Lemon-Lime Filled Muffins – SABH

I try to participate as often as possible with the Sweet Adventures Blog Hop, so I was pretty bummed that I missed last month’s. This time around I was determined to participate and was a bit obsessed about it…so much so that I was discussing recipe ideas with my husband on our Easter weekend road trip! I came up with the idea to do filled muffins/cupcakes out in the middle of Yorkshire, driving to the village of the Brontë sisters! Emily, Charlotte, and Anne lived with their brother and father in the village or hamlet of Haworth.

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The village looks like something straight out of their novels. And the day we visited even more so, as it was covered in snow, it was freezing, dark and grey, and there were crows cawing in the cemetery behind the parish church. It’s hard to imagine what life must have been like for them in the early 19th century in such a secluded place…

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The Haworth parish church, seen from the cemetery ledge.

But I think the “dreary” sensation both my husband and I had made me think of longing for sunshine and bright,  happy things. Lemons came to mind and I set my heart on making lemon filled muffins! And what better way to celebrate that Spring is finally upon us than with some beautiful, yellow lemons and bright green limes.

The Brontë Museum, which was closed by the time we arrived.
The Brontë Museum, which was closed by the time we arrived.

And as this month’s theme is “seasonal produce”, and we can use whatever is in season in our hemisphere (the blog hosts are based out of Australia), well lemons and limes fit right in!

Two horses in the fields behind the parish house.
Two horses in the fields behind the parish house.

I’ve never made a filled muffin or cupcake before, so I actually had to do a Google search and watch a few You Tube videos to figure it out. It’s actually quite an easy thing to do… no great mystery or chef’s title required. 🙂 And I must say the results are scrumptious! I may be making filled muffins a lot more in the future…

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LEMON LIME FILLED MUFFINS

Makes 12 muffins/cupcakes

Ingredients, for the Lemon-Lime Curd*, makes about 2 cups

  • 6 egg yolks, slightly beaten
  • 4 tablespoons butter (or coconut oil can also be used)
  • 1 teaspoon lime zest
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons, lemon juice (the 2 tablespoons will be used in the muffins)
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons raw honey

Process, for the Lemon-Lime Curd

  1. In a saucepan over low heat, cook the lemon juice, zest and honey until the honey is liquified.
  2. Add the butter and cook until dissolved.
  3. Add the beaten egg yolks, whisking continuously so that they will not curd.
  4. Cook 4-5 minutes longer, until the sauce thickens, and starts to boil.
  5. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool, place in a glass jar/container and refrigerate until set. (I left mine in the fridge overnight.)

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Ingredients for the Lemon-Lime Muffins

  • 2 1/2 cups ground almonds (it’s equal to 250g)
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 cup raw honey
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon lime zest

Process for Lemon-Lime Muffins

  1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.  
  2. In a food processor or blender, pulse until smooth the following: eggs, coconut oil, lemon juice, zest and honey. 
  3. Add the baking soda, salt and ground almonds. Pulse until well mixed. If using a blender, you may have to transfer to a bowl and continue with a hand mixer to ensure all the ingredients are well blended.
  4. Scoop with a spoon into each muffin/cupcake liner, about 3/4 full.
  5. Bake for 18 minutes. Turn the oven off and allow to sit in oven one minute longer.
  6. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely for the next step.

To fill the muffins/cupcakes with the lemon-lime curd

This can be done a number of ways, with either a piping bag and a piping tip, or by cutting out part of the muffin/cupcake. I opted for cutting so I could include more lemon-lime curd in the muffins; plus, as I planned on putting frosting on them, that covers up the “cut”. To make the cut, you can use a regular kitchen knife. Cut out a circle, deep into the muffin, as seen in the picture above. Take out the cut-out section and fill with the curd. To make the “top”, simple cut off the excess from the inside and leave the top portion as a cover to the hole.

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Egg-White Lemon-Lime Curd Frosting

I used the basic frosting from the strawberry cupcakes, which was a recipe from Against All Grain, I made a few months ago.

