Glazed Lemon Cakes

I've been eye-ing up this recipe ever since Christmas. My sister, Katie, gave me an awesome cookbook for Christmas based on my favorite magazine, Everyday Food. I'm always flipping through my cookbooks for dinner ideas and I somehow also end up staring at these glazed lemon cakes. It's not that I'm a huge fan of lemon they just always look so refreshing! Since I had all ingredients on hand, (bought buttermilk at the store with the intention of making these) I decided to whip them up for breakfast today.

The recipe yields 6 "jumbo" muffins. I made 12 regular size muffins. You can make it into a Bundt, mini muffins, mini loafs, or really whatever shape you want.

Overall, they were really easy to make and in my opinion very tasty. I didn't think the lemon flavor was too much. If you're in the mood for a mild lemon taste I'd suggest omitting the lemon juice from the icing and just make a standard glaze with confectioners' sugar and milk. Maybe I'll try that next time. If you have a favorite citrus fruit other than lemon, try substituting the lemon for whatever you prefer.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tin
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for muffin tin
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk, or plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated, plus juice, plus 2 tablespoons more lemon juice for the glaze
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 6-cup jumbo muffin tin. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon zest and juice of 1 lemon. Set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, cream butter and granulated sugar until light. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk mixture.
3. Divide evenly among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in tin, then cool completely on a rack.
4. Set rack over wax or parchment paper. In a small bowl, stir confectioners’ sugar with remaining lemon juice until smooth. Pour over cakes, spreading to edges with a small knife. Let set 30 minutes.