The combination of raspberries and lemons epitomizes summer in my book. There is sweet simplicity about this flavor duo that just works together to form some seriously stunning desserts.
When I was asked to help bake a few sweet treats for our end of the year luncheon at work, I thought this blend of fruit would be the perfect way to kick off our summer vacation.
I like making cupcakes for functions because they have such a high level of portability. They allow people to grab one and go about their day while savoring something delicious. The tulip cupcake/muffin wrappers I baked them in added a little level of uniqueness to a very delicious cupcake.
People were intrigued my these little yellow paper wrappers and thought I made them myself. I am betting they can be easily replicated with parchment paper, but I picked mine up at the local cake decorating store.
For the cupcakes, I used my favorite cake recipe from Dorie Greenspan and topped them with a big swirl of raspberry buttercream. Beware…this frosting may force you to lick the bowl, spoon, beaters, spatula and maybe even your fingers! Yeah, it’s that good, so don’t say I didn’t warn ya!
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Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes
adapted from Dorie Greenspan | makes approximately 24 cupcakes
For the Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
lemon zest from two lemons
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract
Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cupcake tins by using liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray
To Make The Cake:
1. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
3. Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extracts, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Place the batter into the cupcake tins.
4. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the cupcakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean.
Cool on wire rack.
For the Raspberry Buttercream
Ingredients
1/2 cup raspberries (blended into a puree and pushed through a fine mesh sieve to remove seeds)
1 stick salted butter – room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter – room temperature
1/2 cup shortening*
1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of raspberry extract*
1 1/2 pounds confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar, 10x)
2-4 tablespoons very cold milk (add until you reach desired consistency)
Directions
1. Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add extracts and raspberry puree and combine well.
2. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk… one tablespoon at a time, combining very well after each addition (mixer on medium-high to high speed) until you reach the desired consistency.
Notes:
*If you don’t have raspberry extract, simply add a little bit more raspberry puree until you reach your preferred level of raspberry flavor. If you add more puree, cut back on the milk.
*If you do not like to use shortening, simply sub in butter. The frosting will not be as structurally sound, but will taste just as delicious.
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{ 98 comments… read them below or add one }
These look great! I needed something for a “ladies’ dinner” dessert and this is perfect. I’ve never made raspberry buttercream frosting. Oh, man.
P.E.R.F.E.C.T.I.O.N!!! I’m drooling here
Wow. I need to find a local cupcake store that I can plunder to find unique wrappers.
Now I wish I had raspberries growing in the garden. Sadly, they don’t grow here.
[K]
Gorgeous Jamie! Your photos blow my mind – always so beautifully styled
OH!! MY!! WORD!! but those look so wonderful!! And the holders – so cute.
I really like the cupcake idea for a picnic I am planning. Much more practical than baking a raspberry cake. Thanks for the wonderful idea, Jamie.
I love how you brought in the yellow with the parchment paper.
Gosh! this looks divine.
I love bringing cupcakes for group events as well! It’s so much easier than trying to lug around a cake….and so much easier to plan for serving size!
This raspberry lemon combo absolutely SCREAMS summer. I’ve become a big fan of using fruit in frosting after a pomegranate cream cheese frosting I made recently. Good call!
i could eat it whole including the wrapper! okay maybe not. but these look so delectable!
So pretty! Mmmhhh, those must taste heavenly!
Cheers,
Rosa
Gorgeous!! I bet they taste sooo good!
Those are just stunning! You have some of the best photography I have ever seen.
wow! this is an excellent bake, awesomely pretty and sexy!
Absolutely gorgeous! Love those vibrant yellow wrappers, I have never seen them in that shape before!
If your top photo doesn’t get accepted at TS or FG, I’m never submitting again. It’s gorgeous!
They look wonderful! Where did you get the cupcake liners? They are cute.
These cupcakes look and sound absolutely delicious! I want one!!! Those cupcake lines are so cute too.
Wow, I’m so bookmarking this to make one day! The buttercream is piped so beautifully!
Those cupcakes are almost too cute to eat! I LOVE the yellow wrappers!! So creative! Where did you find them at?
Love the cupcakes, love the liners, love all of it!! These look soooo good!!
