Jan 05 2013
Meyer Lemon Cupcakes with Candied Lemon Zest
Welcome to the new year! We hope to entice your taste buds to a whole new level in 2011. If you haven’t already noticed, we now have a Recipe Index link that will take you to everything we have blogged about since January 2009. We’ve come a long way, my friends! Also, just a minor change to the background color… instead of the darker green you were used to, we have lightened it up to a more softer sea green. If time allows, we’ll play around with other visual changes to the blog. But for now, let’s move on to these lemon cupcakes, shall we?
Winter is the season of citrus fruits and it just so happens our Meyer lemon tree is flourishing with beautiful yellow fruit! Meyer lemons tend to be sweeter than the common lemons, and the skin is very thin but fragrant. Seeing how we like to incorporate our harvest with our kitchen creations, we thought it would be fun to make Meyer Lemon Cupcakes. But to make it even more special, we are using the zest of the lemons to make candied lemon zest to top the cupcakes, which is absolutely delightful! Oh – and I better not forget to mention that it’s a lemon cream cheese frosting, too!
We love having a lemon tree in the backyard. It's such a useful fruit in so many dishes - from desserts (like this cupcake we're making) to savory dishes like lemon chicken. Of course, there's always the classic lemonade that you can make out of these wonderful lemons!
For the batter, combine 1/2 cup butter (at room temp) with 3 oz of cream cheese. Mmm, fatty.
Along with that, add 1 tbsp grated lemon zest and 2/3 cup sugar. We beat this with a whisk instead of taking out our huge Kitchenaid mixer, but the mixer will be a lot easier. Next, beat in 2 eggs until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, and a pinch of salt.
Divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake cups in your cupcake tin. Bake at 325F for about 25 minutes until firm.
Meanwhile, prepare the candied lemon zest. With a vegetable peeler, remove long strips of zest (without pith) from lemon. Then cut into julienne strips.
Place in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for 7 minutes and drain.
Return the lemon strips to the pan and add 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water. Return to a simmer and cook over low heat until the zest is translucent and the syrup is slightly thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Transfer the candied lemon zest to wax paper and set aside. Maybe pop a few in your mouth - you'll love the taste! Sweet and tangy.
To make the cream cheese frosting, combine 3 oz of cream chees with 1.5 cups confectioner's sugar. Add 2 tsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp grated lemon zest. Beat together until smooth. (Oops, this is the wrong photo for this caption. Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the cream cheese frosting process. Let's pretend the flour pouring in is the powdered sugar, ok? Hehe)
When your cupcakes are done baking, let them cool for about 10 minutes before frosting. Top with the candied lemon zest for a nice finishing touch to the Meyer Lemon Cupcakes. Despite all the lemon flavors we added, the cupcakes didn't have a overwhelming lemon taste. It had a nice hint of lemon that worked well with the sweet cupcakes and frosting. Enjoy!
To view or print-out this recipe, click here: Meyer Lemon Cupcakes with Candied Lemon Zest
Here are some related posts we’ve done in the past:
Lemon Broiled Orange Roughy
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Cupcake Pops
wow these look amazing!
You know my address… send a couple dozen my way!
These are stunning, stunning, stunning and a perfect use of those luscious Meyers!
.-= Belinda @zomppa´s last blog ..Photo of the Day- Life’s a Picnic =-.
Joyce – thank you! haven’t seen you in so long!
Andy – you are right, we will have to ship these to you next time. we had given these cupcakes away to other people… who were more local.
Belinda – we love to make good use of our produce. thank you!
I don’t even need to taste one. The enjoyment I have had on this late winter afternoon in Edmonton reading your post and ogling at your gorgeous photographs is satisfying enough. The photos are absolutely stunning. I love candied zest, too. What a lovely and heartfelt touch on top of each of these perfect little dainties. To have a lemon tree in your back yard is just unfathomable to me. I can see you appreciate it. How lucky are you!
Valerie
.-= A Canadian Foodie´s last blog ..2010 in Review- Happy New Year 2011! =-.
Hi, Krissy. I, too, am a big fan of the Meyer lemon and just wish I had them growing outside….
Your photos of the iced cupcakes are absolutely stunning – and, believe me, I’ve seen my shar of cupcake pix. These are book-quality efforts!
All the very best for the new year to you both.
Thanks,
Dan
Oops, hello to you, as well, Daniel!!!
