Lemon Cupcakes

To watch this video recipe Click HERE!
Hi Everyone!

Sorry about the delay in this recipe! My vacations are a week away and I'm very busy making sure everything is ready.Also my microphone broke, so I had to get a new one! I hope you like this recipe! Enjoy!

Makes 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter soften
1/4 cup sour cream
3 eggs room temperature
1/2 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Lemon Cream Frosting: (makes enough to frost 6 cupcakes)
8 ounces cream cheese, soften,
1/2 stick unsalted butter, soften
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

Chocolate Mousse Frosting (makes enough to frost 6 cupcakes)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
2 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate sprinkles for garnish
(this Mousse frosting needs to be refrigerated before using as a frosting)

Preheat oven to 325oF.

Combine flour with baking powder, salt and the zest of the lemon, mix together and set aside.

In two different bowls, separate the egg whites from the yolks and set aside.

In an electric mixer blend butter, sugar and sour cream together until well combined and fluffy, for about 2-3 minutes on medium high.

Reduce the speed to low and add the egg yolks one at time,make sure to beat each yolk for about 30 seconds before adding the next one, scrape down the sides if you need it to, reduce the speed to medium low and add the lemon and vanilla extract, also add in the lemon juice. Blend for 30 seconds, on medium high.

Reduce the speed to the lowest and add the flour mixture a little at a time, scrape down the sides again if you need to. Once the flour is thoroughly combined you can remove the batter from the mixer, and set aside for a minute, remember do not over-mix your batter,
if you do over-mix, the cupcakes will be hard as a rock, and we don't want that.

In an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until very think and fluffy. Once the egg whites are ready, we are going to combine them with the cake batter. Add a third of the egg whites into the batter and slowly fold them together, take your time, this step will make the cupcakes super moist and delicious so do not skip it. By folding the egg whites into the batter we will have a perfect cupcake, rich, moist and fluffy in the inside. Continue to slowly fold in the egg whites with the batter until you are done.

Spray your cupcake pan with cooking spray and pour the batter into the pan, bake at 325o for 25-30 minutes. When you insert a toothpick in the middle of your cupcake, you want the toothpick to have little crumbs on it, if it comes out clean, it means you over cooked your cupcakes, and they will just get drier as they cool. So just cook your cupcakes until the top feels springy and toothpick comes out with few crumbs on it.

Let them cool completely before you put on the frosting.

Chocolate Mousse Frosting:

Microwave 1/2 cup of the heavy cream for about 40 seconds, mix in the chocolate chips, stir together for 15 seconds, cover the cream and set aside, for 5 minutes so the chocolate continues to melt completely. If the chips do not melt completely, you can microwave again
for about 30 seconds.

In an electric mixer, blend the rest of the heavy cream, vanilla extract and the powdered sugar, blend until the heavy creamy is light and fluffy, for about 3 minutes on high speed.

Now we are going to fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture, make sure the chocolate is cold and completely melted. Add 1 third of the whipped cream into the chocolate
and slowly fold them together with small circular motions, keep on doing this until the whipped cream is well combined with the chocolate, refrigerate for about 20 minutes before frosting the cupcakes.

Lemon Cream Frosting:

In an electric mixer on medium, blend the cream cheese and the butter blend until well combined, for about3 minutes.

Add the lemon juice, and the the vanilla extract, blend for 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add in the powder sugar, blend at low speed until the sugar is
completely dissolved, for about 2-3 more minutes.

That's about it, the frosting is done, now we have to make sure the cupcakes are cold before frosting them.

You can decorate your cupcakes any way you want... you can use a pastry bag
a Ziploc bag or a butter knife to decorate the cupcakes. It is all up to you,

I'm using my pastry bag with a large round decorating tip.

Fill the pastry bag with the frosting, and start frosting from the outside and swirl into the center of the cupcake. So start on the outer edge, and slowly circle the cupcake until you reach the center. That's about it. Keep on repeating this step until you are done!