Is Charlotte on a lemon kick? Possibly. But it’s a great flavor, and I found such delicious lemon extract at Yes! Organic Market. (Yes!) Not that I’m renouncing vanilla and chocolate. Not by a long shot.
I also had plenty of Lemon Buttercream (96) leftover from last week to top these cuppers, and macadamia nuts call to me. Maybe it’s their odd color, so different from the cashews and walnuts you see around here regularly. Maybe it’s their interesting crunch—is it me, or is the macadamia more porous than other nuts? They practically crumble in your mouth as you chew.
The cupcake mix for this recipe gets a double-shot of macadamia: both ground macadamias and chopped are folded into the lemony batter. I used my food processor to do the grinding, and did the chopping the old fashioned way with my knife. It’s way easier to snag a couple of macadamias off the cutting board to pop into my mouth while I’m chopping than it is to grab them out of the food processor while I’m grinding. So if you are like me and insist on tasting ingredients while you bake, opt for the low-tech version. We don’t want anyone losing a finger. That is totally not vegan.
The cupcakes baked up moist and fluffy, and if you’re craving macadamia, they are definitely the place to be. That delightful macadamia-texture is preserved in the baking, although next time I might use a bit less of the ground macadamias to provide a stronger contrast between bites when you get chopped macadamia and when you don’t. The lemon frosting is really superb and added just the tartness these needed. I’d like to find candied lemon to chop up and toss in this recipe, too, a la the chopped ginger in the Gingerbread Cupcakes (53). And/or follow Terry & Isa’s suggestion and get my hands on some vegan white chocolate chips.
In an unrelated note, Charlotte received her official Vegan Freak button and bumper sticker this week, along with a hand-written note from the Vegan Freaks themselves, Jenna & Bob, thanking her for subscribing to their podcast. They do this for all their subscribers, but Charlotte is waaaay excited. Now she just needs to figure out where to put that bumper sticker…
