Guest Blog Post: Lemon Berry Cupcakes by Pâtisserie Natalie
Thursday, August 13, 2009 
When you visit Pâtisserie Natalie, you'll undoubtedly be impressed. The pictures are simply gorgeous; the recipes are creative and sophisticated, yet unfussy.
But you'll be even more impressed knowing that the baker/writer/photographer behind it all is still in high school. No, really.
With a professional-looking portfolio of photographs and recipes already under her belt, Natalie's future sure does look sweet; happily, she has prepared a guest post exclusively for CakeSpy.com! Here goes:
Hi, my name is Natalie, from Pâtisserie Natalie. I'm so excited to get to do a guest post for CakeSpy; I've been a fan for a long time. I'm a high school student from Seattle who loves photography, food styling, and baking. I've been interested in the arts since I was really little, and found my real calling through blogging. I didn't discover the food blogging world until recently. I also didn't realize how much I would love it. My blog gives me a way to share my design and creative flow with other people, as well as see other artist's work.
I started baking more seriously about 2 years ago, but it is now an addiction. Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you I am more frequently in the kitchen then not. I absolutely cannot stay away from my kitchen aid mixer and my camera. I am self-taught in html/css coding, and do all my own graphics and layout work for my blog (CS Note: she's interested in pursuing a career in web/graphic design and photography).
I decided to make these Lemon Berry Cupcakes because as many people know, Seattle doesn't have that many sunny days during the year. Summer flavors for me are lemon and berries. Seeing as the sunny days are limited, I felt that I needed to make something that used those flavors. While I don't mind the rain at all (I love it, actually), many people are a little bummed that our summer days here are ending. With that in mind, I made these cupcakes as a sort of "summer revival." I've been working on the recipe for this lemon pound cake for a while, but I think I've finally got it. I'm often disappointed by lemon cake, as it doesn't actually taste lemony. That is not a problem for this cake at all. It's very moist and soft, which is not usually the case with pound cake. The frostings are made from raspberries and blackberries, which is why those frostings are so pink.
Lemon Pound Cake
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 sticks unsalted butter; softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup plain yogurt
- 3 tablespoons lemon zest
- 2/3 cup lemon juice
- 5 eggs
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk together in a large bowl thoroughly, and set aside.
- In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, stir together yogurt, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
- Add the eggs to the butter and sugar one at a time, beating in between each addition.
- With the mixer on a low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the yogurt mixture in 2 parts. Start and end with the flour mixture.
- Line a muffin pan with paper liners and scoop even amounts of the batter into the cups, filling almost to the top.
- Bake for 16 minutes, rotating the pan after 8 minutes. Once golden brown around the edges, remove from oven and place on a cooling rack for at least 2 hours before icing.
Blackberry & Raspberry Buttercreams
- 2-1/2 sticks unsalted butter; softened
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2-1/2 cups powdered sugar; sifted
- 1/4 cup blackberry sauce
- 1/4 cup raspberry sauce
- Beat butter and 1 cup of powdered sugar until smooth. Divide into two parts, removing half from the mixer bowl. Add the blackberry sauce to the mixer bowl, along with 3/4 cup of powdered sugar. Place buttercream in a piping bag and pipe a circle around the outer edge of the cupcake top, spiraling in towards the center.
- In the same mixer bowl, add the remaining half of the butter and powdered sugar that was set aside. Add the raspberry sauce and 3/4 cup powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Place in a piping bag and pipe an extra dollop on top of the blackberry buttercream.
Blackberry Sauce
- 1 cup blackberries
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice
Raspberry Sauce
- 1/2 cup raspberries
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice
cupcakes, guest blog, recipes
Reader Comments (32)
These are beautiful! I love that you can use fresh berries in the frosting. What talent--think of all the good things ahead for her as she gets more experience!
You have such awesome talent. Your pictures are amazing. You will go far in your career:)
Ha her name is just like mine. I also made some cupcakes similar to these :) Nice photos!
I'm a Natalie too! How impressive is she?! Incredible work.
That's one talented young lady.
Oh my those look so good! I am planning on doing some berry picking today at my Moms and Now I know what I am going to make! One of my daughters is 12 and she is a baker too. She makes the tasyiest prettiest cakes! I think it is great that a young lady like your self is so into cooking!
sounds delicccc
check out my blog!
CookTeen.blogspot.com
That is so amazing! You are a great example of the right way to be a teen. Good luck in your future!
Lovely cuppies! The buttercream looks luscious.
What a delightful young lady (oh, and the cupcakes look awesome, too)!
Natalie, your work is amazing! Go for it!
I adore lemon and berry combo's, these are truely special cupcakes!
Yum! Those look really good. Blackberries are so good right now!
Made these for my daughter's birthday today. They were tasty but I think the directions need some clarification. What kind of yogurt? I used plain. And I think the berry sauces needed strained... mine were much more 'chunks-o-berry'. Not chunks but the little pieces of blackberry were a bit much and neither buttercream looked right. Tasted good though.
Thanks for the great recipe! Just in time!
great guest blogger! those little cuppy cakes look yummy!
Thanks for the excellent guest post. These cakes look divine!
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Wow! The photos look great - luscious and delicious. And the cupcakes sound like they taste just as good as they look.
Mmm, blackberry buttercream. Swoon.
Greylisa: OK, those points have been clarified: it was indeed plain yogurt you should have used. Next time, if you want a smoother frosting you might want to crush the berries down a bit with your spoon while simmering, then strain before using in the frosting. Of course the larger pieces of berry don't sound all too bad either!
i love everything in here! from photos to recipes and write ups. they are so great. full of color. i love it.
made these this weekend, huge hit!!
I just love these! The shots are amazing!
I feel totally inspired to whip up a batch of these berry delights!
I am SO making these...thanks for the recipe!!!
I made these last weekend for a girls night out and they were a huge hit! Thank you so much for the recipe. You are such an inspiration!