Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting - Writer in the Kitchen
It's still snowy and gloomy in my corner of the Rockies, but that doesn't mean I can't brighten things up with some super sweet treats. Yes, in my last post I mentioned something about baking healthier desserts, and if you break out one or two of the ingredients, then these cupcakes might be considered adjacent to healthy.
Or not. Who cares! There is a lot of lemon in this post and a lot of poppyseed, both of which are delicious apart and together.
Lemon is one of the most delicious flavorings in the kitchen as it works equally well in both sweet and savory dishes. I was on the lookout for a light lemon poppy seed cupcake (or cake) with an equally light frosting. I tried a few and they were all failures. Sure, they tasted good, but lacked the close-your-eyes-and-melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness.
Then these happened, all decorated up for St. Patrick's Day . . .
These cupcakes are a nice balance of lemony tartness and sugary sweetness. They aren't too sweet or too tart, and are both light and rich. How does that happen? I'm not a scientist, so I'll refrain from researching the exact chemical makeup. I only care that they taste great.
Prep Tip: Before you get started, make sure you take out the eggs and butter at least 30 minutes in advance so they are at room temperature when you begin (1 hour is great). Also, make sure you have all your ingredients ready to ensure you aren't missing anything. If you're using fresh lemon juice, which I recommend, squeeze the juice ahead of time.
Quick Notes: Once you've mixed everything together, your batter should have a whipped consistency—light and airy. When you remove the cupcakes from the pan, allow them to cool tops down. Once completely cooled, turn over to frost and decorate.
These freeze well, too, so don't think you'll be wasting anything. The trick to defrosting sweets like this is at room temperature. Don't try it in the microwave because you'll melt the frosting and dry out the cake.
Baking is really quite easy. Sometimes there are a lot of steps, or the recipe itself appears overwhelming, but if you break it up into parts, prepare in advance, then it won't seem as daunting. Cupcakes are one of those wonderfully versatile baked goods that are crowd pleasing without being too time consuming. Enjoy!
For your convenience, you can download a PDF of the Lemon Poppyseed Cupcake recipe here.
Find more recipes here. Stay tuned because I'm not done with lemon or poppyseeds.
