First off, for those of you who don’t already know, I’m a finalist for a Martha Stewart American Made Award! Not only is this an honor, but it is also an amazing opportunity. The winner will be selected based on VOTES and will be honored at the American Made event in New York City AND appear in Martha Stewart Living Magazine. On top of that, Keep It Sweet Desserts would get $10,000 to help grow the business. It couldn’t get much better than that.
Please help me by voting EVERY DAY from now through September 24th! I’ve been doing pretty well so far, but can use a little extra push in the contest. Your support means the world to me. For those of you who have been voting, tweeting, facebooking and emailing, thank you a million times over!
Now, onto cupcakes. These lovelies were just one of the desserts that we enjoyed to celebrate my husband’s 29th birthday. His birthday is today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!!!!!!), but we had our families over to celebrate on Sunday night. Dinner was all about the meat: hot dog appetizers (full-size, not mini); burgers; and two different cuts of steak. There was also a side of mashed potatoes, tomatoes and mozzarella and a chopped salad. To my vegetarian friends, please know that we bought high quality meat that came from well-treated animals.
And yes, Matt did eat all of the different items we served. I, however, had my once-a-year cheeseburger and lots of salad on the side.
Lucky for me, my meat-loving husband also loves dessert. I like to take credit for his refined sweets palate and discretion over worth-it desserts but he should also get credit for the quality of all of the Keep It Sweet Dessert cookies and bars. He is an MVP taste-tester. But I digress.
As for the birthday desserts, it was a menu of all things Matt loves: Yellow layer cake with chocolate buttercream frosting, warm salted chocolate chip cookies AND warm chocolate chip cookie cheesecake (Thank, MOM!) just out of the oven, and finally these Mini Lemon Cupcakes with Perfect Silky Buttercream.
While I would never request a lemon dessert for my birthday, I’m glad that Matt did! These cupcakes were the perfect balance of lemon flavor without an intensely sweet or overly sour note to them. If anything, Matt thought there could have been a little more lemon in the frosting, but I really wanted it to just compliment the cake, not overtake it.
Mini Lemon Cupcakes with Perfect Silky Buttercream
Makes 36 mini cupcakes
Lemon Cupcakes
Adapted from Sweetapolita
Ingredients:
1 cup + 3 tablespoons (5 1/8 ounces) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt (I used fat free)
1/4 cup milk (I used skim)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 of a lemon)
1 tablespoon lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter softened at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar (5 5/8 ounces)
2 large eggs at room temperature
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; fill mini cupcake tins with 36 cupcake wrappers; set aside
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; set aside
In a separate bowl, combine yogurt, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla; set aside
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on high speed for several minutes or until light and fluffy; at this point you can’t really overbeat the batter, you want to get as much lightness at this stage as you can; scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula
Add eggs, one at a time, beating at medium speed for one minute after each; scrape the sides of the bowl with the spatula
Reduce speed to low and slowly add 1/3 of flour mixture and then 1/2 of wet ingredients; repeat with 1/3 of flour mixture and remaining wet ingredients; add remaining flour mixture and remove from mixer immediately (there should still be lumps in the batter)
Gently fold batter so that you can no longer see any dry ingredients but there are still some small lumps; do not overmix
Evenly distribute batter into cupcake wrappers; I find this easiest with a medium cookie dough scoop or small ladle
Bake cupcakes for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from a center cupcake; do not overbake
Set cupcakes aside to cool and prepare frosting
Lemon Kissed Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Adapted from Sweetapolita
Ingredients:
1/2 cup egg whites (I used 3 extra-large but pasteurized egg whites work fine)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/8 cups (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
<1/8 teaspoon table salt
Directions:
Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk attachment, whisk, spatula and candy thermometer with a paper towel and vinegar to clean (if any grease is on these items your meringue will not work)
Place egg whites and sugar in mixing bowl over pot of simmering water; water should not be high enough to touch mixing bowl
Whisk mixture slowly but constantly until temperature reaches 160 degrees F, about 5-10 minutes
Remove from stove and attach bowl to electric mixer with whisk attachment
Put mixer on low to medium speed and whisk until meringue is shiny and thick and bowl has cooled down to room temperature; if bowl does not cool and meringue has formed, you can put an ice bath under the mixing bowl while it is mixing
Once ready, replace whisk attachment with paddle attachment and add cubes of butter one at a time mixing on low speed until the mixture is light and creamy; if mixture gets lumpy, keep mixing for several minutes; if it gets runny, place bowl in fridge for 10 minutes before continuing to mix
Stop mixer to scrape sides of bowl and continue to beat on low speed for another minute
Add lemon zest, vanilla, and salt and mix on medium speed until the SMB is light and creamy
Frost cupcakes as desired (I prefer piping for swiss meringue buttercream)
Notes:
Cupcakes are best that day or refrigerated overnight; may be frozen up to one month and served at room temperature
Graduation Gourmet Gift Basket 
White Chocolate Pistachio Fudge Cookies 
Smoked Sea Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies 
These cupcakes looks fantastic!! Love it!
Happy birthday to Matt! Good luck to you in the Martha Stewart contest–I FB-ed it today, and I’ve been voting.
Thank you so much, Tara!!
I just voted for you on Martha Stewart! I love your blog and will continue to vote
The desserts (and meat) for the party all sound fantastic. I would especially like the yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting 
Thank you, I really appreciate that!
HUGE congratulations! I’ve cast my vote…fingers tightly crossed. How amazing would it be if you won?
I think I would die lol!
Congratulations!!! I’m so stinkin’ happy for you, and you deserve it. These cupcakes look amazing. Happy bday, Matt! I’m going over to vote right now. Fingers crossed!
Happy Birthday to Matt!
I was going to say, Matt must have been the one who requested these cupcakes because I know you aren’t a serious lemon lover! They are adorable though. Everything you made sounds amazing! You are now the official planner of my next birthday extravaganza.
Oh wow! Congratulations for being a finalist! So exciting! I just voted for you on Martha Stewart!
BTW, these cupcakes look amazing!!
Thank you so much, Christina!
That is so awesome Lauren- congrats!!! Also- these cupcakes are adorable and that buttercream looks silky and delicious!
Thank you!!!
Congratulations on being recognized for your amazing acheivements! I voted for ya! Good luck and your mini lemon cupcakes look perfect!
You’re such a star Lauren, I’m going to keep voting every day! Woo!
Love these little lemon cakes, that buttercream sounds wonderful too.
Yay you are the best!
You just have to win this award, Lauren! I’m pulling for you!!
I adore lemons (almost obsessively). These cupcakes look like sheer bliss.
As for the cupcakes, yes…yes…Yes!
Thank you! I actually thought of you while making these:-)
CONGRATS on making it this far! what a well-deserved honor! off to vote now!
Congratulations for getting this far! That’s a great accomplishment! These cupcakes look fantastic.
I love lemony desserts so these have me drooling. Congrats on being a finalist! I’m definitely voting for you!!!!
Congratulations! I will certainly vote for you. These cupcakes look sweet and tasty, by the way! Thank you for sharing with me and making my morning all the more delicious. I hope you have a great end to your week.
Ooh yum! I think I’m going to make these…
I hope you enjoy them!!