Candied Lemon Cupcakes #BacktoSchoolTreats #Sponsored

I received product samples from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of 

the #BacktoSchoolTreats week recipes. All opinions are mine alone.

Summer is winding down, and here we are at the final day of #BacktoSchoolTreats hosted by Terri from Love and Confections and Christie from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures. All week-long 30 bloggers will be sharing 100+ fantastic recipes for both parents and kids, with breakfasts, snacks, desserts, and drinks to get you back in the school routine. Thank you sponsors for providing the prize packages.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway! You can click on my kick-off post to read about all the prizes: 'Ah! Sunflower' Cupcakes. Or scroll all the way to the bottom. Here are all the recipes for the final day of #BacktoSchoolTreats...

Back to School Breakfasts

• Pancake Tacos from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures

Back to School Snacks

• Banana Sushi from Simple and Savory
• Cookie Monster Muddy Buddies from The Redhead Baker

Back to School Desserts

• Afternoon Lemon Squares from Girl Abroad
• Candied Lemon Cupcakes from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Caramel Apple Oatmeal Skillet Cookie from Home Sweet Homestead
• No-Churn Cheesecake Ice Cream from Love and Confections

Back to School Drinks

• Caramel Apple Mocktail for the Kiddos! from Jen Around the World

Candied Lemon Cupcakes

I was inspired to make something lemony when I received these yellow dot cupcake liners from one of the event sponsors Sweets & Treats. This recipe also uses their chunky yellow sugar crystals. And, in the buttercream and candied lemon slices, I used sugar from sponsor Dixie Crystals. And I went to my parents' backyard and liberated some Meyer lemons from their tree.

Actually I made three versions of a lemon cupcake and put it out to the social media realm to tell me, if faced with three trays of cupcakes, which would they choose and why. The support was overwhelmingly for this one. So, that's how I'm ending the week. Comments included...

• I’d pick the one with the lemon slice. It tells me what to expect plus it is unique.
• The lemon ones. I just love lemon!
• I like the flower, but...Lemon ❤
• Lemon slice on top!
• Love lemon
• I like the lemon. I would be hoping it was going to be fresh and fruity tasting.
• Ones with the lemon. I love citrus and cake
• Lemon looks best to my taste buds
• Lemon. I love me some tart with my sweet!🍋
• Lemon slice looks like summer. ❤
• The Lemon Wedges. I hate sprinkles of any kind and I love lemons.
• The lemon one—for sure
• Lemon .. .need I say more
• Lemon, yum
• The lemon.
• The one with the lemon
• The one with the lemon because it looks the most natural and grown-up

I was actually surprised by the answers. I thought that it would be more evenly spread out. When it wasn't, I knew that's how I needed to end #BacktoSchoolTreats.

Ingredients

Candied Lemon

• 1 C granulated sugar (prefer Dixie Crystals)
• 1 C water
• 1 C thinly sliced organic lemons

Cupcakes

• 1/4 C butter, softened
• 1 C organic granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 1 t lemon extract
• zest from 1 organic lemon
• 1 C whole milk
• 1-1/2 C flour
• 1/3 C almond flour
• 3 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• Also needed: cupcake tin (I used a stoneware pan), paper liners (I used Sweets & Treats' yellow dot cupcake liners and doubled them up)

Buttercream

• 5 large egg yolks
• 1/3 C water
• 1 C granulated sugar (prefer Dixie Crystals)
• 1 T organic corn syrup
• 2 C butter, softened
• 4 drops lemon essential oil
• yellow food coloring, as needed (I prefer vegetable and fruit-based dyes)

For Serving

• chunky sugar (I used Sweets & Treats'  chunky yellow sugar crystals)

Procedure

Candied Lemon
Place the water and sugar in a pan and bring to a boil. Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved. Lay the slices in the syrup so that they are all flat and all submerged. Simmer until the rind is softened and translucent in places. Approximately 5-7 minutes. Remove from the syrup with a slotted spoon and let dry. Roll in more sugar. Set aside until ready to use. This can be done a few days in advance.

Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place cupcake liners in pan. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until lightened and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes. Add in the egg yolks, lemon extract, and lemon zest. Mix again, then pour in the milk.

In another mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients: flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Sift the dry ingredients into the batter and fold in gently with a spatula until just moistened.

In another mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until medium peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter, taking care not to deflate the egg whites too much.

Divide the cake batter evenly between 12 cupcake hollows.

Place cupcake pans on a baking sheet and place in the preheated oven. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the trays from the oven and cool the cakes completely on wire racks.

Buttercream
Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl and beat on high until they are thick, pale, and ribbon off the whisks.

Combine water, sugar, and corn syrup in a small saucepan. You can attach a candy thermometer to the side; I just kept testing until it reached soft-ball stage. If you're using a thermometer, heat until it reaches 238 degrees F. For testing otherwise, dip a spoon into the syrup, then into ice cold water. The syrup should immediately set up into a soft ball. Mine took about 8 minutes to reach the correct consistency.

Once the syrup is ready, remove it from the heat. While one hand hold the mixer, use the other hand to pour the syrup into the yolks. When all of the syrup is added, turn the mixer up to high and beat until the yolks have doubled in size and have reached medium peak stage. The bowl should be cooled and just lukewarm to the touch. Mine took about 9 minutes.

Begin adding butter, one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. The more butter you add, the more firm the buttercream will be.

