Lemon Curd Cupcakes

Sometimes, the urge to make cupcakes is overwhelming; I think it’s that they’re so pretty. Mr CC and the CCM (Caked Crusader’s Ma) both love lemon and Mr CC had been muttering that he never gets anything lemon because I don’t like it. So I decided to make lemon cupcakes.

For an ingredient I loathe so much, I actually really like baking with lemons; they’re a beautiful colour and shape. I enjoy zesting them, juicing them and I think I’ve extolled the joy of making curd before. If only I liked the taste they would be a perfect fruit! In contrast, I find apples totally irritating to work with – peeling, fighting their mania to discolour, coring, slicing etc – but adore their flavour.

The cupcake sponge is different to my usual recipe and the inclusion of yoghurt added an extra lightness to the batter. It is amazing how lemony it tasted when the only lemony ingredient was the zest. By the time I’d added some curd it was zingy in the extreme.

I adapted the recipe from the BBC Good Food site by ditching the poppy seeds and replacing with the lemon curd element and then adding this to the buttercream as well. In my experience, the lemon lovers want their citrus left pure!

These are very big cupcakes; when I had filled my 12 paper cases and still had batter left over for about another four cupcakes, of course the sensible thing to do would have been to make a further four cupcakes...but that’s not the way I roll! So, 12 mega large cupcakes it was!

The addition of curd to the buttercream seemed to make it extra creamy and whippy – almost mousse-like. My eaters said that these cupcakes tasted really fresh and natural, which I suppose is understandable as the lemon flavour comes only from fresh lemons.

Ingredients

For the lemon curd:

1 lemon – zest and juice
75g caster sugar
2 eggs
50g unsalted butter

For the cupcake sponge:

225g self raising flour
175g golden caster sugar
2 lemons – zest only
3 eggs
100g natural yoghurt
175g unsalted butter, melted and left to cool
Some of the lemon curd

For the buttercream:

225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
400g icing sugar
1 lemon – juice only
Some of the lemon curd – I used all that remained (approximately 4-5 teaspoons)

Decoration: sprinkles or wafer flowers

Method

Start by making the lemon curd (you can do this 1-2 days ahead of making the cupcakes): Place the lemon zest and sugar in a bowl.

Whisk together the lemon juice and eggs and pour over the sugar.

Cut the butter into little pieces and scatter over the top.

Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water (or use a bain marie pan if you have one) and cook for approximately 15 minutes.

Stir occasionally but not obsessively until you have a golden, thick curd.

Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Refrigerate until required.

Now make the sponge: Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Line a 12 hole cupcake pan with paper cases.

Place the flour, sugar and zest into a bowl and mix.

In a separate bowl mix together the eggs, yoghurt and cooled melted butter.

Add the wet ingredient to the dry and whisk until well combined and smooth.

Spoon into the paper cases.

Spoon a scant half teaspoon of lemon curd on top of the batter in each paper case, then take a cocktail stick and swirl it into the batter.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cakes comes out clean. (NB. The cake sponge will stay pale even after baking so don’t rely on colour as a guide to ‘doneness’!)

Cool briefly in the tin before de-tinning and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.

Now make the buttercream: beat the butter until it is really soft and whipped.

Gradually beat in the icing sugar, then the lemon juice.

Beat in the lemon curd a teaspoon at a time. (Any leftover curd can be eaten on toast!)

Spoon the buttercream into an icing bag (if it feels soft, refrigerate it for 5 minutes before piping) and pipe over the top of the sponges.

Finish off with a flower decoration of sugar sprinkles.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Lemon feather sponge

Birthday season in the Caked Crusader’s family continues at break-neck speed; this week it is the turn of the CCM (Caked Crusader’s Ma). The photo above shows her coloured flame candles and musical banner that flashed 'happy birthday' whilst playing a lovely rendition of the tune (i.e. the sort of electronic music that is enchanting for 30 seconds and then you want to stamp on the thing!).

I may have mentioned it once or twice (regular readers please feel free to yawn here) but the CCM is fanatical about all baked goods with a lemon theme. When I saw this recipe I knew I had found her birthday cake.


