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Lemon cupcakes are filled with lemon curd and topped with a lemon-blueberry buttercream frosting for the spring and summer cupcake of your dreams.
I don’t have anything against a good chocolate cupcake. After all, making my doctored cake mix cupcakes is one of my favorite tricks.
But I’ll pick lemon over chocolate almost any day, so having a go-to lemon cupcake recipe is pretty important to me.
These lemon cupcakes are packed with tons of bright, citrusy flavor and are so pretty. Consider them your new spring and summer go-to cupcake recipe!
THE PERFECT LEMON CUPCAKES
If you love lemon as much as I do, then these lemon cupcakes are the cupcakes for you.
I took my homemade funfetti cupcake recipe and added lots of lemon zest. Then I filled them with lemon curd and topped them with a lemon-blueberry frosting.
That’s right, I found a way to pack lemon into these cupcakes in three different ways!
These may very well go into my lemon hall of fame alongside my lemon cream cheese pound cake and homemade lemon bars.
HOW TO MAKE THESE LEMON CUPCAKES
There are a few steps to making these lemon cupcakes, but I promise that they’re worth it!
Cupcake ingredients
For the cupcakes, you will need:
- 2 ¼ cups cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1 ¼ cups buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon pure lemon extract
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- lemon zest from two lemons
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 large egg whites, room temperature
You do need to use cake flour for this recipe instead of all-purpose flour. If you don’t keep any on hand, you can use my cake flour substitute instead.
I also have a buttermilk substitute you can use if you don’t have any buttermilk in your fridge!
Make sure you also check out my tips for how to bring butter and eggs to room temperature, since having those at room temperature is important before you get started baking.
For the filling, I like to use my microwave lemon curd. You can use any lemon curd that you like best, though.
Frosting ingredients
For the frosting, you will need:
- 4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- pinch of fine grain sea salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- zest of one lemon (finely grated)
- ½ cup fresh blueberries, pureed with 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1-3 tablespoons very cold milk
If you run out of powdered sugar, don’t stress. I have a post on how to make powdered sugar, and you can definitely use that substitute in this frosting.
Making this recipe
This recipe makes 24 cupcakes, so make sure you line 2 standard cupcake pans with paper liners before getting started.
Sift together the dry ingredients: the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon extract.
Add the sugar and lemon zest to the bowl of a stand mixer. Use your fingertips to rub these together until the sugar is moistened and fragrant.
Beat the butter and sugar together for about 3 minutes, or until very light and fluffy. Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry. Make sure to mix until well combined after each addition.
Use a hand mixer to beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form. These will get folded into the batter for lots of lift.
Gently stir about ¼ of the egg whites into the batter, then fold in the rest one half at a time. To fold, cut the spatula down the middle to the bottom of the bowl, then sweep it around, up and over. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat until no streaks of egg whites remain.
Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake for 18-22 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool completely.
When ready to decorate, fill the cupcakes with the lemon curd, following my instructions for how to fill cupcakes.
Beat together the frosting and then spread or pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.
STORAGE TIPS
These lemon cupcakes can be stored at room temperature for up to 1-2 days if your kitchen is cool. Otherwise, store them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Unfrosted, unfilled cupcakes can be frozen for up to 2 months. Wrap them in plastic wrap and store them in a zip-top freezer bag before freezing.
If you’d like to make the lemon-blueberry frosting ahead of time, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to a month. Let the frosting come to room temperature and whip it with your mixer for 1-2 minutes before frosting the cupcakes.
OTHER FROSTING OPTIONS
While I love these lemon cupcakes when they are filled with lemon curd and topped with the lemon-blueberry frosting, you don’t have to go that direction!
Try them with a classic vanilla buttercream frosting or even with cream cheese frosting instead.
Or try them with strawberry frosting for a cupcake version of strawberry lemonade!
Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon-Blueberry Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups cake flour I used Swan’s Down brand
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1 ¼ cups buttermilk room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon pure lemon extract
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- lemon zest from two lemons finely grated
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 4 large egg whites room temperature
For the filling:
For the lemon-blueberry frosting:
- 2 cups unsalted butter softened
- 2 pounds confectioners’ sugar sifted
- pinch of fine grain sea salt
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- zest of one lemon finely grated
- ½ cup fresh blueberries pureed with 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1-3 tablespoons very cold milk
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the center. Line two standard cupcake pans with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon extract.
- Rub sugar and lemon zest together until the sugar is moistened and fragrant. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed for 3 minutes, or until the butter and sugar are very light and fluffy. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, beating on low speed. Beat in half of the milk mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until well incorporated. Add the rest of the milk, beating until the batter is fully incorporated and smooth, then add the last of the dry ingredients, beating until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.
