Lemon and Blueberry Cupcakes

Today, I've done quite a bit - I've also learned some stuff about myself that I didn't know. For example: I baked my mother an afternoon tea with these cupcakes involved but a couple of days ago, I learned that there is something quite wrong with my left shoulder and back which means I am having difficulty lifting it and we can forget raising the arm all the way. Physiotherapy seems to be somewhere on the horizon, so we'll see how that goes. But for now, the lemon and blueberry cupcakes are still going down a treat with my mother.

Lemon and Blueberry Cupcakes

Part 1: Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 100g Light Brown Sugar
• 100g Vegan Butter
• 2x Tbsp Apple Sauce
• 1x Large Lemon
• 1x Tbsp Vanilla Essence
• 12 Blueberries
• 110g Self Raising Flour
• 1x Tbsp Baking Powder

How To:

1. Line your cupcake tray with 12 cases and preheat your oven to 200/C
2. Cream together your butter and sugar
3. Zest your lemon and juice it - then add the zest and juice to the mixture, mixing it into the sugar and butter until completely combined
4. Add in your vanilla and apple sauce and mix once more
5. Fold in your flour and baking powder until a cake batter is formed
6. Once you've transfered your cake batter to the cupcake cases, grab your blueberries and put one blueberry into each case. Give the blueberry a soft push so that it sinks a little into the mix
7. Place your cupcakes in the oven for 15-18 minutes
8. When they come out of the oven, allow them to cool on the side somewhere whilst you get on to making the buttercream

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Part 2: Buttercream

This buttercream is actually quite delicious but it requires extra powdered sugar since it needs to thicken up because of the yogurt...

Ingredients:

• 90g Vegan Butter
• 350g Powdered Sugar
• 1x Tsp Vanilla Essence
• 30g Vegan Cherry Yogurt (I used soya)
• 12x Glacé Cherry Halves

How To:

1. Whisk up your butter and vanilla, adding the cherry yogurt slowly as you go, making sure there are no lumps in the yogurt or in the butter. You'll know when the cherry yogurt changes colour a bit, becoming paler
2. Add the powdered sugar and whisk it up again, do this for about five minutes and make sure there are no lumps. A yogurty buttercream is prone to getting lumpy and if it's lumpy, you'll get air bubbles in your piping bag
3. Once the cupcakes have cooled entirely, pipe the buttercream on to the cupcakes (you will also notice that the buttercream is naturally pink because of the cherry yogurt)
4. Grab your glacé cherries and put one on to the top of every cupcake
5. Pop the cupcakes into the fridge for the buttercream to harden and after about 10-15 minutes they should be all ready to enjoy

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Conclusion

Once you cut open these cupcakes there will be a lovely blueberry in the centre, there will also be a lovely contrast between the lemon and cherry for the springtime. The yogurt buttercream is quite sturdy but, if you're taking them out into the sun then you must be aware that they could melt in the heat.

Another way you can make these cupcakes is by replacing the blueberry with a raspberry for a more fresh flavour. You can also add a tablespoon of honey to your cupcake mixture to make the cake more moist and decadent. Another version of this cupcake I enjoy is by swapping the cherry and lemon around. Grab yourself 20g of cherries, chop them up and put them in the cake batter, not using the lemon until you get to the buttercream. Then only put the zest (not the juice) of the lemon into the buttercream - changing the yogurt for coconut cream.

As you can see, I have been busy so, even though I have been asked whether I'm disappearing I am not. There just seems to be a few health problems in the way at the moment and I am in some pain. I made some scones as well, but my recipe for those is somewhere out on the 'feast' tab. It's springtime and so, you will probably get used to my new flavour profiles as the months go on.