Thursday, February 17, 2011

Meyer Lemon and Poppy Seed Mini Cakes



Last week we had a baking fever here. One of the results of that oven craze was this lovely kind of muffin-teacake-cupcake. Meyer lemon is coming from all good neighbors' and friends' gardens this year, while my little tree is still working on more flowers to bring more fruits, and we all love love love the subtle yet tangy taste of this elegant lemon variety.

The original recipe was found a long time ago when I was craving lemon cake, and the result was amazing, even when butter was substituted with canola oil. The first time I followed it by the book, baking a tea cake. At this time those cute, well-designed new baking cups from Ikea were enough to call me to bake them again.

This post could actually also be about substituting ingredients, canola oil, or even how to adapt a recipe when your pantry doesn't have all ingredients that are called for. But I though that this cake was so moist, so good, and so inviting, that I decided to share it here.

My next time to playing with this recipe is to bake another batch to welcome my new next-door neighbors. I hope they will like it as much as we did -- as I am sure they will be able to smell the perfume emanating from the oven. And perhaps they will be so happy that they will share some of their cherries next summer.

    

Meyer Lemon and Poppy Seed Cakes (a little adapted from The Perfect Pantry)

As I mentioned, I used canola oil instead of butter and had amazing results. I bet it will also be great with some canola oil-based spread. Make sure to buy canola oil from a good source. I like Trader Joe's because it uses one of the best processes to extract the oil from the plant. If you want to know more about canola oil, I recommend about.com and more at WebMD.

1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 to 4 teaspoons lemon zest (Meyer lemon), grated or chopped
2 large eggs
1/2 cup 2% fat milk
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, sifted with the flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
To cover the cakes (optional):
1/4 powdered sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice

Distribute baking cups in a cupcake baking sheet. Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix sugar and canola oil to achieve a creamy texture. Add eggs and lemon zest. Gradually add eggs,  milk and flour (with the baking powder), salt and poppy seeds.  With a help of a ice cream scoop pour batter on the baking cups, filling up to 2/3 of each, maximum. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cakes are turning golden.

If you choose to have even more lemony taste, mix sugar with lemon juice until the sugar dissolves, and with the help of a teaspoon pour about two teaspoon of the mix over warm cakes.

Enjoy with your favorite tea in the company of your favorite friends.

2 comments:

Myrna said...

The photo is so eloquent that one can nearly smell the lemon zest! Ummmm! I must try this!

Anna said...

Myrna, you will love that - perhaps you can even use those little oranges from your terrace! I just tried one that my friend baked this morning with this recipe and it was awesome. I will post soon about it!

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