Light, lemony cupcakes are filled with succulent lemon curd and topped with a dreamy raspberry buttercream frosting. These cupcakes are easy to make and will WOW guests, friends, family or whoever you need to impress!
I have been dreaming these babies up for weeks. I make Lemon Curd way more often than I should (how can I resist?), so I’m constantly thinking of new ways to incorporate it into baked goods. The lemon cupcakes turned out perfectly. They are light and lemony and also the perfect edible receptacles for holding delicious globs of the irresistible nectar known as lemon curd. And I used a yummy little fruit-flavored secret to make the frosting! I added freeze-dried raspberries (transformed into a powder) so the frosting would be raspberry-packed but would also have the perfect buttercream consistency. All of this gloriousness together? This is what I call cupcake perfection.
If you’ve never attempted making your own lemon curd, please don’t let it intimidate you! Watch my video (below) to see just how easy it is to make a batch of your very own.
WATCH THIS VIDEO ON HOW TO MAKE AN EASY FLAVORFUL LEMON CURD!
Enjoy the step-by-step video tutorial we have created for this recipe! Our goal is to make your time in the kitchen as easy as possible and to ensure that your version of this recipe is a success. See our full collection of cooking and baking videos on YouTube!
HOW DO YOU MAKE EASY LEMON CUPCAKES?
Scroll to the bottom of this post for the recipe card, but I have to tell you how simple and easy these lemon cupcakes are to make. This recipe is super-duper basic, but also off-the-charts delicious. It is very similar to the recipe I use to make Classic White Cupcakes, with just a few tiny changes and lemony additions (zest and juice).
CAN I USE LEMON EXTRACT INSTEAD OF LEMON JUICE?
Absolutely! This cupcake recipe calls for the juice of 1 lemon, which equals between 1-2 tablespoons of juice. A good replacement for that amount of lemon juice would be 1 teaspoon of lemon extract.
HOW DO YOU MAKE COLORED FROSTING?
Either load it up with food coloring, or! OR! I have a much tastier solution for you! Buy a package of freeze-dried fruit (in this case, raspberries), place the dried fruit into a ziploc bag and pound it with a heavy spoon until a fine powder forms. Pour the fruit powder into the mixing bowl, along with the rest of your frosting ingredients, to achieve that glorious color the natural way! Freeze-dried fruit can be found at either: your local grocery store (some are better about carrying it than others), Wal-Mart (they have a great and affordable variety!), Trader Joe’s or Amazon. Watch my video below to see how incredibly easy it is to make frosting using freeze-dried fruit!
MAKE A FLAVORFUL RASPBERRY BUTTERCREAM WITH DRIED FRUIT! WATCH THIS VIDEO TO SEE HOW:
I highly recommend making these cupcakes for whatever gathering falls next on your list. They are PRETTY (right?) and when people discover that little lemon curd treasure, they will swoon. And hug you. And hug you again.
Have a great week, friends! Thanks so much for being here.
Lemon Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream
Ingredients
CUPCAKES
- 3/4 cup salted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup milk at room temperature
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 lemon zested
- 1 cup lemon curd
- 24 fresh raspberries for topping
FROSTING
- 1 cup salted butter softened
- 5 cups confectioners sugar
- 1/2 cup raspberry powder place freeze-dried raspberries in a ziploc bag and pound with a heavy spoon until powder forms
- 4-5 tbsp milk
Instructions
MAKE THE CUPCAKES
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cupcake tin with
liners. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a
large mixing bowl with a hand mixer), combine the butter, sugar, eggs
and vanilla extract and beat on medium-low speed until creamy. - In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well.
Gradually add to the butter mixture and beat on medium-low speed until
just combined. Add the milk, lemon juice and lemon zest and mix until just combined. - Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners so each is 2/3 of the way full. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean. Let cool. Repeat with remaining batter.
MAKE THE FROSTING
- In a large bowl, mix (using whisk attachments) the butter with a
hand-held or stand mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, raspberry powder and milk and mix on medium
speed for 1-2 minutes, or until frosting is smooth and spreadable.
ASSEMBLE THE CUPCAKES
- Using a sharp knife cut a 1-inch chunk out of the top center of each cupcake. Spoon 1 teaspoon of the lemon curd into each hole. Spread or pipe
the frosting over the tops. Top each cupcake with a raspberry!
3 tablespoons of baking powder?
Duh! Thank you for bringing that to my attention – fixed!