Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Blue Cream Piping

I've finally found time!!!! Yay!!!! Ok...jubilation over... now to write...

So the inspiration for this came when I asked the birthday boy what he fancied for his birthday cake. He was toying with chocolate, coffee, and the sort before settling with Lemon Drizzle Cake. Well It is normally in a form of a cake but to make it more festive, I changed it up and made cupcakes instead. Mind you, it is for the sweet tooth as it does involve a load of sugar and in different forms: caster sugar and icing sugar. Anyway, so what went into it?

Ingredients:

The cupcake

200gm unsalted butter - softened or partially melted in the microwave

250gm caster sugar (you can use light brown sugar too)

3 medium eggs at room temperature and beaten

finely grated zest of 2 medium unwaxed lemons

250gm self-raising flour - sifted

1/2 tsp baking powder

100ml milk - cold or room temperature doesn't matter

The Drizzle:

Juice from 2 medium lemons

100gm caster sugar

The Cream Cheese Frosting:

300gm cream / soft cheese

400gm icing sugar

1tsp vanilla essence

The Blue Cream Piping:

1 cup double cream

1/2 icing sugar

2 squirts of blue coloring

1tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1. Firstly crank up the oven to 180 Degrees Celcius. Prepare the muffin trays with cupcake cups.
2. In your mixer, beat sugar, lemon zest and butter till light and fluffy before adding the eggs slowly. Then add in a portion of flour and the baking powder and a portion of milk and beat again before adding in the rest of the flour and milk. Once fully combined, spoon into lined muffin trays and bake for 15 minutes. Take out and leave to cool thoroughly.
3. While waiting for the cupcakes, squeeze the lemons for the juice and mix it with the sugar. The lemon juice will slightly melt the sugar. Set aside.
4. Beat the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla essence until slightly runny in consistency. To have a thicker consistency, reduce icing sugar measurement by at least half. Leave in fridge.
5. Beat double cream, icing sugar and vanilla essence until it thickens up. Then add in the blue coloring and fold it in to combine. Leave in fridge as well.
6. The cupcakes should still be warm when drizzling the lemon sugar syrup. Firstly poke holes into the cupcakes by either using a fork or a toothpick. I used toothpicks. Then using a brush, brush the drizzle onto the cupcakes enough to leave a shin on it. Then let it rest before continuing to cream.
7. Next pipe the cream cheese frosting to cover the tops and then pipe blue cream accordingly to what you'd like to have. Serve up! Or pack it in a nice box for a nice birthday treat :)

Here's what I did:

Evidently my piping needs work but steady hands goes a long way... This weekend I'll be making Elderflower inspired cakes...and a catering gig too! Watch out for mini quiche lorraines :)

The Innovative Baker