Although I did make the flourless chocolate cupcakes that were selected last month for the Martha Stewart Cupcakes Club (they were good, recipe here), I never got around to posting them (sorry Lauryn!). Luckily, this month things are a little slower so not only did I bake the triple citrus cupcakes selected by the wonderful Marthe of Culinary Delights, but I’m posting them too – I love it when a plan comes together 🙂
I’m sort of obsessed with citrus flavors, and specifically the scent of citrus zest, so these cupcakes were right up my alley. Yankee Candle used to make a lemon zest candle that I adored, but sadly they discontinued the scent. I found a few at the outlets by us, and I’ve been using them very sparingly to make them last as long as possible. I know when they’re gone I can still turn to real zest, but it’s just not quite as convenient.
Luckily, these cupcakes were chock full of citrus zest, including not only lemon zest, but also orange and lime. Though the recipe didn’t specifically instruct it, I rubbed all of the zest into the sugar with my fingers before creaming the sugar with the butter. I almost always turn to that trick I learned from Dorie as it really brings out the most flavor and aroma from the zest. Like a lot of the recipes from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes book, this one makes a ton of cupcakes – 36! I scaled back to make 1/3 of the recipe and wound up with 10 cupcakes. Instead of a traditional frosting, the cupcakes are topped with a simple citrus glaze made with confectioner’s sugar and both citrus zest and juice. I went with lime glaze on all of my cupcakes and garnished with more zest.
I really enjoyed the flavor of these cupcakes – bright and very citrusy – but unfortunately they were pretty dense. This is definitely a recipe I’d like to play around with someday when I have more time as I think they would be awesome if they were light and fluffy like cupcakes rather than dense like muffins. Lots of thanks to Marthe for hosting this month! We don’t post recipes on our blogs for this group, but you can find this one on page 64 of the Martha Stewart Cupcakes Book or here on her website.
I love those cupcake papers! They look so sunny and cheerful. The cupcakes sound delicious; sorry the texture wasn’t quite what you were hoping for.
Those look so cute in those stripped papers. And very refreshing. I wish they had had more citrus flavor. Mike used citris oil so I will have to find some before I make these again. But loved the glaze.
Your cupcakes look great! I love the liners. 🙂
The liners, the glaze – TO die for
I’ve become a citrus fiend lately as well, especially when it comes to glaze. Thanks for the zest/sugar trick!
We thought they were delicious and loved the citrus flavors. They were a perfect summer treat. Thank you for giving us some!
I love that idea of rubbing the zest into the sugar. Thanks for the tip! Your cupcakes looked fantastic as well.
I’ll give these a try. I love citrus so I should enjoy these. I do have a question for you. How do you get your papers to stay so bright and pretty? When I bake my cupcakes they always look so dull and you can see the cupcake through them. Do you use a liner and then the colored one?
Hugs,
Joanne
I love the look of the citrus glaze, yummy!
Thanks for the tip for rubbing the zest in the sugar first! I also thought that the cupcakes were very dense, but the flavor was great!
Triple Zest! Yumm.. I need to use my copy of this book more!!
I love all things citrus so I can see myself devouring an entire batch of these all by myself thank you very much 🙂 (and not feeling bad about it either)
Those are stunning. I love them. and I loved the cupcakes too!
Very pretty. I made these with Marthe and Margaret but I cannot for the life of me find the photos, so am thinking they were part of the ones erased by M&A a couple of weeks ago. No posting without photos, not sure if I will redo as I thought they were dense also, and dry. Not my favorite, and I love citrus, so I really wanted them to be my favorite!
@Joanne – I picked these liners up at Home Goods a few months ago and I love them for just the reason you mentioned! They’re thicker than most normal liners. In fact, I think they advertise that you can bake w/them without using a muffin tin – just by placing the liners on a baking sheet and filling them. They were a bit more expensive than the liners I usually buy, but they’re definitely more resilient and look nicer when they come out of the oven. I can’t seem to find a link to them online or I’d share.
those liners are perfect for this recipe!
Wow, Tracey, you always amaze me with your beautiful pictures.
Love the liners, the zest, and the cupcakes!
Well done all around and thanks so much for baking along this month!
xoxo
Lovely cupcakes!
I would like to invite you to participate in my giveaway http://atasteofkoko.blogspot.com/2010/08/mini-pistachio-tea-cakes-40.html
It seems that a lot of martha’s cupcakes are more falling into the muffin category. I usually think that the dense texture is my fault but when other bakers confirm the same results, I feel a bit better.
I’d love to tinker with this recipe too as I loved the bright flavor of them! Yours look so sunshiny and bright!!
King Arthur has some liners that look almost exactly alike, but I’m not sure if they are priced the same as the ones you bought. Just in case anyone is interested.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/swirl-baking-cups-assorted
These look so GOOD!! Perfect choice of cupcake liners, too!