Cupcake Symphony: 7.21.10 Luscious Lemon Supreme Cupcakes

Last Wednesday I attempted my first modified lemon cupcake recipe (see below). This cupcake is a lemon chiffon cake with a lemon curd filling (I cheated & used store-bought curd) and topped with a whipped lemon frosting. The hubby (Steve) & I tried one Wednesday night. I thought that the lemon curd may have been a little strong, but I figured it could have also been because I had eaten about a cupcake's worth of batter (better stop that or I'm either going to get sick or not fit through the front door anymore). I was concerned that the lemon curd may alter the consistency of the cupcake if they were filled several hours before being eaten; so, I filled half that night and the other half on Thursday morning.

Luscious Lemon Supreme

I tried one of the pre-filled cupcakes in the morning (oh darn, dessert for breakfast). Delicious! I made the holes on top of the cupcakes a little smaller & therefore used a little less lemon curd (1-2 tsp). I sent the rest with Steve to work & they received rave reviews. Steve told them to be brutally honest...I hope they were.

Overall, I think this cupcake was a success. The whipped frosting was my least favorite part, but I think it still needs to be something light...a lemon glaze perhaps? A buttercream would be entirely too heavy combined with the lemon curd (in my opinion). Below is a play-by-play of the cupcake progress & the recipes I used.

I modified the following cupcake recipe from Baking Bites (http://bakingbites.com/2009/02/lemon-cupcakes-filled-with-lemon-curd/). I made about 22 cupcakes:

Lemon Cake
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp lemon extract
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
~1 1/2 cups lemon curd (I just used store-bought to save time)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, lemon zest, & lemon extract until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla extract. Stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by half of the milk. Add another 1/3 of the flour and the remaining milk, then stir in the remaining flour, mixing only until no streaks of flour remain.
Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each approx 2/3 full.
Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed. Cool completely on a wire rack.
To fill, use a melon baller, spoon, or knife to scoop a small hole in the top of each muffin. Fill the depression with ~1-2 tsp of lemon curd.