lemon cupcakes with lemon curd and cream cheese icing

Right. I dont' think I've ever made anything with such a long name, and with more than two elements. I usually stick to a cake base and icing. Nice and simple. That's kind of my thing.

And then I watched an episode of Cupcake Wars.

Talk about mind blowing. Now that show separates the amateurs from the hard core professionals. The creativity that some of these contestants exudes was amazing. The confidence was something else but believe me when I say, they certainly upped the ante of cupcakes. Who would have thought - goats cheese frosting? Baked apple cupcakes? Maple frosting topped with crisp bacon? Salmon cupcakes topped with cream cheese icing and capers?? Yeah, not sure about that last one, but amazingly, the lady that dreamt that creation won.

If anything, when it comes to baking cupcakes, this show has pointed out at how much I still have to learn. Ok, I know what some of you may be thinking. These guys on the show, they're professionals (or at least bake cupcakes for an actual living). But these people all started from somewhere. Probably from their home kitchens. Sweating it over a hand mixer. Or even whisking by hand (I saw a lot of that on the show which really surprised me).

So, as it was, a Thursday night. Late, on a Thursday night. I live with a quiet housemate, in an apartment block of 8. I didn't think a kitchen mixer whizzing up cakes would be a welcome sound at the time of night I actually got my act together so I went hunting for an easy mix cupcake recipe. Viola - I found this lemon cupcake recipe that was originally seen on Junior Masterchef. I was surprised at how quickly it came together and how lovely they turned out. Easy peasy. I did however got the mixer going for the cream cheese icing but hey, with a KitchenAid, hey presto, done in minutes.

So here it is, my first attempt at a cupcake with an extra element (lemon curd in the cakes) and I think it was pretty successful. Maybe not Cupcake Wars material but still, I was pretty happy with the end result. As a market researcher, naturally, I welcomed feedback from my colleagues. I am happy to report that the most negative comment was that they were too small.

lemon cupcakes

1 cup of thickened cream
3/4 cup of caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups of self raising flour
finely grated rind of 1 lemon + its juice

1| Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (160 if fan forced). With the eggs, pour the cream and sugar into a large mixing bowl and whisk until nice and smooth.
2| grate lemon rind over the top and squeeze the lemon to get the juice out.
3| Sift your self raising flour over the bowl and whisk the batter until thick and smooth. The consistency will be like a thick pancake mix.
4| Divide mixture into cupcake cases.
5| Pop into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Don't over bake them - they won't be spongy and moist!

lemon curd

3 egg yolks
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup of lemon juice
6 tablespoons of caster sugar
4 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter cut up

1| Combine the yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Whisk up to combine. Set this over a medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure you stir evenly - don't forget the sides and bottom of the pan. Cook until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon (around 5-7 minutes).
2| Take the saucepan off the heat. Add the butter, one piece at a time, continuously stirring with the wooden spoon until the consistency is smooth.
3| Transfer the mixture into a medium bowl. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface (this will help the curd to not form a skin). Let the curd cool, refrigerate until firm and chilled (at least 1 hour).

cream cheese icing

250g cream cheese at room temperature
125g butter at room temperature
icing sugar (about 1 cup, but that depends on how sweet you want it)

1| Get the cream cheese going first. Place it into the bowl of a mixer or using a hand mixer, start the beating.
2| After a couple of minutes, add the butter and whip that up.
3| After a couple of more minutes, add the icing sugar. Use 1 cup first, add more if you want it sweeter. Beat until thick and fluffy.
4| Try not to eat the whole icing out of the bowl. Top cakes with lemon curd with a swirl.

putting it all together

1| Make sure your cupcakes have cooled completely.
2| If you have one of those thin, long piping nozzles that you use for jam or things like lemon curd, load up your piping bag with lemon curd and stick the pointy end in the middle of the cupcake and inject it with lemon curd. Repeat with all the cakes. OR you could just scoop out a bit of cake on top and place a bit of lemon curd in the hole you made. Easy!
3| Admire your work. Then pipe, or spoon or swirl some cream cheese icing on top.
4| Eat until your heart's content, but probably best eaten shared with your friends / family.