Juliet Stear luscious lemon & white chocolate cupcakes 🍋
Everyone loves a cupcake and these lemon and white chocolate beauties are perfect for the warmer weather. Juliet Sear joins us to show you how to knock them up in the kitchen in a jiffy.
Lemon & white chocolate cupcakes
serves 16
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
200g softened unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
4 medium free range eggs
200g self-raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
grated zest of a lemon (save the juice for the syrup)
For the syrup:
6 ripe passion fruits, halve the passion fruits and scoop out the seeds then pass through a sieve to separate the juice. Reserve a couple of spoons of the seeds for decoration.
Juice of one lemon
60g caster sugar
For the white chocolate buttercream:
175g white chocolate, melted then cooled
250g softened unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
375g icing sugar
about 1-2tbsp milk to loosen
Method
Heat the oven to 170C fan.
For the cupcakes:
1. Beat the butter, sugar and zest in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the beater, or use an electric hand whisk, or do by hand with a wooden spoon until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well until smooth.
2. Dry whisk the flour, baking powder and salt and fold in slowly until just combined.
3. Divide the mixture equally into cupcake tins lined with baking cases. Bake these for 15-18 mins or until risen, golden and cooked through.
For the syrup:
1. Warm the syrup while the cakes are baking so you have it ready to brush over the warm cakes. Take a small pan and add the sieved passion fruit juice and lemon juice with 1 tbsp water and the sugar.
2. Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring until the sugar granules have dissolved, then gently simmer for 2 minutes until slightly thickened, then take off the heat and set aside.
3. Once the cakes are baked, brush the cupcakes generously with the syrup, reserving a couple of tablespoons for the decoration.
To make the frosting:
1. Gently melt the white chocolate until smooth and lump free, set aside to cool slightly but not set.
2. Beat the butter and vanilla until very pale and creamy, then add half the icing sugar, beat slowly until the sugar is incorporated, then turn up the speed and beat well until very light and fluffy. Repeat with the second half of the sugar.
3. Add the cooled melted white chocolate to the mix and beat in well until fully incorporated and light and fluffy. Lastly, add in a little milk to loosen, approx. 1-2tbsp subject to the room temperature. You want it to still be able to hold its shape but be soft and spreadable.
To decorate:
1. Pipe or spread the white chocolate frosting over the cupcakes. Add some of the seeds back into the remaining syrup and drizzle over the frosting, and dress with a little drizzle of passion fruit seeds.
Tip:
You can bake this as a larger cake - this mix will make either 2x 8 inch round cake layers or 3 x 6 inch round cake layers.
If making a larger cake, pipe or spread the frosting in between the cake layers and over the top, and add some of the passionfruit syrup and seeds to finish.