lemon almond flour cupcakes with blueberry whipped cream frosting
/As promised, dessert!
Today is my uncle’s birthday [Happy Birthday Uncle Alan!!!], so before leaving town we had a mini celebration. I think everyone felt a little emptiness in the room with my grandpa not being there, but we ate, laughed, and joked to keep our minds busy. Just as he wanted.
Before cupcakes we slurped on tomato soup and crunched on toasty grilled cheese sandwiches. An always delicious and comforting meal.
I thought for today we would start things off with cupcakes.
Lemon and blueberry is a combination that will never get old. Don’t you agree?
I wanted to keep the blueberry flavor in the frosting and the lemon in the cupcakes. I also wanted to keep the recipe as simple as possible. The easiest way to do that is by using almond flour. No crazy combination of gluten free flours, starches, and gums. Just almond flour!
It’s hard to believe ground almonds can be turned into such a delicious dessert.
And for the frosting?
A simple combination of heavy whipping cream, cream cheese, blueberries and honey.
A fluffy, slightly sweet frosting, with a hint of blueberry.
I wanted to keep the frosting nice and light to let the lemon almond cupcake shine.
Almond Flour Lemon Cupcakes
gluten-free // yields 10 cupcakes // adapted from orange blossom cupcakes
- 3 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- Preheat your oven to 325* and position a rack in the center. Line a cupcake pan with 10 cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, honey, melted coconut oil, vanilla, lemon, and lemon zest until smooth.
- Combine the wet with the dry and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. It should result in a thick, pourable batter.
- Empty batter evenly into the lined cupcake tin.
- Bake for 23-27min, until a toothpick comes out clean and they are golden brown on top.
- Remove from the pan and let fully cool before frosting.
notes: You want to be sure and use blanched almond flour and not almond meal. You can make this at home [or buy it pre-ground] in a high speed blender or food processor using raw blanched almonds. Only blend about 3/4 cup of a cup at a time and scrape the sides as needed until very fine. Be careful not to over process as the mixture will start to turn into nut butter. It heats slightly when you grind, so make sure to let it cool a bit before storing in a sealed container in the fridge.
Blueberry Whipped Cream Frosting
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 4oz cream cheese [full fat]
- 1/2 cup blueberries
- 6 Tablespoons raw honey
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the blueberries and honey and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to simmer for 6-8min. Stir frequently.
- Pour in a bowl and set in the refrigerator until completely chilled.
- In a cold metal bowl, whip the whipping cream until stiff peaks form [I used the whisk attachment with a hand mixer]. Refrigerate for 15min.
- In another bowl, whip the cream cheese until smooth and creamy.
- Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese and whip until fully combined and stiff.
- With an immersion blender [or regular blender should work] blend the blueberry honey mixture until smooth.
- Whisk the blueberry mixture with the cream mixture until fully combined.
- Refrigerate for at least 15min before spreading on fully cooled cupcakes.
- Keep cupcakes refrigerated once frosted.
notes: This is a very soft frosting. I don’t think it would work well for a layer cake because of how soft it is. If you want to stiffen it up, you can always use powdered sugar instead of honey and add more until desired sweetness and consistency is reached. If the 6T of honey is not sweet enough for your taste buds, I would use powdered sugar instead of more honey to sweeten. Avoid using frozen blueberries, as it may make the mixture too wet.
Soup’s on tomorrow!
Ashley
