Easter lemon cupcakes

Happy Easter everyone! I actually had another post planned but thought it made sense to post my easter bake while it was still easter weekend.

I'm not sure whether lemon cupcakes are actually Easter-y, but they certainly feel fresh and spring like and I've photographed them next to painted eggs so that's good enough for me.

Apologies to the citrus hating followers as I'm aware that half my bakes so far this year have involved lemon or passion fruit. I will try to move into other flavours soon!

If you're a lemon fan like me then these are absolutely perfect: a fluffy, zesty sponge with a sharp lemon curd centre topped with a soft, sweet, lemony butter icing.

By the way do you like my new floral fabric? I found this "scrap" in a charity shop on Friday and couldn't leave it behind. It's such a great retro pattern (and look, Fiona, I ironed it!)

Lemon cupcakes

175g caster sugar

175g margarine

3 duck eggs (weighing 175g, regular hen eggs are fine too)

175g self-raising flour

grated rind of one lemon

1 tbsp milk

1 tbsp lemon juice

jar of lemon curd (I used Tesco brand and it was lovely) or homemade lemon curd

300g icing sugar

100g butter

2 tbsp lemon juice

splash of milk

  
Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Beat the sugar and margarine until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, beating after each addition, and adding a tablespoon of the self-raising flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture curdling. Add the lemon rind, milk, lemon juice and flour and mix until everything is encorporated, taking care to not overbeat the mixture. Fill each cupcake case 2/3 full (I filled 18 cases with this mixture) and pop into the oven for approximately 25 minutes until risen, golden on top and springy to touch. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out on to a cooling rack.

  
Once cool (carefully) cut a circular hollow from the top of each sponge using a sharp knife, dollop a teaspoonful of lemon curd inside and put the top back on. Mix the icing sugar, butter and lemon juice together until smooth and fluffy. Pipe on a swirl or spread the icing using a palette knife. I didn't quite have enough icing to cover all my cupcakes so you may need to adjust the quantities depending on how much icing you like to put on your cakes.