Last week I took my kids to one of their friend’s birthday party. When the time arrived for cake, all the kids lined up to get some. As the birthday boy’s mother passed out slices, Chloe, who had been quietly waiting for her piece asked, “is there food coloring in that?” During the awkward silence that resulted as the mom processed that this inquiry was made by a three year-old, I was overcome by equal parts horror and pride.
Although I tell my kids that food coloring isn’t good for their bodies, I’m hardly militant about them consuming it. In fact, I tend to treat birthday parties like Vegas_ whatever happens there, stays there. Juice boxes, brightly colored cakes, even cheese puffs are fine by me on special occasions. Yet in spite of my flexibility on the issue, both of my kids completely avoid artificial food coloring.
I still love brightly colored desserts and these cupcakes are one of my new faves. The cake has an intense lemon flavor while the icing is a vibrant blueish-purple free of any artificial dyes. When Kenya skeptically asked me how the icing got so blue, I was overjoyed to tell him it was only from blueberries. He brought some to school one day and as he proudly passed the bite-sized cakes out to his friends he told them, “there’s no food coloring in these!”
Never underestimate how far your kids will go with a little bit of knowledge!
Lemon Cupcakes with Blueberry Icing
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 large lemons (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, defrosted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla, beating on low speed until combined.
- Still on low speed, slowly add half of the flour mixture, then the milk, then the remaining flour mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as you go.
- Fold in the lemon juice and lemon zest.
- Pour the batter into greased mini muffin cups and bake for 15 minutes (22 minutes for regular sized muffins) or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcake comes out clean.
- Place the defrosted blueberries in a strainer over a bowl and press to produce 3-4 tablespoons of blueberry juice.
- In a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar and blueberry juice to form a blueberry glaze.
- Allow cupcakes to cool completely then drizzle or ice with the blueberry glaze.
will this recipe work for a big birthday cake? i’ve tried the cupcakes and they were delicious
I haven’t tried it as a full cake, but I don’t see why not!
is it okay to use this recipe to make one big cake? its for a birthday cake, we’ve tried it as cupcakes and they were really gorgeous 🙂
Love this blog! Can’t wait to make these for my son! I have enjoyed using beets to color food and am excited to try this recipe as well.
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I’m baking a double batch for my sons birthday tomorrow, but there is no way it’s going to make 24 full size muffins, The first 12 are in the oven now, and I’ll be lucky to get another 4-6 out of the remaining batter. I wonder if i had used baking cups if the batter would have stretched further. Also 10 minutes for prep is an understatement!
These sound delicious!
I also used fresh blackberries for the icing which turned out great!
I made these today to take to a party and I am HOPING they make it there…AMAZING is the only word that comes to mind:) Thanks again for sharing!
Love love love. I used strawberries and kale to color icing for my daughters birthday cake recently. Can’t wait to try these!
love that this doesn’t require food coloring!
Hello Lucy!
Of course you can refer to this post (or any others) in your project! 🙂
Hi weelicious mum
I’m a year eleven student studying society and culture, I’m doing a project on health (namely obesity) in developed countries. One of the solutions I’m putting foward is that educating people, even a little and especially children, about what they put in there mouths can make an enormous difference. Your story is a perfect example and I was wondering if I could refer to it in my project
Um, I love the line, “I tend to treat birthdays like Vegas!”
I love it how your 3 yr old is aware of the food she’s eating…I’d be proud if my kiddos said that 🙂 I’m the same way birthday parties & events are like Vegas hahaha! We don’t deny our kids at events but at home we never welcome the crazy rainbow chemical colors lol!