Lemon Explosion Cupcakes

Lemon lovers unite! These are the lemony-ist cupcakes I have ever experienced. If you're a tart die-hard you will beyond love these. If you like lemon but you're not ready to marry it, I'd recommend doing a plain cream cheese icing instead of the lemon cream cheese icing. The cake is more of a pound cake/sponge cake situation. I've noticed that adding lemon juice lends to a stiffer cake than regular white cake. The lemon custard is amazingly delicious. I had tons of egg yolks leftover from a macaron extravaganza so this was the perfect follow-up recipe. Here are my pics:






Recipe
Lemon Explosion Cupcakes (recipe from Homemade by Holman)

Cake:
1 1/2c flour
1t baking powder
1/2t salt
1/4c butter, softened
2 oz cream cheese, softened
1c sugar
3 lg eggs
1/4c + 2T lemon juice
1/2c buttermilk
Zest of 1 lemon

Lemon Custard:
10 egg yolks
zest of 2 lemons
3/4c lemon juice
1 1/4c sugar
10T butter, cold, cut into Tablespoons

Frosting:
1/4c butter, softened
4oz cream cheese, softened
1T lemon juice
1t lemon zest
powdered sugar

Cake:
Preheat to 325F. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, beat together sugar and lemon zest until fragrant. Add the butter and cream cheese. beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Add lemon juice, beating until just incorporated. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely.

Custard:
Combine all ingredients except the butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium high heat, whisking constantly for 8-10 minutes until custard has thickened. Remove from heat and add butter, 1 piece at a time, stirring until fully incorporated. Strain through fine mesh strainer and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour, covered.

Frosting:
Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add lemon juice and zest, mix thoroughly. Add powdered sugar until desired consistency is achieved.

Enjoy this little taste of summer at the start of the new year!