Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes

My friend Shannon doesn’t like cupcakes. She thinks they are too sweet, too icing-y, and too hyped up. Really though, I bet you have at least one bakery where you live dedicated to selling only cupcakes--cupcakes, where the frosting is taller than the cake itself. And although I do love baked goods, I kind of agree that the cupcake obsession that is taking over TV shows and bakeries is a little much. Cupcakes are great, but there are so many other baked goods to be obsessed about. Anyway, just as I am sitting here bashing cupcakes, Sara came to my house the other day and said that all she was craving was a fluffy delicious cupcake. That got me thinking, and seeing as all of Sara’s cravings/food ideas inspire me, I had to make the perfect cupcake, to my standards. This meant a fluffy moist cake, with just enough frosting to make it slightly sweeter than it should be. As far as flavors, this cake was my initial inspiration for these cupcakes because it looks simple but elegant.

 Also, who can go wrong with lemons and poppy seeds?? (By now, I hope you can tell that we are obsessed with lemon.) After reading the recipe though, I didn’t want my cupcakes to be as dense as the cake, and so I used this recipe with a few alterations.

These cupcakes turned out to be some of the most delicious I’ve ever eaten, and some of the easiest I've ever made! The crumb was moist but fluffy, and had a great subtle vanilla/lemon flavor.

The frosting recipe comes from the inspiration cake, but I altered it slightly because whenever I make cupcakes I always feel like I have pounds of frosting left that I don’t know what to do with. I adjusted the measurements and came up with the perfect amount to frost 18 cupcakes.

For the vanilla/lemon cake:

(makes about 18 cupcakes)

Adapted from Live, Love and Sugar 

{ 1 2/3 cups flour / 1 cup sugar / ¼ teaspoon baking soda /

1 teaspoons baking powder /  ¾ cup butter, room temperature (aka 1.5 sticks) /

2 egg whites and 1 whole egg / 3 teaspoons vanilla extract / ½ cup whole milk /

 ½ cup nonfat greek yogurt }

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Add butter, egg and egg whites, vanilla, yogurt, and milk and mix on medium speed until smooth. (It is okay if you have bits of butter within the batter, they will melt when baked.)

Fill cupcake liners a little more than half way. Bake for 18-20 minutes. (I find it helpful to use an ice cream scoop to scoop the batter into the pans.)

Allow 1-2 minutes to cool, them transfer to rack to finish cooling.

For the lemon poppy seed frosting:

{ ¾ stick of butter, room temperature (6 tablespoons) / 2 cups powdered sugar / 

juice of ½ a lemon (about 2 Tablespoons) / 1 teaspoon vanilla extract / 

1 ½ teaspoons poppy seeds }

Cream the butter with an electric mixer. Add 1 cup of the powdered sugar until creamy. Add the lemon juice and vanilla and mix again. At this point, the frosting should be pretty runny. Add the other cup of powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add a splash of milk, or powdered sugar, 1 Tablespoon at a time if you want a thinner or thicker consistency. When desired consistency is reached, fold in the poppy seeds with a spatula. (I didn't use the milk or extra sugar.)

Wait until the cupcakes are fully cool, and spread the frosting on with a butter knife.

Voilà! Cupcakes that are non-frilly, not too sweet, but elegant and delicious.