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.
Irene
Super nice! Definitely making these again for my son’s up-coming birthday party!
Hannah
These little cakes are completely delicious. I love every single recipe Joy posts! The first time I made these I had to substitute buttermilk for plain yogurt and hazelnut oil for canola oil+almond extract, and they were so good I had people asking me for the recipe left and right. I just made them again but vegan-ized, with a banana instead of the egg and buttermilk, switched the sugar for maple syrup, and they still came out with the most moist-but-light consistency. This recipe is a keeper.
Jana
I made these little morsels last night for a co-worker’s birthday lunch today. SO Yummy! Surprisingly easy to throw together but a lip-smackingly lemon-y punch. I will definitely make these again.
Amy
Hi! These cute little cupcakes look fantastic! I was wondering if you knew what role the white vinegar plays in baking?
michelle
so i promised a friend i would make cupcakes for a driving/camping trip. he really wanted lemon cupcakes. so i go to make this recipe (midnight, the night before we go of course) and i’m out of flour, sugar, and muffin cups. well i used chickpea flour and honey instead of flour and sugar, and teeny tiny xmas muffin cups stashed way at the back of the cupboard, so i got a bazillion cupcakes…but they turned out so good! with chickpea flour! i was like no way!
thanks joy i love your blog!
Kelly
My oh my was this a delicious recipe! I had a bunch of limes in my fridge, so I made the recipe with lime and almond oil and oh man it was good stuff! I used this mini tiered cakes pan (doubling the recipe) and drizzled icing all over, which promptly absorbed into the cakes in the most delicious way. YUM!!!!
Max
Great recipe… but something went wrong in my kitchen… they tasted delicious but they oozed oil through the cupcake liners :( … I used olive oil, can that be the problem? Colour wise and taste wise they were really amazing, but they did not lift much… I’m going to try once more today for my kids Bday (together with the red velvet cake and carrot-cake cupcakes…yummy!) wish me luck!!
Greats from NL!
theresa
thanks for this recipe! I made some a few days ago and raved about them to my mom so much that she made me make another batch when I visited for the weekend.
I looked for hazelnut oil at the store but it was pretty expensive, so I went with olive oil instead. They tasted great but both times I made them they came out pretty greasy. The grease soaked right through the cupcake papers and the cakes themselves were really really crumbly. Is that because I used olive oil? I’m new to trying to alter recipes so I was wondering if you had a suggestion.
Thanks! I love your site! I want to try almost everything you post.