I first had these heavenly cakes at my friend Alice’s engagement party several months ago.  They had a whole table of homemade treats and for a sweets crazy girl like me it was so difficult to decide what to eat first.  I will admit that these did not make the first cup, but when I realized that these were made by my friend Lindsey I absolutely had to try them!  I almost wish I hadn’t tried them since I proceeded to eat five of them (or more) throughout the evening!

To make the story even sillier, when I asked Lindsey for the recipe, I realized it was from a cookbook we both own!  I went through a faze of snatching up any and all cupcake cookbooks when I first started baking.  I still haven’t gone through every single one, cover to cover. That needs to be corrected SOON :)

{Recipe from Cupcakes!}

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 3/4 cup, plus 2 tbsp sugar
• 3/4 cup egg whites (about 5 large)
• 1/2 tsp cream or tartar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp grates lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp pure almond extract

Instruction

Preheat the over to 325 degrees.  Have a muffin pan ready with 12 muffin cups.  Sift the flour and 2 tbsp of sugar in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until the whites are foamy and the cream of tartar dissolves.  Beat on high speed until the egg whites look shiny and smooth and the beaters from lines in the mixture; if you stop the mixer and lift up the beaters, the whites should cling to the beaters.  Slowly beat in the remaining 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tbsp at a time, then beat for 1 minute.  Mix in the lemon zest, vanilla, and almond extract.  Beating on low speed, sprinkle 1/4 cup of the flour mixture over the egg white mixture at a time, beating after each addition to incorporate it.

Using 1/2 cup for each, spoon the batter into 9 unlined muffin cups.  {You may think you have enough batter to fill each cup in the pan, but trust me, fill all the batter into NINE cups.} The batter may even be above the tops of the cups, but this stiff batter will not spill over the sides. Do not smooth the tops - let the batter remain in fluffy mounds.  Bake for about 35 minutes {keep an eye on your oven, mine were done in less time}, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out dry.  The cupcakes will rise quite a bit.

Arrange 2 cans on a wire rack and invert the pan over the cans so the ends of the pan rest on the cans.  This lets the air circulate while the cupcakes cool upside down.  Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Use a small knife to loosen the edges of the cupcakes from the pan.  Carefully remove the cupcakes from the pan, using the knife to help release them if necessary, and set them right side up on the rack.  

Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tbsp plus about 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

In a small bowl, stir the powdered sugar and the melted butter with enough lemon juice, beginning with 2 tablespoons, to make a smooth pourable glaze.  

Use a small spoon to drizzle the glaze over the top of each cupcake.