Daily Cupcake Recipe

Recipe for Thursday, August 4th, 2011:
Arnold Palmer Cupcakes with Lemonade Buttercream Frosting

Recipe via Endless Simmer

Prep time: unknown
Bake time: 22 minutes

Serves: not specified

Ingredients [Cupcakes]:

• 1 cup soymilk
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup instant unsweetened iced tea mix
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Ingredients [Frosting]:

• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) room temperature butter (or other solid fat)
• 1/4 (4 tablespoons) room temperature vegetable shortening
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon zest
• yellow food coloring
• iced tea mix

(A conversion table can be found here.)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350° F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.

Whisk the soymilk and one tablespoon of the lemon juice together and set aside to curdle for at least 10 minutes. Sift the flour, iced tea mix, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, extracts and remaining lemon juice, then add the soymilk mixture and combine.

Add the dry goods into the wet, and stir by hand just to combine. This batter will be very fluffy and full of air, so take care not to overmix or else it’ll flatten out and get gummy. Fold in the lemon zest at the very end.

Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tin, filling the cups a little over three-quarters of the way up. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then de-pan and cool completely on a cooling rack.

Make frosting: In a large, high-sided bowl, mash the butter and shortening together briefly until just combined. Working in half-cup installments, mix in the powdered sugar using the lowest speed on your mixer, stopping when you no longer see just butter and sugar, just a homogeneous paste. Add the vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest, and food coloring and mix again for at least another two minutes, until the frosting is smooth and takes on a satin-like look.

Frost cooled cupcakes with frosting. Dust with iced tea mix.