18 Jul lemon cupcakes

Indulge in these sweet | savoury cupcakes that bring a zesty zing to your cupcake time.

lemon + thyme Cupcakes

When it comes to cupcakes, we are often a little over generous with our well sieved baking powder as we’ve found this can be what gives your cakes a lift.

Ingredients (makes 8 large cupcakes or 12 regular cupcakes)

125g soft butter, cut into cubes

125g caster sugar

2 large eggs

125g self-raising flour

1 ½ teaspoon of baking powder

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons of milk

For the icing glaze

4 heaped tablespoons of icing sugar

Juice of half a lemon

1 sprig of fresh thyme

Method

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Break in one egg and beat again with the electric whisk before adding the second egg and beating again.

Sieve the flour and baking powder into a second bowl. Pick the leave from the sprig of thyme and grate in the lemon zest. Mix well.

Add the flour mix to the egg mix. Add the milk and use a large metal spoon to gently fold the two together.

Pre-heat the oven to 180c/160c fan/Gas Mark 4. Line a muffin tin with cupcake holders and spoon the cupcake mix evenly among them.

If you’re making large cupcakes, bake them 20 to 22 minutes. If you’re making regular sized cupcakes, bake them 18 to 20 minutes. Check both with a skewer inserted in the middle of a cupcake to make sure they’re done. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before transferring to a wire rack. Set aside to cool.

Sieve your icing sugar into a bowl and add the juice of half a lemon to make a thin glaze.

When the cupcakes have cooled completely, pour over the glaze. Top each cupcake with a few fresh thyme leaves.

This recipe first appeared in Insider Magazine in The Irish Independent on July 17th