.-= IslandEAT´s last blog ..2010 – A Year in Food- Part Two =-.
Were the cupcakes moist?
Btw, I love your last photo! It’s so artistic!
Hi Valerie – Thank you for your thoughtful comment! Hopefully one day you can have a lemon tree in your backyard, too!
Dan – You are too kind.. glad we impressed you with our cupcake photos. We were actually going to try one of your recipes… the whole lemon chicken! Yum.
Sandy – They weren’t as moist as the ones we’ve made in the past like red velvet, but it was liked by all the people who ate it! As you know, we bake the sweets, but we don’t eat it! And for that last photo.. well, let’s just say it wasn’t that easy to keep it sitting on the cupcake before it wobbled over. It was fun to play around with it though.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by ryanmgeeks, The Food Addicts. The Food Addicts said: Meyer Lemon Cupcakes with Candied Lemon Zest http://goo.gl/fb/ewJB8 [...]
Wow, is it really that easy to make candied peels? I thought there would be some hard and complex method behind it! Beautiful cupcakes and photos. My favorite photo is the second one with the closeup of the two lemons. Gorgeous.
I just got a Meyer lemon tree for Christmas! I can’t wait for it to start growing so I can make these cupcakes!!
.-= Michelle´s last blog ..Chicken Spaghetti =-.
Gorgeous! One more thing to make with my first year of Meyer lemons..can’t wait!
Looks yummy!
I really like the candied zest. I don’t believe I’ve seen that before. A great touch. Thanks.
Roxan – I was also surprised how easy it was to make candied peels! They are so good! We’ll have to make more and stock up on them.
Michelle – What a great Christmas gift! You’ll love the Meyer lemons.
Daremywildheart – Another person with a meyer lemon tree! Yay!
Dee – Thanks Dee!
Mark – The candied zest is what makes the cupcake special!
I love lemon anything! The combination of lemon and cream cheese frosting sounds amazing. Very pretty dessert!
Wow…I just bought a meyer lemon last year. Can’t WAIT to try this recipe with my lemons, provided they arrive this year. Does anyone have any suggestions on growing the meyer lemons in containers?
Hi Sharon,
Believe it or not we grow our Meyer lemons in a pot as well. The trick to growing them in a pot is you have to water more frequently. Make sure the pot has proper drainage as well. I would recommend to fertilize 1-2 times a year but to be honest we never do. Make sure as your tree grows you also increase the side of the pot as well. Let us know when you get your first crop of Meyer lemons.
Daniel@ The Food Addicts
Mmm, lemon with candied lemon! These sound like a lovely treat.
.-= Alta´s last blog ..Top Tasty Eats in 2010 =-.
Our mouths are watering!!! Lovely, pretty little cakes!!!
.-= Chris and Amy´s last blog ..Giveaway Winner! =-.
I love your garden! You guys have such a green thumb! Those cupcakes are beautiful! How can you go wrong with meyer lemons and cream cheese frosting? Happy New Year you two! Hope to see you guys soon!
Lovin that last shot- you must’ve had to take the shot quick! Somehow, I don’t know how to resist eating cupcakes straightaway and lathering butter all over them. Yelp!
.-= Adrian in Food Rehab´s last blog ..An Interview with Hunger Relief Chef- Shane Pereira – who creates 5000 meals a month for the hungry =-.
Hey! I tried making these last weekend for a party – they were good, although not what I expected. The cupcakes were very dense, more like shortbread – although that went well with the tangy icing. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi, I had a question about the sugar. It looks like brown sugar in the image, but the description only says “sugar”. What kind do you use? Thanks! I’m really looking forward to trying this recipe!
Mrs. Klose´s last [type] ..Day 4: A few practical things you want, but haven’t gotten for yourself yet (Book Review)
Mrs. Klose,
We used granulated sugar. Sorry for the confusion.
Daniel @ The Food Addicts
Hi,
I have made a cake like this, Amazing. But I would like to make mini cupcakes. How long would you bake the mini cupcakes?
Hi Peggy,
I would start with half the amount of bake time from the regular cup cakes.
I use two different ways to determine if cupcakes are done:
1. Lightly touch a cupcake and see if it bounces back. If your hand sinks through, it’s not done.
2. Stick a toothpick into the center of a cupcake. If it comes out dry, it’s done.
Note: If you have two racks of cupcakes, be sure to test a cupcake from each rack as baking times may vary
Daniel @ The Food Addicts