Have I mentioned I love lemons? And that certainly includes anything made with these terrifically tart treats. Here's a recipe for a damn fine dessert that should please anyone with taste buds that work properly. I'm highlighting the recipe for cupcakes (as pictured above), but it can easily be converted to a 3-layer cake by using cake round pans rather than a cupcake tin in the cooking process (see my note below about converting the recipe to a 3-layer cake).Lemon Curd (make a day ahead of time, if possible)
See my previous post on making Lemon Curd.
Making the Cake
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 c granulated sugar
zest of 1 Meyer lemon
2 large eggs
2 c cake flour (sift before measuring)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c whole milk
2 1/2 tbsp Meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate, large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer until it's light in color and fluffy (2 minutes or so). Gradually mix in sugar until light and fluffy (another 2 minutes). Then add lemon zest and each egg, one at a time. Mix until combined.
Mix together milk and lemon juice (mixture will curdle a bit, but it's no big deal). Then alternately add flour and milk mixture to creamed butter mixture on medium until everything is just combined. Be careful not to over mix.
Divide between 15 cupcake molds* with paper inserts. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
Making the Icing
1 stick of butter, softened
1 3/4 c powdered sugar
2 tbsp Meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 tsp lemon extract
zest of 1 Meyer lemons
Mix butter with an electric mixer until it's light and fluffy (1 minute or so). Add the powdered sugar, lemon juice, extract, and zest and mix until smooth (about another 2 minutes).
Once the cupcakes have cooled, fill a pastry bag (fitted with a regular, round frosting tip) with the Lemon Curd. Insert the tip of the pastry bag into the cupcake as much as you can without piecing the bottom. Gently squeeze lemon curd filling into each cupcake, removing the tip of the bag as your squeeze. Then frost the cupcakes and pipe a little more lemon curd on top for a pretty flourish. It's fine to refrigerate the finished product, but definitely serve these little treats at room temperature.
Notes
* Converting this recipe to a 3-layer cake is pretty easy as well. I just had to scale up the cake ingredients and double the icing ingredients. Here ya go:
Cake Ingredients (for 3-layer round cake)
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/4 c shortening
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
zest of 1 Meyer lemon
3 large eggs
3 c cake flour (sift before measuring)
1 1/8 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt
3/4 c whole milk
3 3/4 tbsp Meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Mix as detailed above. Then split the batter between 3 round cake pans that have been buttered and dusted with flours. It's also not a bad idea to line the bottom with parchment paper, though that step is not absolutely necessary. Bake at 350 for approximately 20 minutes, but check the cakes regularly after 15 minutes to prevent over-baking.
Lemon Icing (for 3-layer round cake)
2 stick of butter, softened
3 1/2 c powdered sugar
1/4 c Meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 tsp lemon extract
zest of 2 Meyer lemons
Mix as detailed above. To assemble the cake, spread a generous layer of Lemon Curd (no changes) between the bottom and middle layers as well as the middle and top layers. Frost the cake with the Icing and you're done. Enjoy... it's truly a delicious cake.
Bon appetit!