Great job! Your pictures are stunning… the recipe looks awesome!
Can you substitute lemon juice for lemon extract?
Emily-
Sure or just omit it!
-Jamie
Those look fabulous!! I definitely want to make these! Just have one question, in the frosting recipe you have – 1 stick salted butter – room temperature ..it is listed twice. Do we use 2 sticks of butter, or is this a typo?
Debie-
I use one stick of salted butter and one stick of unsalted butter; totaling two sticks. If you do not have salted butter, use two sticks of unsalted. I would not recommend using two sticks of salted though. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
Ooops…I read the recipe wrong! Thanks for clearing that up for me.
This was the exactly what I was wondering! Why do you use two different types of butter? Is it because salt enhances the sweetness? If I were to use two sticks of unsalted, do you recommend using some salt?
Hannah-
If I use all unsalted butter, I typically just add a pinch of fine grain sea salt. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
Yum! Cupcakes are one of my favorite things to bring to a party. It’s already portioned out and no extra clean-up necessary for the host. Raspberry and lemon are two of my absolute favorite flavors to bake with so I’ll definitely be trying this one out. Such cute liners too! I’ve just started investing in more decorating tools and papers for lining. Will definitely try to find these.
Jaime, these look amazing!
Yeah, so they were good, right?! LOL, I kid.
Those wrappers are pretty darn cool.
~ingrid
Those cupcake liners are adorable! I could just look at these all day. Ok no, I’d just eat them all. Yum!
Just looking at the cupcake makes me want to lick the screen! (lol)
Cant wait to try the recipe myself.
Prettiest cupcakes I have ever seen!
I love the little paper wrappers these cupcakes are in! They’re so cute. I want to make these tonight!
Hey Jamie,
What are some other sites you recommend getting fun cupcake liners??
LaRae-
Thanks so much for stopping by!
I maily purchase my cupcake liners from one of three places:
-Bake It Pretty
-Bakers Nook
-Confectionery House
Hope this helps!
-Jamie
Thanks so much–I love Bake It Pretty!!
It looks so cute!
Lemon, vanilla and raspberry must go really well together.
I love fresh raspberries with vanilla ice cream or milk +_+
Nice recipe.
Raspberry and lemon are some of my favourite flavours too. These look fantastic! I love the liners!
beautiful gorgeous cupcakes. I love the yellow liner. I find myself intrigued with the idea of shortening in frosting as my experience with fruit purees in frostings has led me to believe that it shouldn’t be done as the fruit makes the frosting running. Yours looks absolutely gorgeous and like it holds up even with the piping.
I have a confession to make… I just made the frosting. BUT – I slapped it on top of your lemon cupcake recipe.
AND IT WAS FABULOUS for my office BBQ last night. Everyone loved it.
I’m officially the cupcake lady… dunno what I think about it yet.
[K]
I’ve really enjoyed looking around your site (yum!). This recipe inspired me to add raspberries to a creamcheese frosting I was making for a birthday cake, so thanks! I didn’t have fresh or frozen berries so I just pressed the seeds out of my favorite raspberry jam and added about 1/8 of a cup to the frosting as well as some lemon extract. It gave the frosting a hint of pink and a light, fresh taste. Thanks for the inspiration!
This cupcake has summer written all over it. It also looks super delish.
There is something about summer that makes me crave lemon and berries – a perfect combination. These cupcakes with this frosting is stunning and delicious!
What a beauty of a picture. Those cupcakes look delicious!!! Super awesome!
Keep it up. I love your posts. You are such an inspiration.
it just screams SUMMER !!
Mm, cupcakes. Definitely one of my favorite treats! After Swedish Princess Cake, though
I love it, it’s cute….
Wow, so pretty. I love the liners too. I see they make them in my favorite color, purple!
That is so summer, yellow wrapper and the raspberries on top not only sounds deliciousness but looks too. Wish I could make some right now.
Oi.
Just what I need…another baking website to drain my wallet. I don’t think I can survive without those cupcake liners, though.
These photos are absolute perfection! I don’t think you could have decorated and styled those cupcakes any more beautiful. I’m planning to try these next week for the hubby to take to a potluck at his work. I recently baked your Oreo Cupcakes for my hubby and his coworkers and they LOVED them. I’m sure they will be a hit as well! I’m excited to try the flavor combination because I haven’t done much baking with fruit as the star flavor.
