Glazed Lemon Cake Muffins with Poppy Seeds
FASTER
VEGETARIAN
Makes 12 muffins
Because there’s lemon zest and pith in these muffins, they have a surprisingly complex flavor, not just sweet, more like a sweet/bitter/sour mash-up, probably not a favorite among the third-grade set. They’ve got a very light crumb, not dense like some muffins, partly from the way the food processor whirs the ingredients together.
1 medium lemon
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus additional for greasing
1 cup granulated white sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup whole or low-fat milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
1½ cups confectioners’ sugar, plus more if needed
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Poppy seeds, for garnish
1. Position the rack in the center of the oven; heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter the 12 cups of a standard muffin pan.
2. Cut the lemon into 8 wedges and remove any seeds. Put the wedges in a food processor. Cover and process until mashed up, about 30 seconds.
3. Add the butter, granulated sugar, eggs, milk, flour, baking powder, and salt in that order, making sure the ingredients are evenly distributed and are not just dumped in piles. Cover and process until smooth, stopping the machine at least once, maybe twice, to scrape down the inside of the bowl.
4. Divide the batter into the prepared muffin pan cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a couple of muffins comes out clean, about 18 minutes.
5. Set the pan on a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes, then turn the muffins out and continue cooling to room temperature.
6. To make the glaze, mix the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice in a medium bowl, adding more confectioners’ sugar in 2-tablespoon increments, until a loose consistency that nonetheless holds its shape when drizzled. Drizzle onto the cooled muffins, then sprinkle the tops of each with some poppy seeds.
With skim milk and heavy cream, you’ve always got low-fat or whole milk on hand. To make 1 cup, place the amount of cream indicated below in a glass liquid measuring vessel, then add enough skim milk to make 1 cup and stir well.
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream plus skim milk makes 1 cup 2% low-fat milk.
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream plus skim milk makes 1 cup whole milk.
• 5 tablespoons heavy cream plus skim milk makes 1 cup half-and-half.