- Add the egg whites to a medium bowl and beat with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Gently stir ¼ of the whipped egg whites into the cupcake batter with a rubber spatula until no streaks of egg whites remain. This will help lighten up the batter. Gently fold in the remaining whipped egg whites, one half at a time, by cutting the spatula down the middle to the bottom of the bowl, then sweeping it around, up and over. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat until no streaks of egg whites remain.
- Using a large scoop (about 3 tablespoons), distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells, filling each well 2/3 full.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the cupcakes are springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the centers come out clean. Cool on wire rack.
- Once cupcakes have cooled, hollow out a small circle in the center of each cupcake. Add a spoonful of lemon curd into each hollow. Frost with lemon blueberry buttercream or as desired.
For the Lemon-Blueberry Frosting
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.
- Add salt, vanilla, lemon zest and blueberry puree and mix until well combined. If buttercream is too thick, slowly drizzle in milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.
Video
Notes
- Learn how to make a cake flour substitute.
- Learn how to measure flour correctly.
- Get tips for how to bring butter and eggs to room temperature.
- Find out how to make powdered sugar.
- Learn how to fill cupcakes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Oh my I can’t wait to make these tomorrow! Question- how did you get that frosting on the cupcake so clean and smooth? Is it a tip or just the bottom of the bag cut off? Thx!
Jen-
I used a piping bag without a tip, I just snipped the bottom off. I hope this helps.
Jamie
Could I use some other liquid Besides Buttermilk? If yes,what could i use?
Stephanie-
You can substitute with milk with about a tablespoon of vinegar mixed in. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
OMG these cupcakes are amazing! Thank you sooooooooo much for this recipe! I was wondering if these can be made in the form of a cake? Have you done it? What changes need to be made? Thanks again!! :)
Jes, I haven’t done it, but I don’t see why they couldn’t be made into a cake. You’d need to bake it longer – more like 40-50 minutes.
Hello, can I use 4 large eggs instead of just 4 egg whites ?
Brianna, that would drastically change the fat content of the cupcakes. The cake will be denser and the flavor will not be the same. The cupcakes may also not rise well. I would stick to just the egg whites.
– Jamie
These look amazing… Thank you for sharing!!! ^^
Well, I made this recipe a few weeks ago, and everyone in my house loved them… I was going to make them again this week but was out of lemons- You mention in your description that they started out as lime, so I figured why not try it? I replaced the butter with coconut oil, used limes instead of lemons, and dipped the frosted cupcakes in coconut. I didn’t have lime extract, but didn’t need it to get good lime flavor in the cupcakes.
Not as light and delicate as the lemon ones made with butter, but oh so yummy!
I would love to see what amazing concoction you could come up with for coconut-lime cupcakes. I am sure that you know baking rules that I don’t, and that you could improve on what I tried here. :-)
Caren-
Those cupcakes sound fantastic! I love the lime/coconut combination. I’m so happy that you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks so much for stopping by to share! Have a great day and thank you for following MBA!
-Jamie
sorry, what do you mean 2 (8) OUNCES?
Julian-
2 8-ounce packages. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
Hehe, my husband is the same way! These are so beautiful though! And, I love the idea of a lime cupcake. I may try that next. I just made lemon cupcakes with rapsberry icing. Yummy :) See my raspberry buttercream here: http://mrscrislip.wordpress.com/2014/04/23/lemon-raspberry-cupcakes/ Thanks for sharing your lemon cupcakes and lime ideas :)
Thanks so much! Your lemon/raspberry combination sounds so good! Have a wonderful day!
-Jamie
I made these yesterday to see if they were what I was looking for to take to Easter dinner. The intention was to keep half for us and send a dozen to work with my husband. I got up this morning and my 17 yr old had boxed up several for some teachers who helped her with letters of recommendation for scholarships this week. It’s probably a good thing I was left alone with only a few today, or I would eat way too many. These were fantastic. I did have to make one substitution. I have no recollection of using the last of my lemon extract, but I guess I did. So I decided to sub Limoncello to avoid a run to the store. I later added a little splash to my frosting as well, since my lemon wasn’t very juicy and I needed a touch more liquid to make the frosting the consistency I wanted. I was informed I could make these for graduation, and my son’s birthday if I wanted to, which is big since my son doesn’t really like cake much. Thanks for sharing a recipe that just went into my permanent Keep file!
i hope the cupcakes are so delish. I will comment back when i eat them
I have made these a couple different time and love these cupcakes and plan on making a cake for a Boy Scouts function. Do you know the baking time for a 9″ round cake? Thanks!
Hi Melanie,
I’d start checking 9″ cakes for doneness around the 35-40 minute mark, and every 5 minutes after that.
– Jamie