Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes

Up until this point, I had not formally written and tested a recipe for these cupcakes. These are the cupcakes so many fell in love with when I made them on Season 9 of MasterChef. When I made them on the show for the judges (including guest judge Christina Tosi) I did not follow a recipe, I made it up entirely. But here is one that will get you nearly the same results and is a definite crowd pleaser. Enjoy.

Recipe makes 24 cupcakes

Cupcakes Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F. line 2 cupcake pans with liners.
2. In a food processor, process the sugar and lemon zest until sugar takes on a pale yellow hue.
   • _{400g granulated sugar, zest of 4 lemons}
3. Mix sugar with the remaining dry ingredients until smooth.
   • ^{_{426g all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt}}
4. Mix the wet ingredients together one at a time, keeping the mixture as homogeneous as possible.
   • _{340g unsalted butter, 4 eggs, 1 cup greek yogurt, 1/2 cup half and half, 1/2 cup lemon juice}
5. Combine the dry and wet ingredients until they just come together.
6. Quickly portion cupcakes into liners (I used a 2 oz disher)
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (trust your instincts you know how to bake cupcakes)

Lemon Curd Method:

1. Prepare a small sheet pan by lining it with plastic wrap or a silpat.
2. In a 3 qt saucepan, combine all ingredients except for the butter.
   • _{3 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, zest and juice of 1 lemon, pinch salt}
3. Heat over medium heat, consistently stirring with a heat safe spatula until thickens. This will take a while and your cupcakes will be ready to come out of the oven before then. You can stop stirring, lower the heat and step away while you take the cupcakes out of the oven. Quickly get back to stirring.
4. Take cooked curd off the heat and stir in the butter.
   • _{4 Tbsp butter cut into 3 slices}
5. Transfer finished curd to your prepared sheet pan and cover with more plastic or another silpat.
6. When cooled, put curd in an uncut pastry bag and set aside for assembly.

Raspberry Buttercream Method:

1. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip butter until light and fluffy.
   • _{3 sticks unsalted butter softened}
2. Add raspberries, raspberry powder, and salt. Continue to whip until incorporated.
   • _{1 clamshell raspberries, optional freeze dried raspberries ground into a fine powder, pinch salt}
3. Add powder sugar, a half cup at a time.
   • _{2 cups powdered sugar}
4. Transfer buttercream to a pastry bag fitted with a 1M tip and set aside for assembly.

To Assemble:

1. Take a pairing knife and cut out the some of the center of the COOLED cupcakes (I usually cut an inverted cone, just don’t go to the bottom or else they will be very messy to eat)
2. Fill the hole made with lemon curd
3. Top with buttercream
4. Decorate to your liking and enjoy 🙂