Lemon Buttermilk Cake and Cupcakes (High Altitude Version)
A light, very lemony cake, frosted with smooth lemon-kissed cream cheese frosting. Perfect for a summer picnic or gathering.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time30 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: High Altitude Recipes, Lemon Buttermilk Cupcakes High Altitude
Servings: 2dozen
Author: Don Herman
Ingredients
2 1/4cupsplus 2 tbsp Cake Flour (300 g)
1 1/4tspBaking Powderfor 5280 ft. (1600 meters)
1/2tspSalt
1 1/2cupsButtermilk
5lgEgg Whites
1 2/3cupsless 1 1/2 tbsp Sugar (360 g)
Zest from 2 lemons
2tbspLemon Juicefrom zested lemons
8tbspButtercut into chunks
1tspNatural Vanilla Extract
1/2tspNatural Lemon Extract
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
4ozUnsalted Butter (1 stick, softened)
8ozCream Cheese (room temperature)
4cupsPowdered Sugar
1tspNatural Vanilla Extract
Lemon Juice
Instructions
Lemon Buttermilk Cupcakes
Measure out ingredients, remembering to ADD the additional cake flour and SUBTRACT the sugar. This and adjusting the baking powder are critical in making this recipe work at high-altitude.
For Cupcakes: Set up 24 cupcakes liners in cupcake tins.For Cake: Grease and flour 2 9" cake rounds.
Preheat oven to 370F (190C).
In a large bowl (or the mixing bowl), whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg whites and buttermilk until frothy.
In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest and whisk together until combined.
Add the butter and beat into the sugar until light and fluffy - and 4 or 5 minutes (this takes a while, take the time you need.)
Add the extracts and lemon juice and combine.
Starting with the flour mixture, add about 1/3 and mix until blended. Add about 1/2 the buttermilk/egg mixture and blend again. Add dry and wet ingredients in this way, alternating and ending with the flour.
For Cupcakes: When the batter is well-blended, fill your cupcake liners about 2/3 with batter. (I use an ice-cream scoop).
For Cake: When the batter is well-blended, divide the batter and fill the pans. I use a scale to get the amounts evenly divided.
For Cupcakes: Bake in your preheated oven on the center rack for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a center-oven cupcake comes out clean. The cupcakes will not brown much, so don't overbake!
For Cake: Bake in your preheated oven on the center rack for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The cake will not brown much, so don't overbake!
Remove from oven and cool in the pan for about five minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream together the butter and cream cheese.
Add the vanilla and beat until blended.
Add about 1/2 the sugar and drape a light tea towel or cheesecloth over your mixer. Blend in the sugar on the lowest setting for a few seconds, remove the towel and blend until incorporated. Repeat.
The frosting will be pretty stiff at this point. Add 1 tsp of lemon juice at a time and blend until you get the spreading consistency you prefer. 1 used 3 tsp of lemon juice.
Notes
For high-altitude, I adjusted the flour (added), sugar (subtracted), liquid (added lemon juice), baking powder (big subtraction) and oven temp (increase). If you are MUCH higher than 5,280 ft, you may need to tweak those adjustments a bit more.Bake time may vary based on the size of your cupcakes. This recipe used the most common-sized liners.