Once your buttercream resembles what you think of as buttercream, add in the lemon essential oil and the food coloring.

For Serving
Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe the buttercream on top of your cupcakes in a swirl. Sprinkle with yellow sugar.

And press a half of a candied lemon slice into the top. Refrigerate the cupcakes to let the buttercream set, then remove them about 10 to 15 minutes before you want to serve them.

It's hard to believe that summer vacation is really over and it really, really is 'back to school'. My duo starts the school year on Wednesday. How about your family?

But we are squeezing in one last hooray in the form of camping (for Jake and D) and a trip to our favorite city (for me and R). Timing didn't work out for us all to go together since the camping Manns left on Wednesday and R and I had to work until the end of the week. Drat.

You may find sponsor Sweets & Treats - whose products were used in this recipe - on the web, on Twitter, on Pinterest, on Instagram, and on Facebook....

and, also, Dixie Crystals on the web, 

on Twitter, on Pinterest, on Instagram, and on Facebook.

The Giveaway

 Don't forget to enter the giveaway below! Here's the prize line up...

PRIZE #1 DIXIE CRYSTALS

Dixie Crystals is giving one winner a Keurig K-Select Single-Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker. Since 1917, Dixie Crystals® has been the South’s choice for high-quality sugar and sweeteners. For generations, Dixie Crystals has been at the heart of family traditions and celebrations. Our pure cane, non-GMO sugar products guarantee that treasured family recipes will turn out right every time. Bake with love and Dixie Crystals.   

PRIZE#2 SWEETS & TREATS

Sweets &Treats is giving one winner the Year of Sprinkles that contains holiday mixes, classic sprinkles, and some of their most popular sprinkles. Sweets & Treats, a party and baking supplies manufacturer and wholesaler, started out of a baking industry need for truly grease-proof cupcake liners. From there, the company expanded into a handful of specialized categories including the latest, Sweet Sprinkles, their one of a kind sprinkles and sprinkle mix line. With hundreds of truly unique products, they are a one stop shop for your next party!

PRIZE#3 TORANI

Torani is giving one winner a year supply of Torani: 12-750ml glass bottles, flavors will be winner’s choice, plus pumps for each bottle. 

We believe in flavor for all and opportunity for all. In the beginning, Rinaldo and Ezilda Torre visited family in Lucca, Italy. They returned home to San Francisco with handwritten recipes, which they used to create authentic flavored syrups. Needless to say, the syrups we’re a hit. A lot has happened since then, but our belief has remained the same: Flavor for All, Opportunity for All. It means that not only are the products we make inclusive and approachable, but so is our success. We believe everything starts with people, and the only way to truly succeed is to succeed together. Today, you can use more than 100 of our naturally flavored syrups, sauces and beverage bases in coffees, sodas, teas, smoothies, cocktails and more.

PRIZE#4 TAYLOR & COLLEDGE

Taylor & Colledge is giving one winner a selection of their gourmet extract pastes, including Organic Vanilla Bean Baking Paste, Lavender Baking Paste, Almond Baking Paste, Coconut Baking Paste, Lemon Baking Paste, and Peppermint Baking Paste. Taylor & Colledge has been making award winning Vanilla products since 1897. As a family owned business, Taylor & Colledge has always been committed to the fair, ethical and sustainable sourcing of Vanilla. Over the years they have pioneered a number of country specific programs to support growers, their families and to make the vanilla industry more sustainable. They have also taken this knowledge and expertise and applied it to their full range of baking pastes. Whether it’s sourcing the finest peppermint (mentha piperita) to make the best Peppermint Oil, or using only real Almond Milk and Oil of Bitter Almond for their natural Almond Extract Paste, Taylor & Colledge is committed to transform your baking with premium quality pastes, made with only the finest ingredients from around the world.  

PRIZE#5 FLAHAVAN'S

Flahavan's is giving one winner an oat prize package including a jar for overnight oats and a selection of Rolled Oats, Quick to Cook Oats, and Steel Cut Oats. Ireland’s oldest family-owned food business is situated at the family mill in the Southeast of Ireland. Flahavan’s can trace its oat milling history back to 1785 and its expertise in producing naturally creamy oatmeal back over 230 years. A seven-generation family business, Flahavan’s is the bestselling oatmeal brand in Ireland, where people eat more oatmeal per capita than anywhere else in the world. Flahavan’s is a founding member of Origin Green, the first-ever national initiative to mandate 100% sustainability for food exports.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to #BacktoSchoolTreats Sponsors: Dixie Crystals, Sweets & Treats, Torani, Taylor & Colledge, and Flahavan's for providing the prizes free of charge. These companies also provided the bloggers with samples and product to use for #BacktoSchoolTreats recipes. All opinions are my own. The #BacktoSchoolTreats giveaway is open to U.S. residents, age 18 & up. All entries for the winner will be checked and verified. By entering you give the right to use your name and likeness. The number of entries received determines the odds of winning. Five (5) winners will be selected. The prize packages will be sent directly from the giveaway sponsors. Winners have 48 hours to respond once chosen, or they forfeit the prize and alternate winner(s) will be chosen. The #BacktoSchoolTreats Bloggers are not responsible for the fulfillment or delivery of the prize packages. Bloggers hosting this giveaway and their immediate family members in their household cannot enter or win the giveaway. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter or any other social channel mentioned in the #BacktoSchoolTreats posts or entry.