Recipe: Lemon Drizzle & Blackberry Cupcakes (Vegan)

Hands up if you’ve been blackberrying recently? We’ve found a top-secret spot with the biggest, juiciest berries you can imagine, and have been picking, baking, smoothie-making and freezing them for a few weeks now.

Inspired by week 1 of the Great British Bake Off, (I know, I”m a bit slow off the mark on this one), here are some tart and juicy Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes, served with a swirl of lemon buttercream and topped with blackberries.  (Oh, and they’re vegan too, not that you would guess from tasting them!).

This recipe is actually more like a muffin than a denser cake recipe, but it just works really well here drenched in syrupy lemon drizzle.  The cakes are just as good on their own if you haven’t the time and inclination to make the buttercream, or if you haven’t had time to go blackberrying yet!

5 from 1 vote

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Lemon Drizzle & Blackberry Cupcakes (Vegan)

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

50 mins

 

Course: Baking

Servings: 12 cupcakes

Author: Kate Ford | The Veg Space

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 2 tbsp ground chia or flax seeds
• 6 tbsp water
• 225 g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 225 g caster sugar
• 150 ml sunflower oil
• 150 ml dairy-free yoghurt
• zest of 2 lemons

For the drizzle:

• 60 g caster sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon

For the lemon buttercream:

• 250 g icing sugar
• 200 g dairy-free margarine
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 150 g blackberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
2. Mix the ground chia or flax seeds with the water in a small bowl, and place in the fridge for 10 minutes until gloopy.
3. Place the flour, bicarbonate of soda and sugar into a food mixer or large bowl.
4. In a separate measuring jug or bowl, mix the oil, dairy-free yoghurt and lemon zest. When the chia or flax seed mixture has turned gloopy, add this to the jug and whisk everything together until smooth. Pour into the food mixer or bowl, and mix all the ingredients together until smooth.
5. Divide the mixture between cake cases, (I find an ice-cream scoop the least messy way to do this!), then bake for 18-20 minutes until a knife or skewer inserted in one of the cakes comes out clean.
6. Meanwhile, make the drizzle by mixing the sugar and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, (or heat in a small saucepan until the sugar has just dissolved). Leaving the cakes in the tin for now, prick them all over with a cocktail stick or skewer, then pour a teaspoon of drizzle over each cake, leaving it to sink into the sponge.
7. Make the buttercream by whisking the icing sugar, margarine and lemon juice together until smooth, then when the cupcakes are completely cool, pipe or smooth the icing over the top, and top with a few blackberries.

If you like the look of this recipe, take a look at some of my other vegan baking recipes:

The Ultimate Vegan Victoria Sponge

Valentine Shortbread Sweethearts (Vegan)

Plum & Polenta Upside-Down Cake (Vegan)

Oaty Apple Traybake (Vegan)

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or hop over to my Vegan Baking Recipe Index for more ideas.