I have downright baffled myself.
I may have mentioned that I’m moving this week. Moving is… horrifying. Yes, I’m being dramatic. Please indulge me.
Among the things that I found under my bed and in the dark recesses of my closet as I’ve been cleaning and packing are:
eight kitten stuffed animals.
one medium sized bunny stuffed animal.
three puppy stuffed animals.
….. WWWHHHHHYYYY?
one baby sock…. A. Baby. Sock. I have no baby. Seriously… What the heck is going on here!?
a tiny rhinestone turtle toe ring. Really?
one sweater that gives my arms a rash. I found out the hard way.
one wooden bobble head turtle toy. Why so many turtles hiding in my house?
and… a rock. Because… yea. A rock.
Take these Little Lemon Hazelnut Cakes as a token of my love, affection, and dwindling sanity.
This recipe is like a secret weapon. It’s super adaptable and always perfectly moist. At its root, the cake is an easy buttermilk and oil cake that comes together with two bowls and a whisk. I used hazelnut oil, but almond oil, walnut oil, or olive oil also work beautifully. Also feel free to add any sort of citrus zest you like. This recipe makes twelve tender and darling little cakes. Go on. Bake em. I’ll just be over here in the corner losing my ever loving mind. Don’t mind me.
Little Lemon Hazelnut Cakes
makes 12 little (cup)cakes
recipe adapted ever so slightly from Jun Tan
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup hazelnut oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of one lemon
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place a rack in the center of the oven. Line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In another medium bowl, whisk together hazelnut oil, buttermilk, egg, vinegar, vanilla extract and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once. Whisk together until just combined and no lumps remain. Divide between twelve cupcake cups and bake for 18-22 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center of one of the little cakes comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan to cool completely and top with an easy lemon glaze.
Lemon glaze is simple 1 heaping cup of powdered sugar mixed with the juice of half a lemon and a dash of water or milk to reach your desired consistency.
{ 85 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, those cupcakes look so delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Honestly…moving does suck. A lot. Eat lots of these cakes to dull the pain! Hopefully you’ll be settled in quickly.
lol, the baby sock is random. When we moved a couple months back we found my long lost rainbow whisk under the sofa!
everybody seems to be moving these days and has some scary stories to tell… its freaking me out! aaahhh. i mighty hate moving although i never properly have but kinda will have to later this month. to a different country. eekk.
at least you know youre going to a loft which is pretty darn cool! ;) i doubt ill find any affordable lofts in london, haha. reading your posts always makes me smile and i feel as though i might not be the only slightly coo-coo person in the world. and i mean that as a compliment! ;P
as im typing i have a piece of muffin stuck somewhere in my throat *cough*. it was a good muffin but maybe this wouldnt have happened if i had eaten yours, joy. delectable as usual i can imagine these pretty little darlings made with olive oil (or even infusec evoo!) and lemon zest… hmmm! :)
I saw the picture of these on your Twitter feed last night and actually dreamed about them in the wee hours of the morning. And now that I have to go to work, I’ll be dreaming about them when I should be paying attention in meetings. *sigh* I can’t explain the sock or the turtles, so I think you should have another cupcake for breakfast and consider the matter over coffee. ;)
Moving IS horrible, I couldn’t agree more, but those cupcakes look good, so that makes everything okay!
I just snorted out the cup of tea I was drinking whilst reading about you finding the baby sock…love it!
Is that a real silver spoons?
These look just perfect! I love lemoney cakey sweets :)
Those looks so moist and delicious! You don’t even want to know the thing I find in obscure places in my home. :)
joy, re the move, so feel your pain, enjoy the surprises, to sanity!
Cupcakes look devine, i’ll be sure to try them soon, hazelnut and lemon – interesting combo! Thanks and all the best.
Moving is, indeed, AWFUL!! Best wishes for a quick move :)
And, um, I’ll just have one of these little cakes while you’re packing.
These are lovely!
Lemon is my best friend. Yum!
Those cupcakes too mega sweet. I AM going to make them =) But firstly, I have a question. How many cupcake patties do you use for each cupcake? I usually double mine up. Is that the right way to go? Oh and I love, love, love your blog! It’s so FUN to read!
Thanks Joy,
Nastasja
This recipe is goegeous! I love oil based cakes! So straightforward. I love the idea of using hazelnut oil.
Under your bed sounds cool, a regular under ground club for hipster kittens to party! x
It’s true, when you move you find a whole lot of strange things and you start wondering where they actually came from, never mind, that’s the best opportunity to get rid of all the useless clutter and start afresh again. Good luck!
XXX
what pretty little cuppies :) just what u need to deal with the insanity of moving. good luck with the move!
This looks good !
