MSC: Triple Citrus Cupcakes

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.