The recipe uses oil instead of a solid fat i.e. butter, which led to a light texture not dissimilar to the airy sponginess of a carrot cake. What I also liked was that instead of buttercream the coating and filling is whipped cream to which you add lemon curd. This creates an ultra light, creamy lemon curd.


It is extremely easy to make lemon curd and, even though I loathe lemon (regular readers – you may yawn again!) I can taste the difference to sugary shop-bought curds. Lemon curd is one of those things that I find ridiculously pleasing to make as it falls into the category of alchemy. You begin with a very thin liquid in the pan and just through heat and a bit of stirring it turns into luscious, thick golden curd in barely 15 minutes!



Happy birthday CCM!

Ingredients:
For the cakes:
3 eggs, separated
115ml water
115ml groundnut oil (you can use corn oil if you can’t find groundnut oil but most supermarkets stock it now)
225g plain flour
40g cornflour
3 level teaspoons baking powder
225g caster sugar
2 lemons - zest and juice

For the lemon curd:
1 lemon – zest and juice
75g caster sugar
2 eggs
50g unsalted butter

For the filling and covering:
350ml whipping cream
Lemon curd (quantity as made above)

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
- Line two 20cm sandwich tins with baking paper.
- Combine the egg yolks with the water and oil and beat until combined.
- Place all the dry ingredients into a bowl i.e. the flour, cornflour, baking powder and sugar, and beat the egg mixture into it until you have a smooth batter.
- Beat in the lemon juice and zest.
- In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until they are stiff but not dry.
- Fold the egg whites into the lemon batter.
- Divide the mixture between the two prepared cake tins and bake for approximately 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cakes comes out clean. I recommend checking the cakes after 30 minutes as mine were ready by then.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack and remove from the tins as soon as the tin is cool enough to handle.
- Now make the lemon curd: Place the lemon zest and sugar in a bowl.
- Whisk together the lemon juice and eggs and pour over the sugar.
- Cut the butter into little pieces and scatter over the top.
- Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water (or use a bain marie pan if you have one) and cook for approximately 15 minutes.
- Stir occasionally but not obsessively until you have a golden, thick curd.
- Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
- To assemble the cake: Take one of the sponges and spread 2-3 tablespoons of lemon curd over the top.
- Add the remaining lemon curd to the whipping cream and beat until thick and fluffy.
- Spread approximately a third of the cream on top of the sponge with lemon curd on it and sandwich with the other sponge.
- Use the remaining cream to cover the top and sides of the cake.
- Decorate as you wish
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

Lemon curd mini sponge sandwiches

As I’ve mentioned before, the CCM (Caked Crusader’s Ma) is rather partial to anything lemony. These lemon curd mini sponge sandwiches were the perfect choice to make alongside her birthday cake. I took a recipe for lemon cupcakes and simply cut them in half, sandwiching with home-made lemon curd. Very simple and very cute.

The lemon curd is easy to make and worth the effort:


As soon as the sponges are out of the oven they are sprinkled with sugar and lemon juice; the juice sinks into the sponge leaving a crisp sugar topping:


I then cut them through and sandwiched with the lemon curd; here's the view before I put the top on:


As it’s the CCM’s birthday I pushed the boat out and ordered some icing toppers. To complement the David Tennant cake topper on her main birthday cake I bought some mini David Tennants and also the CCM’s other favourite TV hunk Richard Armitage (the rather smouldering Guy of Gisborne in BBC’s Robin Hood – or ‘Robin Who?’ as us Gisbornites often call it!). I was curious to see if the topper influenced the CCM’s choice of cake!


The lemon curd recipe came from the lemon layer cake I made for Mother’s Day earlier this year. Hard for me to say much about these as I don’t like lemon but the sponges looked very moist and the smell of lemon was strong.


Incidentally, for those of you wondering – she picked a David Tennant one first!