Moving IS the worst. At least you found your secret stuffed animal collection! :)
Mmm, lovely little cakes. Looks like they’d be perfect for tea time.
Good luck on your move!
These look perfect and yummy!
LOL. You find a lot of things when it’s time to move. I can’t wait to see what I find when I unpack since most of my things have been packed for the past year and a half…we’ve been trying to find the right place to call home. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
Best of luck with your move.
I’m also moving soon, and the other day while packing I found a rock-hard dinner roll in a little baggy on top of my tall bookcase. I know exactly what restaurant that roll came from, and I haven’t eaten there for a loooong time. I hope you don’t find anything gross like that!
Will try them! they look so delicious.
And good luck with the moving :)
I am sure i would love this little lemon hazelnut cakes!
Yummy cupcakes! And good luck with the moving thing. It’s no easy task but I’ve moved 5 times in the last 5 years and I’m still sane…for the most part. Unpacking is always more fun than packing.
Mmmm… I love lemon desserts! There aren’t nearly enough of them.
Good luck moving!
I’d love to try these with almond oil!! Don’t get too down on the turtle thing, I too seem to have a knack for collecting random turtle trinkets. Good luck on the move!!
I love that you found a baby’s sock!! Those baby cakes look amazing!!!
I’ve moved 29 times and all I can say is: just throw or give stuff away. It makes everything easier…Less stuff, less hassles.
Moving is not fun. I 100% agree. I’ve found the best thing about it is that you purge all of those things you don’t want to take to the new place. So, while it isn’t fun packing, it is forced spring cleaning!
Yum on the cakes, by the way. My dad keeps sending me lemons from his tree in California and I need an excuse to use them.
Have I ever told you how much I enjoy your blog and how much I want to meet you in person?? Probably haven’t because I haven’t commented before so here goes: adore your blog, your posts make me laugh and make me feel that I’m not the only insane person on the planet :D Kudos to you. And your recipes always look/taste lovely. Kudos again.
Think positively Joy, you get to eat so much more of this goodness without having to exercise (think of all the calories you’re burning while you stress and move). Good luck with the change, enjoy looking back on what you find. Can’t wait to try these!
Ha ha! I love moving! Actually I really hate it, but I think you are super awesome for having the motivation to bake and move…that is something I could not do! Thanks for the sweet cupcakes!
These look delicious, perfect for brunch.
Good luck with the move :)
I have been trying to find something to bake with my hazelnut oil and these will be perfect!
I’m going to have to try these. Lately I’ve been using Ina Garten’s lemon pound cake recipe for my lemon cupcakes, but I’m just not happy with it anymore. I made it again last night in a mini bundt pan and I found it had an almost chewy texture.
Good luck with your move!
i moved 18 months ago, and although i didn’t find anything wacky before i moved, i have yet to locate my highball glasses and my rolling pin (gasp!) Luckily i have enough wine bottles to substitute since Pi Day is Sunday!
Wow, you seem to be really busy this past week, I can’t believe you had time to bake these delicious sounding cakes!
oh my hells yes, moving is the devil!
also, baby socks! I’ve got one for my cell phone and one for my ipod :)
those little cakes look delicious!!
you’re so not being dramatic. moving blows more than anything in the whole world. i mean really. can’t wait to try the cakes!
well. you don’t know this, but i just adore you. you have the cutest little blogging voice. and really great recipes. you’re on my bookmark. and i don’t do bookmarks. keep on keepin’ on, sista.
12 is a good number, I feel like most cupcake recipes end up making around…a trillion. 12 is good.
And you’re right! Studies have shown that moving is emotionally difficult. Studies may not have shown that cupcakes help things, but, well, they should.
i am not jealous of the move…i get stressed out by having to pack for a trip let alone a real move! but just think about how new and fresh the new place will feel when you’re settled.
these cakes really scream springtime to me! love the idea of a moist zesty treat.
Good luck with the move – this recipe looks great. I’m excited by how simple it is, and how I have all the ingredients on hand! And an abundance of lemons in the back yard…
At least you didn’t find any Spiders! (I found a big one living in my spice cupboard.) Now I want a minicake.
YUM! And moving is the WORST. We just did it and im pretty sure that if anyone saw my office they would ask if it had been burglarized.
I don’t think you’re being dramatic. Moving. And packing. Does things to people. Bad bad things. I had to move in a 95 degree heatwave once. Let’s just say that I was really thankful that one of the many things I unearthed in the process was a handle of vodka.
These look delicious! I can’t say I’ve ever seen a lemon and hazelnut combination but if it comes from you’re kitchen, I’ll believe that it’s amazing.
Nearly fell off my chair laughing at how you described all you found. Moving and packing is such hard work, I’ve done it one too many times in my life I think. Hope it all goes smoothly! x
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