Thank you so much for always sharing the most delicious and beautiful recipes!
I made these for a friend over the weekend, and they were a HUGE success.
Thanks SO much, the buttercream is absolutely delicious! Yum!
These are the most attractive cupcakes I have ever seen! The combination of red and yellow always makes me happy and makes me think of nice weather when tulips are in bloom and everything is right with the world. Not only do these look great, but the recipe sounds like it must be wonderful. Wow.
I made these for a bake sale, and they were a huge hit!! They are so delicious and have the perfect blend of tart fruit and sweet creamy frosting for summer. They completely sold out when I made them!
Jamie,
These look delicious! I’d like to make 12 cakes though instead of 24, is there anything I need to know about cutting the cake and frosting recipes in half? Thanks!
These look so delish! Can’t wait to try to recipe!!
I wanted to make strawberry lemonade cupcakes and was debating lemon cake with strawberry buttercream vs. strawberry cake with lemon buttercream when I came across this recipe. Debate settled!
The lemon cupcakes were divine. I substituted strawberry puree for raspberry and added a little bit of fresh lemon juice to the frosting as well. I made them for some friends celebrating their 12th anniversary and also for a back-to-school dessert social. Everyone loved them, can’t wait to try more recipes!
I made these this weekend, they were excellent and everyone LOVED them!!!! The only thing I struggled with is, my frosting did not come out as light, fluffy and thick as your picture shows. Should I beat the butter/shortening longer? Also, what size tip did you use for piping? they are so pretty! Thanks
In short, these were heaven in a cupcake. The cake was a light and fluffy as they come and the frosting was tangy and delicious! I cannot bestow enough praise on these cupcakes. Thank you thank you thank you!!!
How did you achieve that awesome swirl of frosting? It’s amazing!
i love the cupcake wrapper!! and lemon + strawberry is such a greeat combination!!
All your recipes sound so good and your photo shots are wonderful! Thanks for sharing.
Your photos are gorgeous! I just made a batch of these today in miniature form for my neighbor girl’s Evening of Elegance at her high school. They turned out beautifully. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
What a fabulous recipe, they turned out so well! I was just wondering if I should refrigerate the cupcakes (frosted) overnight or if I should leave them on the counter in a container?
What tip do you use to get the frosting like that on the cupcake?
I made these yesterday for some Easter treats. They were extremely good. I found that the raspberry flavor really came out after the frosting sat on the cupcakes over night. This was not a “quick” recipe so be prepared to take a little time with them, but they are so well worth it. I also backed off the milk in the frosting so that I could add more raspberry pure. Great recipe
Can you use butter flavored shortening?
Kayla-
I don’t think I would use butter flavored shortening in this recipe.
-Jamie
I ended up using butter flavored since that is what I had and it turned out great – so yummy!
Made these for a baby shower and they were a HUGE hit – I am in LOVE with this frosting – so yummy. I want to inject it into a dark chocolate cupcake and top that with ganache or dark chocolate icing – hmmmm. Just trying to find reasons to make this frosting again and again! Thanks for the recipe!
I made this raspberry frosting recipe last night and it is soooo awesome! You will not be dissapointed! I have never left a comment on a recipe in my entire life but I felt compelled to come back today and leave a comment because it is that wonderful! I will use this frosting for my sister’s baby shower cupcakes. I’m confident this is the best there is!!!
Dawn–
Thanks so much for commenting! I’m so happy this recipe compelled you to make your first blog comment, I hope your sister’s shower is amazing!
-Jamie
Wow these look delish and your photographs are so gorgeous. I have some strawberries in my freezer and I was wondering if the buttercream could be made with strawberries instead.
I love the look of these! This was the exact combination I was hoping to use for my mini cupcakes! I will be making these for my best friends wedding? How long do the cupcakes stay good for? And I wad hoping you could tell me what type of tip you used:) These look amazing!!
