Moist Orange and Lemon Syrup Cupcakes

This is my favorite Orange and Lemon Syrup Cupcake recipe. It’s light, fluffy, incredibly moist, and bursting with a citrus taste. It’s not topped with frosting, so it’s very light and not too sweet. The zest is a very important ingredient because it gives a wonderful flavor: using a grater, just scrape the outer colored skin of the orange and lemon (don’t grate the white part because it has a bitter taste).

It is a very easy recipe, it took me less than an hour to do these cupcakes. Seriously, you just need to mix all the ingredients together, fill the cupcake liners with the mixture, then make simple syrup for the baked cupcakes. So if you’re too lazy to work in the kitchen or simply don’t have time to whip up something yummy and homemade, this is the perfect recipe.

I was really surprised at how moist and fluffy they are. At first, I was skeptical about pouring a lot of syrup on the cupcakes because I was afraid that they will turn out too sweet. But it actually enhanced the orange lemon flavor and gave the cakes a super tender and light texture.

Bon Appetit 🙂

Ingredients: (adapted from the book Cupcakes, a fine selection of sweet treats)
125 g (4 1/2 oz) unsalted butter, chilled and chopped
230 g (8 1/2 oz, 1 cup) caster sugar, superfine
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (1 big lemon)
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest (1 big orange)
3 large eggs, room temperature
125 ml (4 fl oz, 1/2 cup) milk
185 g (6 1/2 oz, 1+1/2 cups) self-raising flour, sifted (or check this substitute)

Lemon Syrup
100 ml (a little less than 1/2 cup) water
115 g (4 1/4 oz, 1/2 cup) caster sugar, superfine
Zest of 1 lemon, thinly sliced (or grated)
Zest of 1 orange, thinly sliced (or grated)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F / Gas 4)
2. Line 18 muffin holes with paper cases.
3. Place the butter, sugar, and lemon and orange zest in a saucepan
4. Stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved
5. Transfer to a large bowl
6. Add the eggs, milk, and flour and beat with electric beaters until just combined (I used a wooden spoon instead)
7. Divide the mixture evenly among the case.
8. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake
9. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool
10. To make the lemon syrup, place the water and sugar in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved
11. Add the lemon and orange zest, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally or until golden and syrupy.
12. Strain the syrup, pour over a little of the syrup on each cake (You can also decorate with some reserved strips of zest).