Very Lemony Cupcakes with an Oozy Centre and Lemon Curd Cream Cheese Frosting

I had some cream cheese that needed using left in my fridge, so what better way to use it than to take the opportunity to share my best Very Lemony Cupcakes with you!? They have an oozy lemon centre and lemon curd cream cheese frosting making them a hit with all lovers of lemon!

 

I took Hannah to see Cats the musical on Friday night for our one year anniversary and it was FABULOUS I wasn't sure I'd like it but it was really really groovy. For your entertainment (If you are not into musical theater or simply just cannot fathom catsuit clad actors running around a stage impersonating our little fluffy feline friends I advise you scroll down down down, I wont be offended I promise) I have linked a video of The Rum Tum Tugger which I just cannot stop singing - admitedly I only know one line - doesn't he evoke a bizarre tangle of emotions? Now how do I make Cats cupcakes and where can I get a Lycra unitard complete with over sized fur collar?

OK onto what you are actually here to read!

Ingredients

For the cupcakes (makes 12):

4 oz self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

4 oz unsalted butter

4 oz granulated sugar

2 eggs

zest of one lemon (minus 1 tsp for use in the frosting)

generous sqeeze of lemon juice

For the filling:

12 tsp lemon curd

For the lemon curd cream cheese frosting: (sorry for switching units here but they didn't convert nicely)

150 g cream cheese

75g lemon curd

500g icing sugar

1/2 tsp cornflour

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest

Directions

Pre heat oven to 170 degrees C and place large cupcake cases in a muffin tin. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Next mix in the eggs and gradually add the flour and the baking powder to form a smooth batter. Add the zest of 1 lemon (minus a teaspoon saved for later) and a generous squeeze of lemon juice. Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake cases and bake for approximately 20 minutes depending on your oven. I had mine in for about 5 minutes longer. Leave the cakes to cool completely before embarking upon the next step!

Once the cupcakes are cool, carve out a well from the centre of the cake taking care to only carve half way down, you don't want to create a hole in the bottom of the cake! 

Put 1 tsp of lemon curd into the well and replace the carved out bit of cake, pressing it down until the top is as in line with the rest of the cake as you can get it.

Now to make the lemon curd cream cheese frosting. Combine the cream cheese,cornflour and the icing sugar (add about 100g of icing sugar at a time) into a smooth paste, then mix in the lemon curd, lemon zest and lemon juice. It's best to do this with an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. By hand is fine but be prepared for an aching arm unless of course you are a body builder, an avid gym goer or most likely, not a weakling with the stamina of a sloth - I fall into this latter bracket, obtaining a stand mixer has made me rather lazy! I always find cream cheese frosting difficult to make as I forget quite how much icing sugar it requires (WHY do supermarkets not produce own brand icing sugar it would make looking at my bank balance and budgeting a marginally less horrendous necessity), however, I have been looking into it - firstly online where all I found was a load of unreliable, contradictory tips and then by trial and error over the course of my last few batches of cream cheese. The above recipe is what I found worked best for me. Below are some tips based on my personal findings:

• Do not use reduced fat cream cheese as it has a higher liquid content.
• Cornflour works wonders!
• More lemon zest and less lemon juice.
• Make sure the cream cheese is cold, straight out of the fridge, for a firmer mixture.

I have been told by a friend that using half the amount of butter than you have of cream cheese (e.g. for 100g cream cheese use 50g butter) and whisk the butter and icing sugar together first before adding the cream cheese. Apparently the butter coated sugar stops the water being removed from the cream cheese. I have not tried this yet but when I do I will let you all know how it goes, I am hoping it means using less icing sugar!

Once you have your lemon curd cream cheese mixture transfer it into a piping back and swirl the frosting on top of your cupcakes using a star nozzle. I do find that more icing makes for a prettier cake but I also find cream cheese frosting piled sky high on cupcakes to be a bit much so I scrimped a little bit with my cakes! This cheeky devil, however, LOVES icing and I turned around mid-tidy-up to find this...

You can serve immediately but I prefer to chill my cakes to firm up the cream cheese frosting - just make sure you take them out ~ 30 minutes before you intend on eating them! Enjoy :)

Here is another song from Cats in case cream-cheese-frosting-induced-stress arises!

P.S. how cute is my little cake stand!? I got it in Home Bargains for under a fiver!