Cupcakes - lemon, strawberry, cream and chocolate - are now popular with sweet tooth all over the world. They first appeared in America. It happened in the century before last. Mini cakes decorated with air cream, icing or fruit are easy to prepare and perfectly replace the usual desserts. Today the focus is on lemon cupcakes. The recipe with the photo below describes two types of such goodies.
Basic recipe
Classic cupcakes usually include a small selection of ingredients. Butter, flour, eggs and sugar are almost always found in any kitchen. The components of the recipe can be changed. And then new types of dessert will appear at the exit. Just adding spices will help create a completely new sound for the mini-cake. However, most often cupcakes are distinguished by decoration, acquiring due to it not only external features, but also other taste shades.
So, for a slightly modernized basic recipe you will need:
- Flour mixed with a baking powder is usual - 2.5 cups.
- Butter (butter) - 200 g.
- Sugar (it is better to use fine or even powder) - 1 cup.
- Eggs - 3 pieces.
- Milk - half a glass.
- Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon or vanilla on the tip of a knife.
Cooking
At the first stage, soft butter is whipped with powder and vanilla. Then eggs are added to the mixture - they need to be introduced one at a time. The next step is the addition of flour and milk. They can be introduced in parts, alternating between each other so that the consistency does not become too liquid or dry during kneading.
When the mass becomes homogeneous, it is laid out in tins. You can use silicone, paper, ceramic or metal - this is not important. The main thing is to pre-grease the last two types of dishes from the above options with oil. Forms are filled with a two-thirds test.
Cupcakes are baked for 15-20 minutes at 180º. Finished products leave briefly in forms. Then they get out, cool and decorate.
Lemon Cupcakes
For experienced housewives, the question of how to turn ordinary mini-cakes into lemon ones is unlikely to cause difficulty. To do this, just add zest to the classic set of ingredients. Lemon cupcakes are good on their own. They can be served without unnecessary decorations. An interesting option is to decorate cupcakes with thin, delicately curved zest ribbons. You can go the other way: with lemon aroma and taste it is perfectly combined, for example, meringue and custard. In short, the possible options for goodies are limited only by the imagination of the chef. And by the way, the same way you can make orange cupcakes.
Lemon Cupcakes with Meringue
A great option for decorating almost any kind of cake is a delicate meringue. The protein mass is applied to the surface of the cupcakes after baking. And for the preparation of meringue you will need sugar (225 g) and the proteins of three eggs.
The ingredients are mixed in a suitable bowl. A pot of water for a water bath is placed on the stove. The container with the protein mass should not touch the surface of a slightly boiling liquid. The meringue sugar base is sent to a water bath and constantly stirred until it warms up to 45º. Then the mass is beaten with a mixer until strong peaks are formed. Using a pastry bag, meringues decorate finished cupcakes. And they send them to a preheated oven to 200º for about 4-7 minutes. Ready meringue will become ruddy and crispy on the outside.
Lemon Kurd
An interesting option of mini-cakes can be prepared if you use a variety of custard - lemon Kurd. In it, the traditionally used milk is replaced by lemon juice. Kurd is not an easy dish to prepare, but attention and a little patience will help you quickly get over it.
To make the cream, you will also need a water bath. The water should boil quietly and not reach the bottom of the main container of about 2 cm. In a suitable bowl, combine sugar (3 tbsp.) And lemon zest (about 1 tsp.) And grind. Then 2 medium eggs and the juice of one lemon are sent there. A container with the contents put in a water bath. The mass must be constantly stirred, gradually it will begin to thicken. It will take about 7 minutes. The Kurd, which has reached the consistency of sour cream, is removed from the heat and left to cool for 10 minutes. Then, butter at room temperature, about 20 g, is added to it, and everything is mixed. Kurd is ready.
Cupcakes with filling
In order to prepare cupcakes with lemon Kurd, you need to start filling with cream ready-made mini-cakes. For this purpose, a funnel-shaped or round recess is made in each product with a knife. The main thing is not to damage the bottom. The holes are filled with Kurdish, and the top is cut off with “excess” pulp. Then it is placed on the cream in the form of a lid. Such cupcakes are perfectly combined with meringue. The protein mass is applied over the lid. And the mini-cakes are sent to the oven for 5 minutes to make them brown.
Cupcakes, the recipe with a photo of which is given above, you can safely cook for the holiday instead of the usual cakes. Based on the above description, it is easy to make options for muffins with orange or traditional custard. Lemon cupcakes (with zest) can also be considered a variant of the basic recipe. With the help of various decorations, it is easy to make new independent desserts from them.