Sherbet Lemon Cupcakes

So once again Monday rolled around and I realised I hadn't put any thought into the cakes for Tuesday.  Since I was supposed to be working in the afternoon I wanted to get the cakes done in the morning so I could then spend the evening with the fiancé.  This meant that what I really wanted was something quick and easy that would still be a new recipe.  Then I remembered that for the longest time I have been wanting to make cakes based on sherbet lemons but had kept putting it off due to not having sherbet.  Honestly, it's mainly because I wanted to make my own sherbet but was having trouble getting hold of either citric or tartaric acid.  I do have some now, but didn't feel like making it from scratch this time around.  However, I had picked up a few Mega Rainbow Dusts, as well as packets of Flying Saucers back when I was doing my fireworks cupcakes.  I just chose not to use them in the end and they've been sitting in my cupboard ever since.  So I figured I would break them out and use those instead.

I figured I'd work off my standard vanilla cupcake recipe, but switched out the vanilla for lemon.  However, I did want my cakes to be a little moister and so tampered with the recipe slightly by adding a bit of milk, plus some bicarbonate of soda to help it rise.  I also decided to make a lemon syrup to pour over the cakes since I've had quite positive responses to cakes moistened in this manner.  The buttercream was also flavoured with lemon, but I added the sherbet from the Mega Rainbow Dust to it as well to give it a little kick.  I then cut up the Flying Saucers, tipped their sherbet into a bowl and smooshed it with a spoon to break it up before sprinkling it over the top of the cakes to finish them off.  Quick and easy.

And delicious.  They were really really nice!  Lovely and lemony, especially with the added syrup running through them.  You could taste the sherbet in the buttercream but it wasn't too overt so it all melded together really nicely.  The fiancé enjoyed them and I really wish I'd been able to get more than a couple of bites from the spare one I had.  Ah well, maybe next time.

Recipe - makes 12


Cakes:

• 115g/4oz butter
• 115g/4oz caster sugar 
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• 2 eggs
• 40ml/1.5fl.oz milk
• 115g/4oz self-raising flour
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Lemon Syrup:

• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp lemon juice

Lemon Buttercream:

• 115g/4oz butter
• 200g/7oz icing sugar
• 40g/1.5oz sherbet, plus extra for dusting
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• Yellow food colouring 

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake cases.
2. Beat the butter, sugar and lemon extract together until smooth, creamy and pale.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing in after each addition.
4. Add the milk and stir in.
5. Sift in the flour and bicarbonate of soda and fold into the mix until just incorporated.
6. Divide the mixture evenly amongst the 12 cases, aiming for each to be about three quarters full.
7. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, until cakes have risen and are springy to touch.
8. Whilst cakes bake, combine the granulated sugar and lemon juice together to make the syrup.
9. Remove cakes from oven, transfer to a wire rack and use a skewer to poke about 5 holes in each one.
10. Pour about half a teaspoon of syrup over each cake, spreading it across the tops.  Aim to use all the syrup.
11. Leave cakes to cool.
12. In the meantime, make the buttercream by first beating the butter until creamy.
13. Sift in the icing sugar and beat until smooth.
14. Add the lemon extract, food colouring and sherbet and mix until combined.
15. Place buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle and pipe a swirl on top of each cooled cake.
16. Dust with sherbet.