
A year ago today I signed up with Blogger and posted a photograph of a meyer lemon bar I made with lemons from our garden. I named my blog Alpineberry because my original intention was to blog about food with a bit of gardening thrown in. Fast forward 365 days later and I'm still blogging, but mostly about the food I bake.
To celebrate my blog's first anniversary I wanted to create a lemony treat. In my head I envisioned a simple moist cake bursting with lemon zest. I didn't want a pound cake or a filled and frosted layer cake. Maybe a cupcake infused with lemon, but not soaked in lemon syrup. I found a recipe for buttermilk cupcakes and gave it my own meyer lemon twist. The lemon combined perfectly with the buttermilk which made the cupcake doubly tangy. The resulting cupcake had a nice crumb and was tender and moist too.
As good as the cupcake was unadorned, the simple lemon icing elevated it to a whole other lemony level. My husband usually isn't overly excited by anything I bake, but he told me the cupcake was really, really, really good. He's my number one taste tester (well, he's my number one, period). This is now our favorite cupcake.

Iced Meyer Lemon Cupcakes
(yields 24 cupcakes)
Cupcakes:
3 cups cake flour (or 2 1/4 cup cake flour + 3/4 cup AP flour)
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 ounces (3 sticks / 1.5 cups) unsalted butter, softened at room temp
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tbsp finely grated meyer lemon zest
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (12 fl. oz.) buttermilk
2 tbsp freshly squeezed meyer lemon juice
Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar (you may not need all 2 cups)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed meyer lemon juice
To make cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 24 (4 fluid ounce capacity) cupcake wells with paper cupcake liners.
Sift together both flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside dry ingredients.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add lemon zest and beat for 1 minute. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Mix in vanilla.
Stir lemon juice into your measured buttermilk. Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to your batter, beginning and ending with the flour.
Fill each well approximately 3/4 full. Bake until a skewer inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes then gently transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack. Cool completely before icing.
To make icing:
Combine 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and lemon juice. Whisk until smooth. Add some or all of the remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar for a stiffer icing.
PS: It's also our wedding anniversary. We've been officially married for 4 years but been together for almost 16 years. Happy Anniversary dear husband!
48 comments:
Happy Anniversary(s)! How positively wonderful to have two to celebrate!
Great that number one, period thinks they're really really really good! I love lemon so I'm sure they are!
Now will you always use both flours or just cake flour when you make them again.
Congrats -
That cupcake looks perfect. Soft and fluffy - not overly sweet or dripping with icing.
Happy Anniversaries! May there be many more, of both kinds, to come!
Lucky for everyone, you did! Happy Blog-a-Birthday!
Happy Anniversary! I love anything lemon, these look really good! I like that the icing is a glaze, it looks perfect with this cupcake.
It's amazing how quickly a year goes by, congrats!
Congratulations, Mary!
I've been a fan of your blog for a while now, I love everything you bake. Your photos are fantastic and your texts, a wonderful reading.
I hope you celebrate many more anniversaries!
Congratulations Mary, I am soo glad you started your blog. It always inspires me. Clarice
You know these went straight to my "to bake " list. I am a lemon freak.
Happy Anniversaries! Have a drink for me!
Happy blog anniversary hon :) May there be much more deliciousness to come!
Happy Anniversary Mary!
Congratulations all around! Happy Anniversary and Happy Blogiversary! I love citrus flavors. BTW, did you know that today is National citrus day? :-)
Happy Anniversary Mary! Hearing that it has been 4 years reminds me of how long it has been since I saw you last.
I do keep up you at least a little by following this blog. This recipe is one I will definitely try! You probably recall my love of all things lemon. I have you to thank for the perfect lemon bar recipe too. :)
Many many happy returns!
Happy Anniversaries! Truly a Double Happiness! This looks yummy, I'll have to try it! Thanks!
Happy Anniversary!! Those Cupcakes look like a perfect celebratory treat! Here's to many more years of food blogging!
Happy Anniversary, Mary!!!
I hope the year to come brings you many good things!
Wow a double celebration! Happy Anniversary and Happy Blog Birthday! Those cupcakes look delicious!
Happy Anniverary(s) Mary!
This lemon cake, sound good, look good, surely taste good!
Happy Anniversary!
That cupcake looks just so moist and lovely. And you can never go wrong with lemon.
happy anniversary Mary. The cupcake looks so perfect with that simple drizzle on it. I agree with cheryl, moist is the word that entered my mind when I saw your cupcake!
Hi Mary! Happy Anniversaries - both of them! A lovely and delicious commemoration to your first post!
