Lemon and Ginger Cupcakes

What should you do with a tub of Lemon and Ginger Yoghurt that you’ve bought by mistake?

If that sounds a little odd perhaps I should explain that this is merely the latest in a fairly long line of mishaps which seem to be all part and parcel of internet shopping. Like the time I wanted 6 loose leeks and ended up with 6 packets of leeks – or got 3 kilos of aubergines rather than just 3 (do you ever make these sort of mistakes?).

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Anyway, this time I asked for some Rachels Limited Edition yoghurt – which last time I looked was delicious, creamy, gorgeous Strawberries and Cream – but now seems to have turned into Lemon and Ginger Yoghurt. And whilst I am an enormous fan of Rachels yoghurts (in fact one of the reasons why my yoghurt maker rarely makes it out of the cupboard is that I can’t make homemade yoghurt that tastes like Rachels), Lemon & Ginger yoghurt is just not for me – too many mouth puckering ingredients in one pot in my view.

My reason for telling you all this is to show you just HOW it came about that I happened to be at home on an unexpected afternoon off, dreaming of summer with the rain pouring down outside, wondering what to do with a sneaky pot of very yellow Lemon and Ginger yoghurt?

The obvious answer seemed Lemon and Ginger cupcakes, of course.

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These were inspired by Lorraine Pascales recipe for I just don’t give a damn chocolate cake (from her book Baking Made Easy) which includes crème fraiche, but I thought that yoghurt must be a reasonable substitute. And it was, making the cupcakes lovely and moist. And very lemony. And delicious. They proved very popular with the family too, so they’re keen for me to make more to use up the pot!

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Lemon and Ginger Cupcakes

(Makes 9)
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Ingredients

  • 70g Lemon and Ginger yoghurt
  • 70g very soft unsalted butter
  • 115g soft light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 115g plain flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • zest of half a lemon

Icing:

(as you can see from the pictures I didn’t overload them with icing – if you want more then just up the quantities)

  • 50g very soft unsalted butter
  • 150g icing sugar sifted + extra if needed to get icing to right consistency
  • Juice of half a lemon

Directions

  1. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with an electric whisk or beat well by hand for a few minutes
  2. Fill the cupcake cases about &#8532rds full
  3. Bake at 180°C for about 25 minutes until cooked
  4. Cool on a wire rack before icing
  5. Icing: soften the butter and add the sifted icing sugar. Mix together. Add the lemon juice and mix again. If needed add more icing sugar to get the icing to the right consistency
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