Lemon Cupcakes

by Charlie Bloom
Monday March 30, 2015

These fresh lemon filled cupcakes are great for Easter gatherings and they sure look the part too.

What You’ll Need:

For the lemon syrup

Lemon Buttercream

What To Do:

Beat the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy (around 5 minutes in a stand mixer).
Sieve the flour.
Add the grated lemon rind to the happy eggs.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time adding a spoonful of flour with each egg.
Fold in ½ the remaining flour,
Fold in the milk.
Fold in the rest of the flour.
Place the cupcake cases in a cupcake baking tin.
Using an ice cream scoop, fill the cupcake cases to 2/3rds full.
Bake in a preheated oven (160C conventional oven or 140 C fan oven) for around 40 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.
Take out of the tins when cool enough to handle.

Make the Lemon Syrup

Heat the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved.
Brush over each cupcake.

Buttercream

Beat together in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. You can add a few drops of lemon juice if the mixture is a bit stiff.

Chick Cupcakes

Bake the cupcakes in yellow cases and leave to cool. (See cupcake recipe)
Pipe a blob of buttercream icing on top of each cupcake.
Roll out some ivory sugarpaste to 4mm thick.
Cut out a circle of sugarpaste with a 78mm round cookie cutter and place over the buttercream, gently smoothing the edges down to meet the cupcake case.
Press your thumb in the top to make a small impression for where the chick will sit.
Roll a walnut sized piece of yellow sugarpaste into a ball.
Glue 2 tiny black sugar dragees on for eyes.
Roll out some orange sugarpaste and cut a tiny diamond shape. Pinch this to fold in the middle and glue on using edible glue just below the eyes.
Roll out some cream sugarpaste and cut a star shape. Glue this on top of the chick.
Using edible glue, attach the chick into the impression on the cupcake.
Make 2 tiny wings from the yellow sugarpaste and attach either side of the chick.

Hen Cupcake

Bake the cupcakes in yellow cases and leave to cool. (See cupcake recipe)
Pipe a blob of buttercream icing on top of each cupcake.
Roll out some ivory sugarpaste to 4mm thick.
Cut out a circle of sugarpaste with a 78mm round cookie cutter and place over the buttercream, gently smoothing the edges down to meet the cupcake case.
To make the beak, take a large pea size bit of sugarpaste, roll in your fingers to make a smooth ball, then form into cone shape and cut off the smaller end.
Attach to the cupcake using edible glue.
Take a pea size bit of red sugarpaste, roll in your fingers to make a smooth ball, flatten slightly, then form into a teardrop shape and cut off the smaller end.
Make 3 of these for each hen, and 2 smaller ones for the wattle.
Attach 3 to the top of the cupcake using edible glue, and 2 underneath the beak.
Draw in the eyes using a black edible pen.