Hummingbird Cuppycakes With Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

A couple of months ago I made a Hummingbird cake following a recipe for hummingbird cupcakes. It turned out to be quite scrumptious … very moist and delectable. Then yesterday with the "The Cuppycake Song" doing its rounds in my head [thanks to a very musical little boy who keeps humming it all day long], I decided to take a shot at the original recipe. The cupcakes tasted exactly the same as the cake, but there was a big difference in texture. The cake was moist whereas the cupcakes turned out to be a wee bit dry. That was rectified by a generous dousing of delicious lemon cream cheese frosting. The overall effect was lemony, feel good and very satisfying. I might even add 1/4 cup pineapple syrup leftover from the canned, crushed pineapple for a moister texture. Click here for the recipe.

Over christmas I bought some good kitchen props and pieces off ebay. I was particularly excited about trying some Robert Gordon polka dot patty cases in pink, green and blue [I use the green ones here]. They are the cutest, wispiest cupcake cases I have seen with scalloped edges and a deep-fill capacity …. just tear and dig in! My new microplane grater came in handy to zest the lemon. When I started assembling the ingredients, I realised that I was missing pecans. I substituted them with walnuts instead … good idea but I prefer the taste of pecans which I had used in the original cake recipe the first time around. They marry well with pineapple and coconut as opposed to walnuts. If you want a lighter treat, skip the frosting and go with a dusting of powdered sugar.