My BFF wanted something light and fresh for her birthday, this recipe looked fabulous and tasted even better. The combination of lemon and blueberries is very good not to mention biting into creamy lemon curd inside the cupcake. The recipe I used called for a lemon butter cream but I knew I wanted to use either a cream cheese or my favorite mascarpone frosting. After contemplating, I decided on the mascarpone, it really is delicious and so rich and creamy. I tweaked it a little bit to get a stiffer texture and it came out perfect. These cupcakes are as close to perfection as I have ever made.
If you can, take the time to make your own lemon curd it is really worth it. Filled cupcakes have really become my favorites and now I cannot imagine making cupcakes without.
Recipe:
Adapted from Sweetopolita
Lemon-Blueberry Cake
Ingredients
2 cups plus 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon pure lemon extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups white sugar
4 large eggs
Method
Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare muffin tin with cupcake papers. Sift dry ingredients into medium bowl. Transfer 1 tablespoon flour mixture to larger bowl. Add fresh blueberries and toss to coat them with flour. Set remaining flour mixture and blueberries aside.
Stir whole milk, sour cream, vanilla extract, lemon extract and lemon zest in small bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar, until pale yellow and very fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, until well combined. Mix in flour mixture alternately with milk mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Gently fold in blueberries. Divide batter equally among cupcake cups.
Bake cakes until toothpick inserted into center of a couple cupcakes comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in pans on racks for about 10 minutes, then put onto racks until completely cool. Makes 24-26 cupcakes.
Adapted from: Not So Humble Pie
Update: If you would like your cupcakes generously filled double this recipe.
Lemon Curd
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup lemon juice
zest of one large lemon ( I used 2)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
pinch of salt
6 large egg yolks
Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice and zest.
Mix together the sugar, salt and cornstarch and add it to the pan. Whisk in the egg yolks until smooth and return to heat. Cook over medium-low heat for roughly 10 minutes until the mixture has thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Do not allow the mixture to boil.
Once thickened, strain the mixture though a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl. Allow to chill in the refrigerator completely before using.
Lemon Mascarpone Frosting:
adapted from: Not So Humble Pie
Lemon Mascarpone Cream Frosting
1 pound mascarpone cheese
2/3 cup lemon curd
2 cups heavy cream
7Tb sugar
Beat the sugar and cream to soft peaks in your mixer.
Combine the mascarpone and lemon curd in a separate bowl and mix. Add the cream to the mascarpone mixture. Gently fold to combine, take your time and be gentle. If the mixture is overworked it can separate or look grainy. To fix this add several tablespoons of heavy cream and mix with the spatula until smooth again.
Assembly: First measure out the 2/3 cup of lemon curd for the frosting and set aside. After the cupcakes are finished cooling, cut a cone shape out of the middle and remove the tops and put a tablespoon or so of lemon curd in the whole. Then place the tops back on (you may have to trim the cone a bit to get it to fit). I piped on the frosting with a large star tip but you could put it on however you like. Garnish with a washed and dried blueberry and yellow jimmys.
**Silly note: what you don’t see in all of these pictures, because I edited out the fingers, is Gattor, her face was about six inches from the cupcakes at all times. She came outside with me while I took the photos and was acting like a rabid beast trying to get her hand on the cupcakes. She kept playing with the blueberries, constantly asking me if I was done, she still doesn’t understand why mommy is always taking pictures of the food. I had promised her one and she almost fell apart when I cut one of them to show the inside. I assured her she could have the “un damaged” one and she was happy.
