Lovecakes

Oh goodness!  It does appear that I have gone slightly cupcake mad but I just couldn't help but share these ones with you.

Every week, I bake a batch of cupcakes for my hunky husband to take in his lunch every day.  In so much, these are not truly cupcakes, but lovecakes.  It's quite sweet really.  We have a ritual whereby, I bake the cupcakes and he gets very excited about how good they are.  Despite there sometimes being copious amounts of lovecakes, he doesn't even like taking extras into work to share - they are HIS.  When this is the case, he will simply eat another cake after dinner, just to get through them in the week.

This week, I decided to try a recipe that I haven't used before - a good ol' Women's Weekly favourite.  Cream Cheese Lemon Cakes.  I love how citrus cuts through the overt sweetness of the cake while the cream cheese offers a subtle tang on the palette.  Wrapped up in their gorgeous green polka-dot cases, these lovecakes just seem like happiness in a cupcake.  I topped them with a Buttercream flavoured with some finely grated lemon zest.  While I thought of colouring the buttercream a lovely pastel yellow, I am glad that I didn't as they are perfect, just as they are.

Cream Cheese Lemon Lovecakes

90g unsalted butter, softened

90g cream cheese, softened

2 tsp finely grated lemon rind

150g caster sugar

2 eggs

50g SR flour

75g P flour

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and prepare your baking cups.  Beat together the butter, cream cheese, rind, sugar and eggs until light and fluffy.  This is definitely one for the electric mixer.

Sift in the flours and beat on a low speed until combined. You will have quite a thick batter.

Divide batter into baking cups and smooth the surface. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out fairly clean. Allow to cool.

Lemon Buttercream

125g unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cups icing sugar, sifted

1-2 tsp lemon rind, finely grated

1-2 tbsp milk

Beat butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy.  Grate in lemon rind and thin buttercream to the desired consistency with the milk.  Pipe onto your lovecakes.

Lovely!

F. x