Today I felt the need to bake for a couple of different reasons. First of all, I got my exam grade back from last week. I thought that I had absolutely nailed the 50 question exam (I only circled 4 questions that might have been questionable), but it turns out that I got a lot more wrong than I had anticipated. Considering there are only two exams for the entire semester and they are heavily weighted, I was not a happy camper. I wanted to take my mind off of my score, but I did not want to sit around and wallow as I distracted myself with some Netflix show. So, I decided to do something active and hands-on today. Additionally, this was the perfect timing for a round of baking as Valentine’s day is today! I was already planning on making something yummy for Sam tonight, but now I had another reason to bake.
I had never made these lemon-vanilla cupcakes before, so the first time around, I really stuck to the recipe. I do regret that, and I have some definite changes I would make. The cupcake batter was not nearly lemony enough for my taste. I wanted a light lemon cake with a vanilla buttercream on top, but due to the cake’s lack of lemon flavor, I had to add more lemon to the icing in an effort to rebalance the flavors. I already knew how to make very vanilla cupcakes, and that was not what I was going for this time around. The recipe seen below are my edits to the original recipe in an effort to make the lemon flavor come through a little bit more.
Stress level: 4/10
Yield: 12 full cupcakes plus 8 mini ones
Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
Directions:
I had never made these lemon-vanilla cupcakes before, so the first time around, I really stuck to the recipe. I do regret that, and I have some definite changes I would make. The cupcake batter was not nearly lemony enough for my taste. I wanted a light lemon cake with a vanilla buttercream on top, but due to the cake’s lack of lemon flavor, I had to add more lemon to the icing in an effort to rebalance the flavors. I already knew how to make very vanilla cupcakes, and that was not what I was going for this time around. The recipe seen below are my edits to the original recipe in an effort to make the lemon flavor come through a little bit more.
Stress level: 4/10
Yield: 12 full cupcakes plus 8 mini ones
Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
- 1 stick of butter, room temperature!
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 lemon
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg white
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup buttermilk (mix 1 tbsp lemon juice with the ½ cup of milk and let sit 5 minutes)
- 1 stick room temperature butter
- 1 ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 tbsp whole milk
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a muffin tin with cupcake/muffin liners
- Zest the lemon to get 1 tsp of zest. Then juice the lemon in a separate small bowl
- Mix the butter, vanilla, sugar, lemon zest, and 2 tsp of lemon juice in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until well combined
- Add the egg and the egg white and mix on low for 30 seconds
- Sift the flour and salt together in a medium-sized bowl
- Add the baking soda to the buttermilk and stir until foamy (this adds air into the batter)
- Alternate adding the flour and buttermilk to the mixture until just combined
- Pour the batter into the cupcake liners until 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean and the cupcakes are springy to the touch)
- Let cool completely.
- Cream together the butter and sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (add the sugar slowly)
- Add the vanilla bean paste and the whole milk
- Taste the cupcakes. If it doesn’t have enough lemon flavor, add 2 tsp lemon juice to the icing and mix well. Add powdered sugar if the icing is too thin
- Ice the cooled cupcakes and serve!
One of my favorite parts about baking is the ability to share it with others. I’ve been saying for years that the way I show affection for others is through my baking and that has only proven to be truer throughout the years. It made me incredibly happy when Sam’s face lit up, seeing what I had made for him, and I was even more thrilled when he told me how good they tasted. I love putting time and effort into making gifts for people because I always feel like homemade gifts mean more than purchased ones. It was a great way to slowly process my exam score and an even better way to kick off our Valentine’s day. New stress level: 2/10.