These were absolutely delicious and a huge hit! Only a couple problems; you don’t specify the size of the lemons you used, so it’s hard to tell how much zest should actually be added; I love zest so I wound up putting in a LOT (two absolutely huge lemons’ worth), and it worked out great. Also, this recipe makes about 2x as much frosting as I needed, and even with 2 lbs of confectioner’s sugar it had to be kept in the fridge so the icing wouldn’t drip. But the frosting is delicious, so I’ll be looking for something else to bake so I can put this icing on top of it. Thanks for the recipe!
I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE these cupcakes! so moist and delicious. the frosting melted a little bit but i just put it in the fridge so they could set. i am TOTALLY making these again!!! so light and fresh. mmmmmmm amazing
Okay – so these are the prettiest cutest cupcakes I have ever seen. So, they inspired me to try my hand at decorating cupcakes. But first, I signed up for the local cake beginner decorating class. My normal frosting is to eat it from a can with a spoon. So here I am looking for those super cute yellow wrappers, thinking I am so going to impress my in-laws with this cute little cupcake for a snack. But when trying to find them on-line everyone said they don’t bake well, absorb the oil, turn brown in the oven yada-yada-yada. So where is the best place to find those little yellow papers and what is your trick to making them so beautiful?
Joey-
The definitely show oil marks, but the cupcake recipe that I used does not give off a lot of oil, so I think that’s why they worked so well with this recipe. I honestly don’t remember where I bought them, but if you google “yellow tulip baking cups” you should be able to find them pretty easily. Best of luck to you!
–Jamie
I highlighted these cupcakes on my little blog at http://wadelmat.blogspot.com/ Thanks for sharing!
I don’t really like the texture of zest in my foods, is it possible to use a less amount of the zest and still have the desired taste?
These cupcakes are AMAZING!!! I LOVE your website!!
Does anyone know how to make this gluten free? i want to make them for a friend that cant have gluten?!?! a reply soon would be great!
I just made these and wow they are good! I’m usually not a fan of fruit cupcakes, but I am converted. Opens the cupcake world right up! I was unable to find raspberry extract so just used a whole 6 oz of raspberries, yummy! I didn’t have to add any milk either. I filled my pastry bag and let sit in the fridge for a few minutes while the cupcakes cooled, piped perfectly! Thanks so much for the recipe!
What tip did you use to frost your cupcakes? I use a standard M1 tip and I am bored of that.
I love these original shape cupcakes. They don’t look like small cakes but like gourmet ice creams!
In the Buttercream recipe, you list 1 1/2 pounds confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar, 10x). What does the powdered sugar, 10x mean?
Sharon-
Confectioners’ sugar can also be found labeled as “powdered sugar 10x” which is why I gave the alternate name for it in parenthesis. Hope this clarifies your question.
-Jamie
Hi Jamie!
Just finished baking these … I’m taking them to my inlaws tomorrow for Easter and I gotta say they are absolutely delicious!!
Thanks!
Am I reading that right? 1 1/2 POUNDS of confectioner’s sugar???
Turned out wonderful for me!
Just made these cupcakes and they were such a hit! Loved the flavor of the cupcake as well as the frosting. I ran into a slight problem however which seemed to bother me much much more than everyone devouring the cupcakes- once baked, the cupcake was a lot more dense than I would have liked it to be. It didn’t have that “light and airy” texture a cupcake should have. Any ideas or suggestions as to what could have gone wrong? Should I change the type of flour used? Just a little lost because I followed the recipe exactly and I would absolutely love to make them again but the texture really discouraged me!
Elle-
Thanks for stopping by. Did you use cake flour? It stumps me as to why they would be dense, sometimes people complain this recipe is too light and “spongy” – I definitely would not try this recipe with all-purpose flour. I’m sorry the texture discouraged you.
-Jamie
Hi! Yes, I used the cake flour that was recommended in the recipe. Not sure what could have happened, but I’m definitely going to try again!
These cupcakes look to die for. I like the dough you use for the cupcakes, it’s seems to be very light and fluffy. Great recipe! Fantastic pictures!
Made these for a cookout the other day and they were a HUGE hit! They were delicious, really light and fluffy, and looked beautiful. We didn’t use lemon and raspberry extract, but instead added a bit more juice of each. The lemon cake turned out nicely but there wasn’t much raspberry flavor in the icing. I think next time I’ll just go buy the extracts instead
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