Scurvy Bastard Cupcakes

The first cupcake I made were lime cupcakes with lime curd and lime frosting. Appropriately I called them Limey Bastard Cupcakes and, by and large, they were quite tasty. However, I always wanted to try the same idea but with lemon. Hence, Scurvy Bastard Cupcakes are born. These cupcakes were ultimately easy to throw together since I already had a solid lemon curd and lemon frosting recipes. These are delicious without the filling as well, but why not guild the lily a bit, eh?

Also, if you've been paying attention, I've basically found my cupcake base taken and modified from Ina Garten's coconut cake recipe. The cupcakes have a delicate, moist crumb, but they still have some heft to them. They were made for coconut cupcakes, but they've taken well to vanilla and, now, to lemon as well.

Lemon Curd

2 lemons, zested
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
pinch of salt

3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup lemon juice

4 tbsp butter, sliced into 4 pieces

Combine zest, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk to combine. Add egg yolks and whisk until pale yellow. Whisk in juice and set pan over low - medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until thick. Usually, this takes 10 minutes of cooking over a medium low flame. Strain through a mesh sieve into a bowl. Add butter, one piece at a time and stir until combined before adding another piece. Cool. Cover and chill. This makes about 3/4 cup lemon curd (and can be used to make lime curd as well). This can be made up to 5 days in advance.

Lemon Cupcakes

yield: about 16 cupcakes

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar

zest from 2 lemons

3 extra-large eggs
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp lemon oil, optional

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, or 325 for dark pans, and line 2 muffin tins with 16 cupcake liners. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and zest on medium speed for about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon oil if using. Scrape down the bowl as necessary, and avoid over-beating.

Mix in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk in a 3:2 ratio, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Pour batter into the prepared cupcake tins and bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes (18 - 22 at 325) until they are light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Frost with very lemon frosting.

Lemon Frosting

1 cup butter, softened
3 - 4 cups powdered sugar
zest of 3 medium-sized lemons
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually incorporate 3 cups of confectioner's sugar, one cup at a time until fully incorporated. Next, mix in the zest and lemon juice. If the frosting is a little too loose, incorporate more confectioner's sugar until it's of spreading consistency. 


Fill cupcakes with lemon curd, and top with the frosting.

Chocolate Cupcakes. Caramel Frosting.

The chocolate cupcakes come from a mix. I'm warning you now. However, they're very delicious, and it makes my life that much easier when baking cupcakes for people in a tight schedule. This recipe comes courtesy of Your Cup of Cake and frankly I would highly recommend those German Chocolate Cupcakes too.

The caramel is worth the time and effort, and the frosting is perfect. Enough said.

Chocolate Cupcakes
yield: 20 - 24 cupcakes

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 (325 for dark pans). Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners.

Mix the oil, eggs, and buttermilk until combined in a large bowl. Gradually add in the cake mix (sifting can help incorporate it more easily). Mix until combined. Finally, add in the sour cream and mix until smooth and consistent (though small lumps are just fine).

Fill muffin tins with batter 2/3 to 3/4 full. I've always gotten at least 20 cupcakes out of this mixture. Bake at 350 for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Salted Caramel Sauce
yield: about 1 1/2 cups caramel though only 1 cup (total) is needed for this recipe

1 1/2 cups sugar
6 tbsp water

3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp sour cream

Bring the water and sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let it boil until it turns amber in color. Watch it like a hawk; sugar goes from golden brown to amber to black in the blink of an eye.

Whisk in the heavy cream. It will spit and sputter and get all kinds of angry. Your knuckles may get  a light steam burn. This is normal. Whisk it away until the cream and sugar is a cohesive mixture. Add in the salt, and, finally, mix in the sour cream. This caramel is a little salty, a little tangy, and hands down the best caramel I have ever made. The recipe came courtesy of a friend of a friend to whom I am forever grateful.

Caramel Frosting
yield: about 3 - 4 cups or enough to frost 20 - 24 cupcakes


3/4 cup of butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioner's sugar, divided
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup salted caramel sauce

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until creamy. Mix in 2 cups confectioners sugar and beat to combine. Add in the vanilla and the caramel. Beat to combine. Finally, mix in 1 cup of confectioner's sugar and mix until thick and consistent. Add in remaining 1/2 cup sugar until desire thickness, consistency, and sweetness are reached.

Pipe frosting in a ring on top of the cupcakes. Fill the hole in the middle with remaining caramel sauce.

Caramel is sugar and cream. Frosting is sugar and butter. With that said, I should still point out that this is easily one of the sweetest, almost to the point of cloying, recipes that I've ever made. Originally the frosting recipe started with 1 cup of butter (and equally greater amounts of the other ingredients), but I was left with quite a bit of frosting.

Also, you will likely have caramel sauce left over. You're welcome.