Lemon-Ginger Cupcakes | Renee's Kitchen Adventures

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Lemon-Ginger Cupcakes

This week's BSI is lemon. (Blogger Secret Ingredient)  Luckily for me, I love lemon and had just bought a huge bag of fresh lemons when they were on sale at the grocery store last week.  It was very hard to decide what to make for this week's roundup.  Lemon is a great ingredient in both sweet and savory dishes.  It's acidic nature brightens up almost any dish.  As a rule, I always squeeze a half of lemon in my broth based soups at the end of cooking.  It really "wakes" the soup up!  But, after careful consideration, I decided to flavor a favorite reduced fat, from scratch cupcake recipe combining two of my favorite flavors, lemon and ginger.   I was not disappointed with the results!  The lemon flavor is really the star here, but in each bite, you get a subtle taste of ginger too.   Each cupcake comes in at 4 points+ ( minus any frosting ) and cupcakes are a natural portion control item!

You can either top these moist and tender cupcakes with traditional frosting ( be sure to add additional points+ if you do ) or they are fantastic with a dollop of fat free cool whip for no additional points!  These cupcakes also freeze very well, just freeze them without any topping, and you can defrost as many as you like and top them how you like.   If you have never made cupcakes from scratch, give this recipe a go....it is super easy and I have never been disappointed by the results. 


Lemon-Ginger Cupcakes adapted from Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella


Servings - 16 cupcakes   Servings size - 1 cupcake ( no topping )  PP per svg - 4 points+
( plain cupcake, no topping ) Calories - 153.8,   Total Fat - 4.8g,   Carb. - 25.3g,   Protein - 2.6g,   Fiber - 0.4g
6 TBS. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup skim milk
2 TBS. nonfat dry milk
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 TBS. lemon juice
zest of one lemon
2 cups all purpose, unbleached,  flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Insert foil or paper liners into standard muffin pans or spray muffin pan wells with cooking spray if not using liners.  

2.  In a large bowl, combine the butter and the sugar with a hand mixer on low speed until coarse, about 1 1/2 minutes.  

3.  In a small bowl,  ( I used a 4 cup glass measure ) combine the milk, dry milk, egg, and lemon juice.  Mixture may look curdled...and that's fine.  Add milk mixture to the butter mixture and beat on medium speed until frothy, about one minute.  Fold in lemon zest.  

4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and ginger with a whisk.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour the butter mixture in the center.  Mix on low until combined, then mix on medium speed for 10 - 20 seconds.  

5.  Fill cupcake liners three-quarters full.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until cupcakes are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of them comes out clean.  Cool cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling. 


Ready to frost and decorate

Topped with Fat Free cool whip for a 0 point+ topping

26 comments:

  1. Lemon really was a great pick! So versatile!! I want to eat the icing off your cupcakes ;) Oh and I heart ginger- I think it must work so well with the lemon in this recipe. Thank you for sharing...I might need to make these for Easter

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  2. I'm definitely going to try these. They look so light and refreshing for summer.

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  3. Renee, these really look delicious. They just have gone onto my must-try list. I love lemons and am always looking for new ways to use them. This recipe is perfect. Have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  4. Great BSI entry Renee! I just watched a throw down of Key Lime Pie and I have citrus on my brain - I may have to make these! :D

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  5. Looks so yummy. I wish i can try doing my interest in baking. The one with toppings looks appetizing but id love mine withouth decors. =)

    My entry for the week is up. Happy bloghopping.

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  6. I love the ginger in this recipe. It makes a difference, I would think, a good difference.

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  7. These look fabulous! You are so right about lemon juice in soups, I made Bon Appetit's curried lentil soup recently and can't imagine it without the lemon!

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  8. Oh geez...thanks for sharing the recipe, I'm also a lemon lover.

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  9. Where there's ginger involved I'm an easy convert; add some lemon and it sounds perfect. Great looking recipe.

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  10. This looks so yummy! I love lemon flavored cakes too...Thanks for sharing :)

    here's mine http://www.lyzalane.info/2011/03/shakeys-late-night.html

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  11. Ginger and lemon? Oh yum, I bet this is a delicious combination. and they're GORGEOUS too!!! Love the pretty yellow sugar. Have a great day Renee, thanks as always for another amazing looking recipe.

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  12. looks luscious...yum! another great recipe to try, thanks for sharing! PinayMum - Mommy's Life Around...wishing you a great Friday! :)

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  13. Oh my yumminess! Lemon sounds healthy in cakes and I agree its acidic nature does brighten up almost any dish.

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  14. These are beautiful! I'm totally digging the lemon ginger combo, I can almost taste it just by thinking of it. I wish I had one (or two) of your tempting cupcakes right this minute. Thank you so much for sharing them with BSI:Lemons this week :D

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  15. these look DELICIOUS :) Thanks for the recipe. I love citrus-y desserts!

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  16. I LOVE lemon anything so I am definitely going to be giving these cupcakes a try... today lol

    xo

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  17. sweet cupcakes, with lemon on top that is a must try.. yummy.

    My Food Trip Friday

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  18. looking so yummy. I would love to have one

    mine is here

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  19. Wow thats so delicious.. and thanks for the recipe will try this at home. :) Happy to be here.

    Mine is up at the House of Maria.

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  20. i love lemon. lemon squares, lemon meringue etc. thanks for sharing this. i can't make this at home coz my oven is not working but just looking at them is enough for me. =)

    here's my entry:

    http://www.domestic-cherry.com/2011/03/maginhawa-strip-carbo-loading-at-ted-ps/

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  21. Yum! I'm drooling right now! I want those cupcakes!!!
    Much Love,
    Pearl
    Sassy Chef Recipes and Reviews

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  22. i sooo love this, im crazy over cupcakes too so this unique recipe will be an addition to my list. Ill definitely try it out, thanks for sharing


    Enjoy your foodtripping this week, and hope you have a look at my FTF entry too.
    Food and Passion
    I Love Darly!

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