I love meyer lemons and I love cupcakes. I did mine as a meyer lemon curd filled cupcake. Loved the curd but was unhappy with the cake. Next time, I would like to try flavoring the cake directly like you did.
http://vanillagarlic.blogspot.com/2006/11/ad-meyer-ing-cupcakes.html
The look of this cupcake is fabulous. I have never had meyer lemons but have heard an awful lot about them. I might try this recipe with the yellow lemon I find in my kneck of the woods. Congratulations on the anniversary!!
That is now my number one favorite cupcake, too. I love lemon anything and Meyer lemon especially. A full year...hasn't it been fun?!
Happy Anniversary! Your cupcakes look lovely and delicious. I was blogging about Meyer lemons this week so it was a happy surprise to find your recipe.
Happy Anniversary! (to both you and your blog!) Hope you enjoyed those cupcakes!
This picture and description made my cheeks pucker and mouth water! I am always disappointed with lemon cakes becuause they aren't tart enough. Can't wait to try this!
Happy anniversary! Both of them, I mean. The icing you made is wonderful--and wonderfully simple. I make a similar one for a lemon flaxseed cake I make. The icing is also excellent on chocolate cupcakes.
Happy Anniversary to your blog! Your cupcakes look delicious. To many more sweet posts!
I wish just about everything could be turned into a cupcake! Happy Anniversary! And Happy Anniversary!!
I've just read this recipe: congratulations! Cupcakes and icing look both fantastic!
They are the perfect way to celebrate your blogger anniversary and your wedding anniversary.
I want to try this recipe, but I need help: can you tell the flour, sugar, butter in grams?
Thanks a lot. Anna
okay, so how much of cake flour do you need?
Anon - The original recipe calls for 3 cups cake flour. But I used 2 1/4 cup cake flour + 3/4 cup all-purpose flour since I ran out of cake flour.
Hi i just chanced by your blog and the lemon cupcake looks fabulous! can i just check with you that it is 1 & 1/2 cups of buttermilk right?
Anonymous - Yes, it's 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) buttermilk. I've edited the recipe to clarify. Thanks!
Hi there. I made an attempt a making these cute cupcakes, but mine sank a little once I took them out of the oven. I think I'll try less baking powder next time. My icing came out on the yellowish side due to the lemon juice. How did yours stay so white?
They do taste delicious though.
Anonymous on 6/13/09 - I don't do anything special to keep my icing white. I always use C&H brand powdered sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Mine will sink a little if they are slightly underbaked. So in addition to the cake tester, I always check if the top of my cupcake springs back when lightly pressed. Then I know they are done.
Wow, these look fantastic!! I can't wait to try. The simple frosting is perfect.
LOVE this recipe...although I must confess I used a lemon buttercream frosting instead. Do you suppose that the amount of batter would be sufficient for two 9-inch rounds to make a layer cake? I am constantly searching for new and delicious recipes so I will be studying your site for many more. Thanks!!
Laurie B - I'm not sure how this batter would work as a layer cake since I've never tried to make it like that. But to answer your Q there should be enough batter to make two 9-inch rounds.
Do you think these would freeze well? I have a bumper crop of Meyer lemons and wanting to get ahead with my holiday baking!
Thank you.
Courtney - I have never tried freezing these cupcakes so I don't know how they'll turn out. Please let me know if you try it. Thanks!
I'm sure this is a stupid question but I was wondering do I have to use cake flower or can I just use all purpose flour?? Thanks!
OOOPS I meant flour :)
Anonymous on Jan 20 - You can use all purpose flour but decrease the amount from 3 cups to a scant 2 3/4 cups.
I am going to use this recipe and feature it on my blog! They look beautiful and give me a way to use the big bag of Meyer lemons I got at the store. I was also happy to see the addition of buttermilk, since I have that too! Check it out to see how I do at www.athomefordinner.wordpress.com
Thanks!
I just found this recipe and I am making it, blogging it and naming you. I hope you do not mind.
Hi Mary,
I have had this recipe for a year and finally made it today.
I have a Meyer lemon tree in my back yard here in California and everything is better with Meyer's isn't it?
I have a question. My cupcakes came out fine but it made 36 of them. How did that happen? Has anyone else mentioned this? I made it exactly according to your recipe and I filled them 3/4 full which was perfect (a few shrunk a little). The glaze amount was perfect for 36 cupcakes and I even had a little left over.
No problem with the extra cupcakes though. I took some around to 3 different neighbors who all called to say they were perfect and a great blend of sweet and tart.
I did add the zest from one additional lemon to the frosting to make it a little more lemony and to look pretty.
Thanks for sharing. I will look for your recipe for lemon bars and try those. You are obviously a fabulous cook.
Janis
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