I am on a mission to bring cupcakes back into fashion. I just love them! They are so colourful and I love the fact that you can offer different flavoured cupcakes together, so people have a choice. These cupcakes have gin in them, to give the adults a little treat, but if you are baking with kiddies, the recipe for the cupcakes works equally well without the gin. For the frosting, use milk instead of gin.
Ingredients for 12:
175g margarine
175g white sugar
3 eggs
175g self-raising flour
Zest of half a lemon
12 teaspoons of gin
Frosting:
250g icing sugar
80g butter
Zest of half a lemon
1 tablespoon gin
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Candied Lemon Slices:
1 lemon, cut into slices
250g white sugar
250ml water
This recipe makes 12 large cupcakes, which were baked in muffin cases.
To make the candied lemon slices, cut a lemon into 6 thin slices. Pour 250ml of water in a large pan and add 250g of white sugar. Bring it to the boil and as it starts to bubble, add the slices of lemon to the water and let them simmer for around 40 minutes, until the lemon slices have turned translucent.
Gently get them out of the water with a spatula and place them on baking paper. Sprinkle with lots of sugar and leave them to dry.
When you are ready to make the cupcakes, pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees/160 degrees fan or gas mark 4.
Whisk the sugar and margarine together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and continue to mix well. Then add the flour and whisk again. Use a spoon to mix in the lemon zest. Fill the muffin cases to about three quarters full and bake for 20 minutes. As the cupcakes are cooling, pour 1or 2 teaspoons of gin into each one.
For the frosting, whisk the icing sugar and butter with the gin, lemon juice and lemon zest for around 4 minutes. Decorate the cupcakes with the frosting, using a piping bag or a spoon, and place half a candied lemon slice on each one.
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