Lemon Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing

My sons' school was planning a Family Day and when they asked if i'd bring something, I had to stop myself from shouting 'CUPCAKES'!  I love making cupcakes but I'm still practicing and trying to get it right. Usually i get the texture or icing wrong so the pressure was on to make these good.  They were going to sell these after all.

The colour theme for the Family Day was yellow, so Lemon Cupcakes was a pretty easy choice.  I had thought of a simple glaze but wanted something creamy, buttercream just doesn't hold well in this heat and humidity, so yellow tinted cream cheese icing it was to be!

These were so good, they almost didn't make it to Family Day, my son kept sneaking one after another out of the kitchen when i wasn't looking.

Lemon Cupcakes

Ingredients:

2½ cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

8 oz (2 sticks) / 230 g unsalted butter, slightly softened

1½ cups sugar

   2 eggs, room temp.

3 egg yolks, room temp.

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp lemon zest

¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ cup milk

Method:

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and set aside. 

Beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, gradually add the sugar, increasing the speed slightly until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks one at a time. Beat in the vanilla and lemon zest. Gradually beat in the lemon juice on low speed (the batter will appear curdled at this point, but will smooth out after you all the dry ingredients). Beat in the the dry ingredients alternating with the milk and mix well. Fill the muffin cups almost to the top and bake in 350°F (180°C) for 18-20 minutes.

Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp orange extract

Method:

In a bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla and orange extract, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.