Lemon cupcakes brushed with a tart syrup to contrast the creamy raspberry buttercream. This combination of lemon with raspberry really does remind me of a raspberry lemonade in the summer.

I topped mine with a lemon slice and straw made out of icing, making them the perfect treat to serve at the end of a BBQ or take for a picnic in the park.

I got a little too summer ready when we had a short sunny spell and whipped up these summery cupcakes while I could. This recipe is enough for 12 muffin size cupcakes, just because I always think they look more appealing than cupcake size, or maybe I’m just greedy.

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You will need:

• Muffin tray
• 12 muffin cases
• Silicone mat or baking paper
• Fondant rolling pin
• Small sharp knife
• Spare piece of cardboard
• Sugar modeling tool
• Food paint brush
• Food colour palette or clean lid
• Stand or hand held mixer
• Sieve
• Pastry brush
• Piping bag
• #3 star piping tip

Ingredients:

Decoration

• Yellow ready to roll icing
• Red gel food colour
• 1 tsp of gin or vodka

Cupcakes

• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 6 tbsp cold water
• 80g (4 tbsp) hard vegetable shortening
• 200g (1 cup) brown sugar
• 80g (½ cup) caster sugar
• 240g (1 cup) plain gluten free flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp xantham gum
• A pinch of salt
• 240ml tinned coconut milk
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp lemon juice

Lemon Syrup

• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Frosting

• 1 punnet of raspberries (125g approximately)
• 170g (¾ cup) hard vegetable shortening
• 345-375g (2¾-3 cups) powdered icing sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

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Decorations

Step 1

Take the yellow ready to roll icing and tare off a small piece to warm up in your hands, wrapping the rest in cling film to stop it going hard. Lightly dust a silicone mat or sheet of baking paper with icing sugar and roll the icing out to about 2mm thick.

Step 2

Cut a semicircle of about 3cm radius out of cardboard or paper and place on top of the icing to guide the shape you cut out. Alternatively free hand cut out semicircles with a sharp knife.

Step 3

Using a modeling tool, score a smaller semicircle and a V to create the appearance of a lemon slice. Set aside on a flat surface to solidify.

 

Step 4

From the remaining yellow icing roll along the mat or baking paper to make a long straw.

Step 5

Place a small blob of gel food colour on a clean takeaway lid or a food colour palette and dip your food brush in gin or vodka and then into the food colour to create an edible paint. Paint diagonal stripes onto the long straw and cut into 12 equal pieces.

Step 6

Leave to dry on a flat surface, preferably overnight or until just before serving, so that they don’t flop once on the cupcakes.

Cupcakes

Step 1

Bake according to this lemon cupcake recipe.

Step 2

While the cupcakes are still warm make up a simple lemon syrup. To do this, stir together the granulated sugar and lemon juice until the sugar has dissolved.

Step 3

Brush the syrup on top of the warm cupcakes with a pastry brush.

Frosting

Step 1

Crush the raspberries with a fork or pulse in a food processor if you have one. Then transfer to a fine sieve over a saucepan. Push the juice through the sieve with a wooden spoon, working the pulp until there is little left except seeds.

Step 2

Reduce the raspberry puree over a medium heat until you are left with half the quantity you started with. This should take about 10 minutes.

Set aside to cool completely, which will be about half an hour or speed chill in the freezer for 5 minutes.

Step 3

Cream the vegetable shortening with a mixer until light and fluffy. Adding ⅓ of the icing sugar at a time, blend on a slow speed with a scatter guard until incorporated. Turn up to high speed for a few seconds then repeat using the rest of the icing sugar.

Step 4

Add the vanilla extract and reduced raspberry puree and beat in until fluffy. The buttercream will gain a soft pink colour from the raspberries and a hint of tartness amongst the creamy sweetness of the butter and sugar.

Step 5

Transfer to a piping bag with a #3 star piping tip and pipe onto the cupcakes.

 

Step 6

Place the fondant decorations on top just prior to serving and enjoy!

These cupcakes really make me feel like sunshine, both in taste and design. Let’s hope the sun stays around long enough to enjoy them.

Thanks for reading 😊