Lemon and White Chocolate Cupcakes

Submitted by Bev I Am

"I found this recipe on the Godiva site using Godiva white chocolate. I am sure any good quality white chocolate will do fine (such as Ghirardelli)."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 5mins
• Ingredients: 19
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• Cupcakes

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3⁄4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon peel, freshly grated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1⁄2 cup buttermilk

• White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

• 6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped (use premium white chocolate for best results)
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons lemon peel, freshly grated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar

• Garnish

• white chocolate shavings
• confectioners' sugar

directions

1. To Make Cupcakes:.
2. Position the rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350°F
3. Place 12 cupcake paper liners in a 2 1/2-inch muffin pan.
4. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
5. Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and creamy.
6. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the lemon juice, lemon peel and vanilla.
7. Beat in one-half of the flour mixture, scraping down sides of bowl.
8. Gradually add the buttermilk and beat in the remaining flour mixture until the ingredients are mixed.
9. Divide batter among the muffin cups, filling each about one-half full.
10. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
11. Cool cupcakes in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
12. Remove cupcakes and cool completely.
13. To Make Frosting:.
14. Place the white chocolate in a microwavable medium bowl.
15. Microwave on HIGH for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.
16. Let stand for 1 minute.
17. Stir until it’s completely melted and smooth. Cool slightly.
18. Add the cream cheese, butter, lemon peel and vanilla.
19. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until the ingredients are mixed.
20. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat until the frosting is smooth.
21. To Assemble Cupcakes:.
22. Remove the paper liners from the cupcakes and turn the cupcakes upside down.
23. Spread a 1/4-inch thick layer of frosting to completely cover the top and sides the cupcakes.
24. Spoon the white chocolate curls over the frosting, gently pressing, if necessary to help them adhere to the sides.
25. Sift the confectioners’ sugar over the tops of the cupcakes.

Reviews

[Acerast]

I'm here to add my accolades for this recipe. It was very easy to make and the presentation was lovely. The best thing though was the deep lemon flavor of the cake (I'm a lemon lover) tempered by the wonderful combination of cream cheese and white chocolate. You have a winner here Bev - thanks.

 

[ChefLee]

Wow, these are elegant and delicious!!! The cake is dense and moist. The cupcakes bake up flat on top so when you turn them over they are perfectly level! I used mascarpone cheese instead of cream cheese and I used Guirardelli sublime white vanilla dream white chocolate squares (they have real vanilla beans in the chocolate so it gave a great flavor and visual to the icing). Also, I did not even use confectioner's sugar in my icing. I felt that the sugar in the white chocolate sweetened it quite a lot. The icing still sets up without it and it tastes so wonderful without the bitterness of too much confectioner's sugar. Really enjoyed these, thanks for posting!!

 

[Shannon Cooks]

These are wonderful. The icing is TO DIE FOR! I deviated a bit from the recipe: instead of removing the paper liner, turning it over and frosting the whole cake, I kept the cupcakes in the wrappers, hollowed out the centers and filled them, and then I iced the tops with lots and lots of icing.