Lemon and Thyme Cupcakes with Edible Flowers

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Baking Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 150g butter, softened
• 150g caster sugar
• 2 lemons, zest only
• 2 tsps thyme (or lemon thyme) leaves, finely chopped plus 1 tsp to decorate
• 3 eggs
• 150g self-raising flour
• 2 tbsps milk
• 150g Mrs Bridges Lemon Curd
• 12 primroses, or other edible flowers* (see note below)

For the buttercream icing:

• 150g butter, softened
• 1 lemon, zest and 2 tsps juice
• 350g icing sugar
• A splash of milk

Follow The Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C fan. Put cupcake liners inside a 12-hole muffin or large cupcake tray.

2. Put the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the beater attachment and beat on a medium speed for a minute until soft. Add the caster sugar, lemon zest and chopped thyme leaves and beat again for a few minutes until creamy and pale in colour. If you don’t have a stand mixer you can do this is a large mixing bowl with electric beaters or a wooden spoon.

3. Add one egg and beat again until completely mixed in and smooth. Repeat with the second egg. Before adding the final egg add a tablespoon of the self-raising flour, this will help prevent the mixture from splitting. Add the final egg and beat again. Add the flour and gently fold into the mixture with a spatula or metal spoon until no floury patches remain. Finally add the milk and fold to combine.

4. Divide the mixture between the 12 cupcake cases. The mixture should ¾ fill each case, if you have too much mixture make a couple of extra cupcakes rather than overfilling the cases. Put the cupcakes in the pre-heated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until springy to the touch. Take the cupcakes out to the oven, remove from the tin, and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

5. Meanwhile make the icing. Put the butter in the clean bowl of the stand mixer or a large mixing bowl. Beat on a medium speed or with a wooden spoon for a couple of minutes until soft. Add the lemon zest and half the icing sugar and beat on a low speed until combined. Add the other half of the icing sugar and the lemon juice and beat again on a low speed until combined. Once smooth beat on a high speed for five minutes until the icing is smooth and airy. If the buttercream icing still seems a bit thick and sticky add a splash of milk and beat again. Do this gradually, if you add too much milk the icing will be soft and won’t hold its shape when you pipe it.

6. Once the cupcakes are completely cool use a small, sharp knife to cut a conical shape out of the centre of the top of each cupcake, you want to cut about 2/3 of the way down the cupcake but not through to the bottom. Reserve the pieces you cut out of the cakes. Fill the hole in each cupcake with a generous teaspoon of Mrs Bridges Lemon Curd. Trim the conical point off the reserved cake pieces, leaving just the top of the cupcake, like a little lid. Put this top part back on the cupcake so the lemon curd is hidden inside the cake.

7. Put a large star nozzle inside a piping bag. Fill the piping bag with the buttercream icing and, working from the outside edge, pipe a swirl of icing on the top of each cupcake. The cupcakes will keep in an airtight container, in a cool place, for up to two days. Before serving, sprinkle over the reserved thyme leaves and decorate with fresh primroses.