Summery Citrus

There is nothing more summery than citrus to me - I love the fresh taste and fragrance of lemon zest and juice on pretty much anything, and, as I have boasted in the past, I have found that my kids will eat most vegetables if sprinkled with lemon juice. In fact, they often complain when their veggies aren't thus enhanced.

The recipe below is completely vegetable-free though, and somewhat less healthy. However, if you're looking for a summery treat, then here are some delicious cupcakes. Theoriginal recipe is taken from a new book by Mary McCartney. She is the daughter of Paul and Linda McCartney, the latter famous for her vegetarian cookbooks, and the former... well, if you haven't heard of him, then you really need to come out from that rock you've been hiding under for the last 50 years. Mary has been well known for some time for being a successful photographer, but is now taking on her late mother's mantle and, in her words, wrote Food: Vegetarian Home Cooking "to tempt both vegetarians and meat-eaters alike". Even suspicious and dedicated carnivores cannot help but be tempted by a dessert made by a vegetarian.

I tweaked this recipe slightly - she covers the cakes with a simple runny icing made with lemon juice, zest and powdered sugar. Personally, I love me some frosting, so I 'doctored' some ready-prepared vanilla frosting to make a more extravagant topping. After all, if you are going to have a cupcake, have a cupcake!

Orange and Lemon Cupcakes
Makes 24 mini cupcakes, or 12 standard

1 stick unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup self-rising flour
zest and juice of 1 large orange (around 3 TBSP juice)

Frosting:
1 tub of store-bought vanilla frosting
Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line muffin tin with paper liners.
3. In a large mixing bowl (preferably in an electric stand-mixer), cream butter until fluffy and then beat in sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Gradually, on low speed, stur in flour and then beat mixture well until light in texture. Stir in orange zest and juice and beat just until well combined.
4. Divide batter equally between cupcake liners.
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes until cakes are golden on top and spring back if touched lightly. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
6. To make frosting: Beat frosting with lemon zest to combine. Add enough lemon juice to lighten the consistency of the store-bought frosting so that it is light enough to use in a piping bag, but not too runny/still holds its shape.
7. Use piping bag to pipe a rosette of frosting on top of each cake.