
Recently graduated with from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.…
This cupcake is sweet, tangy, and earthy. Because it’s egg-based, it is extremely moist and fluffy.
By Mariela Alvarez Toro
I believe that there should always be something to celebrate, be it, the successful completion of a job and the beginning of a new one, or the one year anniversary of my Tasty Plan. I also love celebrating the simple things in life, like the fact that there are bushy trees outside, the temperature is warmer, and the air just seems a bit fresher, more aromatic. I love celebrating with food, specially when cupcakes are involved. There is always room to splurge when lemons, poppy seeds and honey are involved. And these are so cute and small, that there is absolutely no reason to join the celebration by eating one up!
I hope you enjoy this Lemon Poppy-seed cupcake. It is sweet, tangy, and earthy. Because this cake is egg-based, it is extremely moist and fluffy. The honey-lemon frosting only adds to its decadence.
PrintLemon Poppy Cupcakes, Lemon Honey Frosting
A super moist, sweet, and delicate lemon poppy seed cupcake. Perfect for celebrating.
- Author: Mariela Alvarez Toro
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (145g) sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- Zest of 1 lemon
- ¼ cup (25g) all purpose flour
- ¼ cup (45g) corn meal
- pinch of salt
- 1 stick (115g) unsalted butter (melt and let come back to room temperature)
- ¼ cup (35g) poppy seeds (plus extra for decoration)
- 2 sticks (230g) butter (room temperature)
- 4 tbsp. powdered sugar
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 tbsp. honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F (165C).
- Line a cupcake pan with liners. Set aside.
- In a clean, dry bowl combine flour, cornmeal and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer, using a paddle attachment beat eggs and sugar until pale yellow and fluffy.
- Mix in lemon zest to the batter.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold in flour mixture.
- Once incorporated, add butter and poppy seeds.
- Mix, until everything is well mixed.
- Pour into cupcake liners until ¾ full. Bake for 15 minutes, or until firm. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
- To make the frosting, combine remaining two sticks of butter, powdered sugar, honey and lemon juice in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment and whip until fluffy.
- To assemble, spoon a dollop of frosting onto the cooled cupcake. Sprinkle poppy seeds.
- Devour.

Recently graduated with from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. She has recently completed "People in Food-Space", an ethnographic study on the cultural production of taste in space. She has also examined post-soviet food production systems and housing projects in Havana, Cuba. Originally from Puerto Rico, Mariela has been living in the United States for eight years. She has involved herself in both teaching and practice, while writing on food at tastyplan.com. Her goal as a food writer is to cook creatively, using the best ingredients to find new flavor combinations every day.
The actual cupcake batter itself was good, however the frosting was nothing more than butter. We found that it did not fluff up as frosting usually does and tasted like eating a stick of butter with lemon juice. Personally we would use a different frosting recipe on these cupcakes.
★★