April, Come She Will 🐉
Game of Thrones Preparation: Sansa’s Lemon Cakes

Sansa is all about the Lemon Cakes. Unfortunately Lemon Cakes were the only taste of happiness in a terrible string of horrific life experiences for Sansa. So let’s rejoice in Sansa’s simple pleasures before all hell breaks loose in Season 8.

Candy Some Lemons 🍋

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

2 to 3 Meyer lemons

Thinly slice Meyer lemons. You’ll want 12. Remove the seeds and set aside.

Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan. Put on low heat and mix occasionally as the sugar dissolve.

Once water is simmering, place the lemon slices in the pot and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove the slices from the sauce pot, placing on wax paper. Let them dry on the wax paper overnight.

Lemon Cupcakes (Adapted from the amazing Nora Cooks) 🍋

1 1/4 cups almond milk

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Aquafaba from 1 can of chickpeas

8 tablespoons vegan butter, softened to room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a cupcake pan with coconut oil.

Place one candies lemon slice at the bottom of each cupcake recess. Set pan aside.

In a measuring cup, combine the almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Let sit a few minutes while you carry on.

Drain the chickpeas to collect the liquid from the can into a medium bowl. Using a hand mixer, mix on low-medium speed for about 1 minute, until light and foamy. Set bowl aside.

In a large bowl, add the softened butter, sugar and lemon zest. Beat on medium speed with the handheld mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Now add the vanilla extract and beat to combine.

On low speed, add in the almond milk mixture and aquafaba and mix until incorporated.

Add the flour, baking powder and salt and hand mix just until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes.

Divide the batter equally in the prepared cupcake pan. Bake on the center rack for approximately 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (I mistakenly had mine on a lower rack which caused them to overbake.)

Let cool in pan for a few minutes, then run a knife around the edges to loosen, and carefully invert the cakes onto your cooling rack. Let them cool as you make the lemon glaze.

Note: If the cupcakes are rounded up top, straighten those tops with a serrated knife as they will be sitting upside down. I didn’t do this during this trial, but will next time.

Lemon Glaze & Assembly 🍋

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Put some wax paper down on your counter and place cooling rack (with cooling cakes, on top of it.

Sift sugar into a small bowl.

Mix lemon juice into powdered sugar, stirring until smooth.

While cakes are still hottish, spoon a thin glaze over them. The goal is just to create a thin coat that still shows the candied lemons. The hot temp of the cakes will help attain that.

Now, feast.

Some of my overbaked ones… a cautionary picture.