High Altitude Honey Lemon Cupcakes

This spring, I’ve had the pleasure of sampling some honey from Local Hive™, and the first thing I baked with their New York honey varietal were these wonderful high altitude honey lemon cupcakes. The cupcakes are soft and fluffy, with a delicate sweetness from the honey and a subtle hint of lemon. I frosted them with a swirl of salted honey buttercream, and topped them with the loveliest, edible dried pineapple flowers. You’ll love this delicious combination of flavors in these cupcakes that are just perfect for spring and summer.

This post is sponsored by Local Hive™, but all opinions expressed are our own.

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About Local Hive™

Local Hive™ bottles 22 different honeys made exclusively in the US. Each kind of honey – called a “varietal” – has a distinct flavor profile depending on where it’s from. By keeping their honey 100% raw and unfiltered, they retain its unique flavor and all the local pollens inside, which gives each Local Hive™ varietal a unique taste profile, unlike mass-produced honey that has been blended and filtered, and may be from anywhere in the world.

They are launching the first of their Harvest Reserve honeys: a limited edition, highly local varietal from New York with a lovely floral taste. This limited edition, 2,000 bottle run of local varietal honey comes entirely from bees and beekeepers located in New York. And through June 31, 2021, you can use code HEATHER20 to receive a 20% site-wide discount off of any of their 22 varietals.

Why You’ll Love These Cupcakes

Soft and Fluffy. The crumb on these cupcakes is just so good. Even after making them in advance and freezing them for several weeks, they were still incredibly soft, fluffy and moist.

Easy to Make. While you’ll need a mixer to make the buttercream, you can easily mix up the cupcake batter with just a bowl and whisk. The pretty pineapple flowers are also so easy to make, and most of the time spent on them is simply letting them dry.

Perfect Spring Flavors. Honey and lemon are simply delicious together. I’ve paired them previously in my lavender lemonade honey popsicles, which are just fantastic. The tartness of the lemon and the sweet floral notes from the honey perfectly balance each other.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

TIP: Use room temperature ingredients when making your cupcakes, so the batter mixes smoothly and the cupcakes bake evenly.

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• Lemon Juice + Lemon Zest. Fresh lemon juice and zest adds acidity for a tender cake crumb, and perfumes the cupcakes with lemon flavor.
• Whole Milk. Adds richness and moisture. When combined with the lemon juice, you’ll have a lemon “buttermilk” that contributes to the soft, tender texture of the cake.
• Granulated Sugar + Honey. Adds sweetness, moisture, and a delicate honey flavor.
• Eggs + Egg White. The eggs stabilize the cake batter and add structure.
• Sour Cream. The acidity and fat in sour cream makes the cupcakes moist, tender and flavorful.
• Vegetable Oil + Unsalted Butter. Using a combination of oil and melted butter makes a soft, moist cupcake with a rich, buttery flavor.
• Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
• Cake Flour. For a light, fluffy texture, cake flour is a better option than all-purpose flour for these honey lemon cupcakes.
• Baking Powder. Leavens the cupcakes.
• Coarse Kosher Salt. Balances the sweetness.

Buttercream

• Unsalted Butter. Adds fat and richness to buttercream, and whips up into a light, fluffy consistency.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
• Meringue Powder. Provides stability and improves the texture.
• Coarse Kosher Salt. Balances the sweetness.
• Vanilla Extract. Flavor, to complement the honey.
• Honey. Adds a delicious honey flavor, as well as sweetness, which is nicely balanced by the salt.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Instructions

Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line a standard-sized cupcake/muffin pan with 24 paper liners.
• In a measuring cup, stir together the lemon juice and milk; set aside for about 15 minutes to let the milk curdle.
• Measure the sugar into a large bowl, and zest the lemon over the sugar. Use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar to really infuse the lemon flavor.
• To the bowl of lemon sugar add the lemon juice, milk, honey, eggs, egg white, sour cream, oil, melted butter and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
• Separately, sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients and whisk for 10-15 seconds until smooth.
• Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure the cake batter into the paper liners, filling them 2/3 full.
• Bake for about 15 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly touched.
• Cool for several minutes in the pan, then gently transfer to a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.

TIP: Be careful not to fill the cups with too much batter. With cupcakes, you want a delicate dome, not big, browned muffin tops.

Buttercream

• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for one minute until smooth.  Scrape the bowl down.  With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing to combine.  Add the vanilla.
• Beat on medium high for about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl down occasionally, until very light and fluffy.  Add the honey and beat for 2 more minutes. Turn the speed down to “stir” and mix for 1 minute to reduce the air bubbles.
• Fit a piping bag with your favorite piping tip, fill with buttercream, and pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes.
• Before serving, top the cupcakes with the dried pineapple flowers.

How to Make Dried Pineapple Flowers

Prep the pineapple.

• Set a cooling rack on a large baking sheet. Since you’ll have more pineapple slices than can fit on one rack, you can stack several cooling racks on the same baking sheet by using balls of aluminum foil as “risers” between each rack.
• Cut the top and bottom off the pineapple. Slice off the rough peel, then use a paring knife to remove the “eyes”. Be sure to leave the pineapple core intact.
• Lay the pineapple on its side and cut very thin slices, as thin as you can get them, about 1/16 of an inch thick. Pat the excess moisture out of the pineapple slices with paper towels, then arrange the slices on the cooling racks.

Bake.

• Preheat the oven to 200 F, with the rack positioned in the lower third of the oven.
• Bake the pineapple slices for about 2 hours, rotating the pan halfway through. If you sliced them thin enough, they should feel pretty dry after two hours, with the edges getting crinkly and golden brown.

Shape and dry.

• Remove the pan from the oven, and immediately press the hot pineapple slices into a cupcake pan (a mini cupcake pan with 24 cups works very well) to mold them into a cupped flower shape. If you don’t work quickly, they will stiffen up and won’t easily conform to the cups. If this happens, return the baking sheet to the oven for a few minutes to soften the pineapple up so you can mold the flowers.
• Let the pineapple cool completely. Initially, the flowers will be slightly crisp as they cool, but they do tend to soften up again as they sit.
• Keep the flowers in the cupcake pan until you’re ready to use them, to help them maintain their shape. It’s not advised to make the pineapple flowers more than 24 hours before you’ll be using them.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use canned pineapple slices to make the dried pineapple flowers?

No. Canned sliced pineapple is cut far too thick, has too much excessive syrup, and is missing the core, which you need intact to make your flowers. Only a fresh, very thinly sliced pineapple will work.

Can I make the pineapple flowers in advance?

Not really. They tend to soften a bit as they sit, and look their prettiest and freshest within the first few hours after they’re dried and shaped. I wouldn’t recommend making them any more than 12-24 hours in advance, at the very most.

What piping tip did you use for the buttercream?

Tip 6B.

Can I use salted butter instead of unsalted in the buttercream?

Yes, absolutely. If you use salted butter, just reduce or eliminate the extra salt in the buttercream, or taste it and add more salt as desired.

Would these cupcakes be good with a filling?

These cupcakes would be great filled with lemon curd or custard.

How long do these cupcakes stay fresh?

Stored in an airtight container, the cupcakes will stay soft and moist for up to 3 days. You can keep them at room temperature for the first day, but store leftovers in the refrigerator to keep them fresh.

Where can I buy Local Hive™ honey?

You can purchase any of their 22 varietals of honey directly on their website. And through June 31, 2021, you can use code HEATHER20 to receive a 20% site-wide discount off their entire selection of honey.

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