Lemon Vanilla-Bean Mayo Cupcakes With Fluffy Lemon Vanilla-Bean Buttercream Frosting

I know the title is a mouthful, but that’s what they are, so I didn’t know how to shorten it;). I made these cupcakes last week, for my little girls birthday, and they turned out WAY better than expected

(which is why there is only a pic of the final result, sorry)

so I thought I’d share. Plus, I want to be able to access the recipes from anywhere, so I’m really just posting them so that I have them handy wherever I go, but yay for any of you that would like to try them.

Anyway, I’ve been hearing about how moist and delicious mayo cake’s are from my sister, for a couple of years now, and a while back I tried making one. It was, in fact, delicious and moist despite being made with whole grain white flour, so I decided to give cupcakes a try. These were so good my husband keeps telling me how yummy they were and my four year old told me that if it were cupcake wars I would win. Isn’t that sweet? I don’t think they would have won cupcake wars (especially since I just used a Ziploc bag with a #10 tip to frost them), but I will definitely be making them again…soon. My goal was to make something that was void of artificial sweeteners, colors, and flavors so here is how they turned out.

Printable Version

The Cake:

Slightly altered from the recipe found here.

This recipe makes between 35 and 40 cupcakes depending on how full you fill the liners.

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Add the following to your mixer (use a standard batter attachment):

4 Cups Whole Grain White Flour
2 Cups Sugar
1 T Baking Powder
1 T Baking Soda
2 T Powdered Milk

Let mix on low for about one minute. Then Add:

2 Cups Cold Water
2 Cups Mayo
The Scrapings of One Vanilla Bean (I got mine here)
Zest of One Lemon

Mix well. Use an ice cream scoop to fill the liners to get uniform cupcakes. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned. Let cool on a cooling rack and then frost.
* I used my Quick Mayo recipe and just omitted the pepper and dried mustard.*

The Frosting:

Slightly altered from the recipe found here:

Add the following to your mixer (use a standard batter attachment, unless you have a fancy frosting attachment…if there is such thing):

Mix the following until all the lumps are gone:

1 C Salted Butter, Softened
Zest of Two Lemons
The Scrapings of One Large Vanilla Bean (I got mine here)

Then add:

½ C Milk

Quickly cream milk into the butter. Then, cup by cup add:

2 Lbs Powdered Sugar

Cream on High for two minutes. Then mix in:

¼ C Lemon Juice

When well mixed you are ready to frost your cupcakes.