I would be lying if I told you that I didn’t eat one of these cupcakes.

I’d also be lying if I told you that I only ate one of these cupcakes.  Because I ate two.

Now, don’t let the color of the buttercream fool you.  Although subtle, it definitely has genuine lemon flavor, courtesy of the 2 Meyer lemons that were inspiring me from my counter (none of those yucky artificial flavorings).  I’d love to tell you that the raspberry preserves were homemade, but unfortunately I’ve tried making preserves and I really stink at it.

The cupcake itself has just a hint of almond flavor, but I was mostly relying on the almond paste to give me the chewy, moist texture that I was craving today.  It turned out to give me one of the best vegan cupcakes that I’ve ever made or eaten in my life.  I’ll definitely be taking this information with me as I continue developing permanent flavors for Sugared.

I was happy with how moist the cake was, but not as happy with the fact that it was a little overly-delicate.  I’ll have to work on that.

As you can see, I topped each cupcake with a piece of candied lemon peel.  I love the stuff!  It’s like gummy bears, only made with real ingredients.  It’s really easy to make, too!

Candied Lemon Peel

[print the recipe]

2 Lemons
2 Cups Water
2 Cups Cane Sugar

1) Leaving peel on, cut lemons into 4 wedges, and remove fruit from the peel.

2) Using a butter knife, scrape as much of the white pith off from the back of the peel as possible (without damaging peel).

3) Cut peel into the desired shape.

4) Bring water to a boil, and add lemon peel.  Boil the peel for 5-10 minutes, or until tender.

5) Remove the peel from the water and set aside.  Add sugar to the water and bring back to a boil.

6) Add peel back into the sugar/water, and continue to simmer until the liquid turns clear (about 15-20 minutes).

7) Remove peel from the syrup, and dry on a non-stick surface.  Reserve the remaining syrup for future recipes (it’s now a “lemon simple syrup”).

******

I also made a chocolate version of this cupcake, and it’s possibly even more amazing than the original.

I used a slightly different technique when I made my chocolate buttercream, and it resulted in a really creamy, shiny frosting that eerily resembles the texture and taste of that kind from the grocery store [rhymes with 'chunkin fines'].  Minus all of the crazy artificial flavors/colors/etc.

Try to convince me that you don’t want to take a healthy-sized bite of this cupcake.

Liar!

You can’t fool me-I’ve tried them!

I really like how the almond flavor is nearly undetectable in this cupcake because it’s so very chocolaty.  The almond paste added an incredible moistness to the cake without infringing on the flavor at all.  Score!

So which one would you eat–the original or the chocolate?