Vegan Treats for Two: Zingy Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes

Pucker up, Vegan MoFos! It's lemon time! These may not be the lemon drizzle cupcakes you're picturing. There is no runny icing made with powdered sugar and lemon juice here. Let's see 'em...


Sunshine in cupcake form! These are more common in the British Isles than in the US, I think. I'd never heard of them until I saw them on The Great British Bake Off, which has been renamed "The Great British Baking Show" here in the US for some strange reason. Anyway, these are first baked, then poked full of holes with a toothpick, and then smothered in a lemon juice and sugar mixture which dribbles down the inside of the cake making it super lemony and zingy. *insert heart-eyed emoji here*

Poke, poke, poke...


Smother, smother, smother...


Shiny, shiny, shiny...



Zingy Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes for Two

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKES:

25 g sugar
10 g all purpose flour (plus more later)
15 g vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
20 g vegan milk
about 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest (a couple of generous pinches)
20 g all purpose flour
1/16 salt
1/16 baking soda
1/8 baking powder
5 g vegan milk
5 g fresh lemon juice

INGREDIENTS FOR THE DRIZZLE:

5 g fresh lemon juice
10 g granulated sugar/table sugar
about 1/4 tsp lemon zest (a generous pinch)

1. These baking directions are for the Cuisinart TOB-60. You'll probably need to experiment with your toaster oven settings to get the best results. More on that here: How to Bake Perfect Cupcakes in a Toaster Oven. Preheat the toaster oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) and spray two cupcake liners with cooking spray. Place the liners in a small muffin tin. For the Cuisinart TOB-60, preheat the oven on the WARM function so that only the bottom heating elements are activated.

2. In a small bowl or coffee cup combine the sugar and 10 grams flour and give them a good whisking. Add the oil, milk, and lemon zest and whisk vigorously for at least 30 seconds.

3. Sift in the 20 grams of flour, add the salt, baking soda, and baking powder and fold everything slightly until you end up with a somewhat lumpy batter. Take care not to over mix the batter at this point! No more vigorous whisking or beating.

4. Add the extra 5 grams of milk and lemon juice and fold gently again until everything is incorporated. Try not to over mix the batter.

5. Pour the cupcake batter into the prepared cupcake liners and bake on the WARM setting for 12 minutes, then switch to the BAKE setting and bake for an extra eight minutes at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C.) If you're using a different toaster oven you may be able to use the BAKE setting from the start.

6. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool in the muffin tin for five minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

7. Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the lemon juice, sugar, and lemon zest for the drizzle and give them a quick stir.

8. Use a toothpick to poke holes all over the tops of the cupcakes while they're still warm. Lots of holes!

9. Spoon the lemon juice and sugar mixture evenly all over the tops of the cupcakes and let them cool down completely at room temperature. The sugary top will harden and become crunchy when the cupcakes cool down!


RECIPE NOTES:

. I think these look nice when they're a little golden brown on top, but all toaster oven models are different and maybe yours will look a little bit pale on top when they're done baking. Try broiling them for a minute but keep an eye on them because they will go from pale to charred in no time!


GENERAL NOTES:

. Check out my blog post about baking cupcakes in a toaster oven.
. You've probably noticed that I added a bit of flour separately from the main flour. I'm using it as a binder in lieu of eggs or egg replacers. It's become my favorite way to replace eggs in baked goods.
. All the ingredients are weighed, even the liquids, and I'm using the metric system. Grams are more convenient than ounces or cups when it comes to baking tiny batches of things. I use a digital scale which has a handy "tare" button that lets me reset the weight after I add each ingredient.Screw you, unreliable cups and tablespoons! Except for baking soda and salt and all those tiny pinches of things. For those I use my tiny 1/8 tsp from my set of +Wilton measuring spoons. How do you measure 1/16 tsp of salt and baking soda? I eyeball it using half of an 1/8 tsp.
. I bake everything in a Cuisinart TOB-60 toaster oven. You may need to experiment with your toaster oven to get the best result.


That's it! These are lovely and zingy, and I feel like if Mary Berry were to try one of these she might say "that's not bad", which is really all one can ask for in life.

Happy weekend!



Comments

  1. AHHH refreshing lemon goodness here. Yum. And Mary Berry is awesome.

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    1. She really is! I wish Bake Off hadn't changed and that Mary, Sue, and Mel were still a part of it.

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  2. These sound divine! I love lemon baked goods. I would have made these immediately, but tragically I realised that I don't have a lemon in the house for zesting. Tragedy!!

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    1. Oh, the horror! I dream of some day having a lemon tree teeming with bright yellow fruit so I'd never run out. At least while lemons are in season. When ARE lemons in season? Do lemons have a season? I think I need to eat some breakfast before I can do any braining with my brain.

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    2. I feel like lemons are always available... but no idea when there actual proper season is. Have been brainwashed by the supermarket!

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    3. The supermarkets spoil us with year-round lemons! At least they always seem to be decent no matter the season, unlike the abomination that is the winter strawberry. *shudders*

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