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
125g unsalted butter
125g caster sugar
125g self raising flour
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon

For the cupcake topping:
3-4 teaspoons caster sugar
Juice of 1 lemon

For the lemon curd:
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
75g caster sugar
2 eggs
50g unsalted butter

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.
- Line a muffin pan with 12 paper cases.
- Make the cakes by beating the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
- Add the flour, eggs, milk and lemon rind and beat until smooth.
- Spoon the mixture into the paper cases and bake for 12-15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Mine took 15 minutes.
- Place on a wire rack and immediately sprinkle the cupcakes with the sugar. Then spoon over the lemon juice. As the cupcakes cool, the lemon juice sinks into the cake leaving a crunchy sugar crust on top of the cupcake. Allow to cool.
- Now make the lemon curd. Whisk together the sugar, lemon zest, eggs and lemon juice.
- Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the mix.
- Cook over a pan of simmering water (make sure the bowl containing the curd does not touch the water) or in a bain marie pan for 10-20 minutes until thickened. The curd doesn’t require constant stirring but make sure you stir it every now and again.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Cut the cooled sponges in half and sandwich with some of the lemon curd.
- David Tennant and Richard Armitage cake toppers are optional!
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.

Iced lemon curd layer cake

Today is Mothering Sunday so what better treat for the Caked Crusader’s Ma (CCM) than something lemony? The CCM has a penchant for lemon and I reckon this cake must be a lemon-lover’s dream. The sponge contains lemon, the lemon curd is practically all lemon, and the lemon icing is topped with lemon zest. I don’t see how any more lemon could be added to this cake!


The finished cake is attractive and I like the layering when a slice is cut; I love this photo as the main cake is visible in the background. It's come out rather arty, albeit unintentionally:



Nothing about this cake is difficult but there are several stages to it. I made the sponge and the curd the day before I wanted the cake. This only left assembly and icing on the day itself. It all begins with simple sandwich sponges:


I have been quite vocal in the past about my lemon-loathing but even I have to admit that this cake looks a beauty. The curd was particularly pleasing to make; so many lemon curd recipes contain yucky things like cornflour to thicken the mix. This one doesn’t and I think has a better taste and consistency for it. Here it is cooking in the pan:


I also got to use my new lemon squeezer – it’s great because it gets all the juice out without any risk of pips falling into the mix. And in this age of hi-tech gadgetry it couldn’t be a simpler piece of equipment!


Ingredients:
For the sponge:
175g unsalted butter, at room temperature
175g caster sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 eggs
175g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

For the lemon curd:
Grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon
75g caster sugar
2 eggs
50g unsalted butter

For the lemon icing:
50g icing sugar
2-3 teaspoons lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 170°C/fan oven 150°C/325°F/Gas mark 3.
- Grease two 18cm sandwich tins.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until they are pale and fluffy. Don’t skimp on this stage – give the mixture a good beating.
- Gradually beat in the eggs, lemon juice and zest, alternating with the flour and baking powder i.e. beat in a bit of the wet ingredients, then some of the dry ingredients, then some wet etc. This avoids the mixture curdling.
- Spoon into the tins and level.
- Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Mine took exactly 35 minutes.
- Allow to cool in the tin for a couple of minutes before turning out onto a wire rack and allowing to cool completely.
- Now make the lemon curd. Stir together the sugar, lemon zest and juice, eggs.
- Cut the butter into little pieces and add to the lemon mix.
- Either place the mixture into a bain marie pan or, if you don’t have one, simply put a bowl over a pan of simmering water making sure the bowl and water are not touching. Cook for approximately 20 minutes until the curd has thickened. Stir frequently – you don’t have to be obsessive, just don’t wander off and forget about it. For the first few minutes the mix will look very runny but then will suddenly thicken!
- When it has thickened remove from the heat, spoon the curd into a bowl and leave to cool.
- Up to this point, everything can be done the day before. Keep the sponge in an airtight container and keep the curd in the fridge.
- When you come to assemble the cake cut each sponge through – so you now have 4 layers of cake.
- Spread the lemon curd evenly over each layer and start to stack the cake. The curd covers the three middle layers – the top will have icing.
- The icing is made by simply beating together the icing sugar and lemon juice until the consistency is smooth and runny. Allow to rest in the bowl as it will thicken slightly.
- Spread the icing on the top layer of cake and don’t panic if it drizzles down the side.
- Whereas for the cake and curd the lemon zest was grated to ensure it was fine, for the top you want something a little more dramatic so use a zester and this will provide long curls of lemon zest!
- Scatter the lemon zest on top and voila – cake made!
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.