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs whites
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons raw honey
  • 3 tablespoons lemon-lime curd
  • edible marigold leaves

Process

  1. In a small saucepan, over low heat, liquefy the honey and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, beat the egg whites and lemon juice until soft peaks form.
  3. Add the heated honey and beat until stiff peaks form.
  4. Fold in the lemon-lime curd until well blended.
  5. Pour into a piping bag and pipe onto the filled cupcakes.
  6. Garnish with marigold leaves, if desired.

*The Lemon-Lime curd can be spread on bread, used to flavour yoghourt or eaten simply by the spoonful, both of these last which I’ve done repeatedly since I made it. 😉

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A bit about Sweet Adventures Blog Hop:

  • SABH is brought to you by your hostesses – Dining With a StudThe Capers of the Kitchen Crusader and me 84th & 3rd. Christina from The Hungry Australian has moved onto other adventures, we wish her sweet luck!
  • On Twitter? Use the hash tag #SABH to follow the fun and share your ideas. You can also follow us at @SweetAdvBlogHop for new hop announcements and general deliciousness.
  • Tell your bloggie friends to join up or just pop over and take a look at all the entries – the more the merrier!

For this month’s Season Produce links and information, please check out 84th & 3rd’s Fresh Apple Cake recipe and instructions page. 

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21 Comments

  1. 4.15.13

    What a bright (and tempting!) cure for winter 😀 Lemon is one of my favorite things and I now have a terrible craving for a citrus curd filled cake!

    • 4.15.13
      thesaffrongirl said:

      Thanks JJ! 😉

  2. 4.15.13
    Teresa Lorenzo. said:

    Pensamientos dulces en maravillosos lugares.

    • 4.16.13
      thesaffrongirl said:

      Gracias Tere!

  3. 4.16.13

    Lemon & lime curds are much loved in this house, but I had never thought to combine the two. I also never thought to fill a muffin with curd. Both brilliant ideas.

    • 4.16.13
      thesaffrongirl said:

      Thank you Tania! They are delicious together. I hope you give the recipe a try!

  4. 4.16.13

    Yes, I agree with JJ, I now also have a craving for lemon curd filled cake. Your little cupcakes look gorgeous and I love the sound of the cake recipe also. Very healthy 🙂

    • 4.16.13
      thesaffrongirl said:

      Thanks Kyrstie! I’m happy to have inspired both of you. 😉

  5. 4.17.13
    Anna said:

    Wow Debra! Those cupcakes certainly can add sunshine to anyone’s day any time! They look delicioso! Love the photos too! xx

    • 4.17.13
      thesaffrongirl said:

      Thank you Bambi!! (My photography is a work in progress though.. ;))

  6. 4.19.13

    Fabulous citrus recipe, perfect for cold times. I have to say I love your photos of the horses and the parish ..beautiful

    • 4.19.13
      thesaffrongirl said:

      Thank you!!

  7. 4.22.13
    Heather said:

    L.O.V.E the autumnal photos. Beautiful recipe too… curd is one of my all time favourite things to make with our chickens’ eggs. Have you experimented with any other citrus curds?

    • 4.23.13
      thesaffrongirl said:

      Hi Heather! thank you. No, I haven’t yet… I’m thinking that oranges may be nice; and although it’s not citrusy, I love making passion fruit (lilikoi) butter and curd. I have a recipe for both on the blog.

  8. 4.22.13

    The lemon-lime curd centre is gorgeous! I love the oozing pictures.
    Also, the photo of the horses looks like it’s from a postcard. Definitely not “dreary” 🙂

    • 4.23.13
      thesaffrongirl said:

      Thank you Sophie! 😉

  9. 4.23.13

    These look great! I’ve been meaning to make cupcakes filled with lemon curd for ages. Lovely pics from the home of The Bronte sisters! I wrote a paper on the Bronte Sisters in my last year of high school, takes me back!

    • 4.23.13
      thesaffrongirl said:

      Thank you Keely! What a coincidence about the Bronte sisters. It was really cool getting see the setting of where they lived and wrote.

  10. 5.1.13
    Caneel said:

    I came on here to finally look at your recipe after pinning it on pinterest the other day (I couldn’t stop thinking about it!) and was surprised to see a mention of Haworth. My mother lives in Haworth 🙂 I look forward to trying these muffins out!

    • 5.2.13
      thesaffrongirl said:

      Thank you Caneel! What a cool coincidence! 😉