and the combination of both was just perfect. A tall glass of cold milk in one hand, a frosted cupcake in the other and the world is pretty much as perfect as it's ever going to be.

Lemon Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing

Makes 6 cupcakes
3/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of salt (use kosher)
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 stick of room temperature butter
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon of packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon curd
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Chocolate Icing
Frosts 15 cupcakes

1 stick of butter
1 3/4 cups of confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons of dark chocolate, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a small bowl, mix the flour, salt, lemon zest and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, add the sugar and butter. Using a mixer, beat the sugar and butter until the mixture is homogeneous (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one by one, beating until just incorporated. Add the lemon juice, vanilla extract and lemon curd and beat until just incorporated. Slowly add the flour mixture. Once the mixture is just homogeneous, scoop one ice cream scoop of batter into a cupcake-lined muffin time. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Leave to cool on a cooling rack while you make the icing.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, transfer to a bowl and let cool. Cream the butter with an electric mixer. Add the confectioners' sugar little by little. Mix for 3-4 minutes until the mixture is smooth. Fold in the cooled chocolate and mix until the chocolate is entirely incorporated. Ice the cupcakes as you please. Enjoy!

30 comments:

Megan said...

How yummy looking and pretty!!

Foodie with Little Thyme! said...

Amen!

Memória said...

I love cupcakes!! YUM!

Nina Timm said...

Citrus and orange have always been a winning combo for me. These cupcakes look divine!!

Shelby said...

I think cupcakes are the perfect individual sized treat to have!

Trissa said...

Interesting combination of lemon and chocolate - would have never thought about it but it sure looks delicous - lovely picture - the first one - YUM!

Nic :) said...

Am loving your blog!
I have opened a cupcake forum, and it's so quiet, i need lovely people like you to help me liven it up a bit?

Would love to see you there and chatting

nicola
x

www.cupcake-crazy.com

Anonymous said...

Lemon and chocolate isn't a flavor combo that I would normally put together, but I'm totally craving it right now. Oh, cupcakes, you are so happy-making. :)

Miss Meat and Potatoes said...

Wow. Just drooled a little...

Deborah said...

First of all, I love that this recipe only makes 6 cupcakes. Perfect for small households like mine! Lemon is probably my favorite flavor, so these would definitely hit the spot for me.

Joie de vivre said...

You're killin' me. These look amazing.

Simones Kitchen said...

I love those flavors! And they look amazing too

CookiePie said...

So pretty, and I love the lemon-chocolate combo!

Joanne said...

Cupcakes always put a smile on my face too. Those lemon cupcakes with chocolate icing? ... my smile wouldn't go away for weeks.
Delicious!

Choclette said...

Now I've been thinking for some time that lemon cupcakes with chocolate icing would be good to try - now you've convinced me!

Chele said...

Cute cupcakes Hun ;0)

Kana said...

Great combination of flavours!!

Barbara said...

Interesting combo of lemon and chocolate!
Think I'm going for the post below with salted caramel on top. Nothing is better than chocolate and caramel!

ARUNA said...

i wud say that's yummmmmm!

Sari @ Cook Your Dream said...

I haven't baked cupcakes in a while, and lemon flavour is my favourite one! I could do with one right now!

Deana Sidney said...

I have to say I love chocolate and orange but have never thought of chocolate and lemon.. thought provoking recipe! It sounds great!

Shari said...

Citrus makes cakes test so fresh! These are charmingly beautiful.

Pixie said...

I'd have never thought to put chocolate icing on lemon cupcakes. I've only seen them with vanilla icing, but these look delicious.

Stella said...

I've never iced any of my lemon baked goods with chocolate, but I always like the way it looks and sounds. Hmm?

Barbara said...

A great sounding combination of flavors! Many thanks for this recipe.

Cocoa said...

hhmmm...while i was reading your blog, i feel a little bit hungry for your descriptions and pictures shown are really amazing,,,

Waniliowa Chmurka said...

Wow!
Yummy!:DDD

Recetas al instante said...

they look so good.
Nice Cooking Blog.

Regards

olga.

Jamie said...

I was always hesitant about the chocolate-lemon combo until I made a lemon-chocolate marble cake and it was fantastic. I could so go for these cupcakes now!

Unique Chocolate Gifts said...

Yummy!!!!.....those cupcakes are great. I will try this one. Good job!

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