Recipe: Lemon Cake and cupcakes

This recipe is so simple to make and it makes two very delicious treats. The lemon is tart and bright and is so refreshing for the end of summer. You can choose to make the cake with the lemon glaze or the cupcake with lemon buttercream, which ever you choose,  you won’t be disappointed.

Ingredients:

Cake:

3 tbs grated lemon zest plus 3 tbs juice (3 lemon)
3 cup (15 oz.) all-purpose flour
1 ts baking powder
1/2 ts baking soda
1 ts salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 ts vanilla extract
3 large eggs plus 1 large you, room temperature
18 tbs unsalted butter  (2 1/4 sticks), softened but still cool
2 cups (14 oz) granulated sugar

Glaze:
2-3 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs buttermilk
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Buttercream Frosting:

2 tbs lemon juice
2 sticks butter softened yet cool
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 ts vanilla
1/2 ts yellow food coloring

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan with baking spray with flour. If making cupcake, line a cupcake pan with cupcake wrappers. Mince lemon zest to pine paste. Combine zest and lemon juice in small bowl; set aside to soften, 10-15 minutes

2.Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Combine lemon juice mixture, buttermilk, and vanilla in medium bowl. In small bowl, gently whisk eggs and yolk to combine. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed  to medium and add half of eggs mixture, mixing until incorporated, about 15 seconds. Repeat with remaining eggs and scrape down bowl. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of buttermilk mixture, scraping down bowls needed. Give batter final stir by hand.

3.Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top with rubber spatula. Bake cake (cupcakes ) until top is golden brown and skewer inserted in center come out with no crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack set over baking sheet for 10 minutes, then invert cake on rack. If making cupcakes let cool and remove cupcake from pans.

4. While cake is baking, whisk 2 tablespoons lemon juice, buttermilk, and sugar together until smooth, adding remaining lemon juice gradually as needed until glaze is thick but still pourable (mixture should leave faint trail across bottom of mixing bowl when drizzled from whisk). Pour half of glaze evenly over top of cake and continue to cool to room temperature, at least two hours, before serving.
For the buttercream: Beat butter in mixer until it begins to become smooth. Sift in powdered sugar in to butter until completely combined. Add food coloring, vanilla, a lemon juice to butter/sugar an combine completely.  Put buttercream in piping bag and top cupcakes with swirls of buttercream. Then Enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed these recipes. Let me know if you try either of the recipes, I’d love to hear how it came out for you.

 

Recipe adapted from The Science of Good Cooking cookbook