Lemon Gem Cupcakes
Today was packed with goodness. I woke up early and biked to the store, came home and made cupcakes, went to see (muthafuckin') Snakes on a (muthafuckin') Plane, had a Veronica Mars marathon with a friend (we've watched through episode 11 of season 1 and she's gleefully hooked!), and then watched Project Runway. Lots of fine entertainment, lots of sitting on my butt and eating cupcakes. Good times.
I decided to give the Lemon Gems from VwaV a whirl, as you can see. I've been eyeing this recipe since I got the book. I love lemony anything. It's easily one of my top 5 favorite flavors. And they didn't disappoint in that respect - they were absolutely packed with lemony goodness. So much so that I ate... four. Yes, four. Shame on me.
The only odd thing about this recipe is that they cupcakes didn't really rise at all. You'd think that they'd be quite lofty, given the proliferation of both lemon juice and baking soda, but that's no so. The batter is really thin, easily the thinnest cake-type batter I've worked with, and I wonder if maybe a bit of extra flour might have helped a bit. It's also possible that they're not supposed to rise much; Isa states in the book that they don't rise above the tops of the cupcake papers. But I filled my cups 2/3 full, just like the recipe said to, and many of mine didn't even come close to hitting the top of the paper - even with the icing on top.
That said, I did get 16 cupcakes instead of 12, so maybe I skimped a bit without realizing it. Overall I'd give this recipe two very enthusiastic thumbs up. Light, refreshing, and delicious. They're definitely daintier than your usual cupcake. And they match my lemon apron perfectly! I'll definitely make them again. I want to try it with oranges next time, or maybe limes.
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Such a pretty picture. Makes me feel all lemony and sunshiney inside!
Posted by
Anonymous |
8:06 AM
I love lemon only slightly less then I love limes. To cover all my citrusy bases oranges fall below lemons.
Posted by
Jessica Johannesen |
8:22 AM
lindy loo - The cupcakes are that way. They're the only cupcakes that I've ever had where you don't feel gross after eating 4. Which is actually really dangerous.
jessiegirl - If I were to rank my citrus fruits, it would go: lemon, orange, lime. I don't like grapefruits at all.
Posted by
Amanda |
9:42 AM
My, what pretty and pure little cupcakes! Sadly I can't read the font, even with my squinting.
Posted by
jess (of Get Sconed!) |
11:11 AM
I just changed the font size - is it better now? This whole design thing is driving me nuts. Ugh.
Posted by
Amanda |
12:13 PM
those cupcakes are too cute. i love the little polkadots and i'm sure the lemon flavour was lovely. maybe add a bit more baking powder to the mix to make them rise more, but i think they look cute as is.
Posted by
kickpleat |
12:47 PM
We love those cupcakes here! I think its a stars aligning kinda thing.. cuz, i have made them quite a few times and sometimes they rise-- other times they don't.. so, i guess you'll just have to try try again,....
Posted by
madeinalaska |
2:29 PM
VC - The lemon gems are my fav. too - It's hard to think a cupcake as refreshing...but they are. I tried to make a variation off of the recipe w/ blackberry - it's on my blog. I love your blog, I've been reading it for a few weeks now.
Brook
Posted by
SciFiVegan |
2:59 PM
I made the Lemon Gem cupcakes before and they seemed to turn out ok. I'm not sure what I did differently. I'd definitely give them another try. :) How did you make the yellow dots? They're really make the cupcake!
I love all of your different plates. They photograph so well. I need to start collecting some new plates so my photographs come out better.
Posted by
Anonymous |
4:19 PM
These look so good! I love the dots! The apron is cute, too!
Posted by
jenny |
5:46 PM
I can see! Personally I'm confusing myself with the new blogger..
Posted by
jess (of Get Sconed!) |
6:59 PM
I want to know (just like everyone else) how did you get those little yellow dots on there?
it's what makes the cupcake look so great
Posted by
funwithyourfood |
10:09 PM
kickpleat - The rising thing is really weird, because there's baking powder and baking soda involved. But they still taste awesome, so it's okay. :)
madeinalaska - I'll have to try them again? Oh darn! ;)
scifivegan - Blackberry sounds wonderful! I love blackberries. I'll definitely check those out.
vivacious vegan - The yellow dots are just leftover icing, colored yellow and dotted on. It melted into the rest of the icing because neither was super-firm.
jenny - Thanks!
jess - Blogger is very difficult to design for. It has all kinds of quirks that are driving me nuts.
funwithyourfood - I just colored some leftover icing yellow and piped it on. Super easy. :)
Posted by
Amanda |
10:07 AM
Happy ray of yellow sunshine cupcake, I really want to make these now. So cute, love the apron too. I don’t even own an apron, I should get one so I can feel properly domestic.
Don’t you know that riding your bike to the store cancels out 4 cupcakes? ;) I still need to see (muthafuckin') Snakes on a (muthafuckin') Plane, hopefully I’ll have an opportunity this weekend.
Posted by
Shananigans |
4:34 PM
Happy ray of yellow sunshine cupcake, I really want to make these now. So cute, love the apron too. I don’t even own an apron, I should get one so I can feel properly domestic.
Don’t you know that riding your bike to the store cancels out 4 cupcakes? ;) I still need to see (muthafuckin') Snakes on a (muthafuckin') Plane, hopefully I’ll have an opportunity this weekend.
Posted by
Shananigans |
4:35 PM
I wish biking to the store canceled out 4 cupcakes! Alas, I think now. Maybe 1 1/2 cupcakes.
Snakes on a Plane is hilarious.
Posted by
Amanda |
6:22 PM
That is a gorgeous lemon gem. Love the photo. I didn't mind that these cupcakes didn't rise. It is the runny icing that really urks me!
How did you get the four yellow dots?
Posted by
Dr. Melissa West |
9:20 PM
My icing wasn't too runny. I didn't thin it out as much as the recipe says to. I didn't add the soymilk until everything else was mixed up, and then I just added it bit by bit.
The yellow dots were just piped on with some leftover icing that I colored yellow.
Posted by
Amanda |
10:05 PM
I love the cute little yellow dots, they make the cupcakes so pretty!
I'm linking your site on my happy new blog
-Michelle of the ppk
Posted by
Michelle |
11:36 PM
they looks so good! i was reading all your post and i enjoy them a lot! thanks for all those wonderfull post!
Posted by
Anonymous |
11:58 PM
michelle - Thanks! I think dots make everything better.
johanna3 - Thank you! I'm glad you like the blog. :)
Posted by
Amanda |
12:27 AM