I feel like I crave the flavors of summer all year long. There is something so magical about these Lemon Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream! The flavors, the light, warm, refreshing flavors of summer that tastes amazing any time of year! Try my Strawberry Muffins for another summertime favorite! Looking for more cupcake recipes? I’ve got you covered.
Lemon Cupcakes
As much as I love the comforting aroma’s of pumpkin and spice, or the biting coolness of mint, or even the rich decadence of all things red velvet… I can’t help but crave the light citrusy tang of lemon. I slightly adapted my Cherry Limeade Cupcakes to make them lemon and boy was that a good idea!
These cupcakes are infused with lemon before AND after baking! Lemon juice goes into the batter, you bake, and then brush each cupcake with more lemon juice hot out of the oven. It’s magical I tell you!
Strawberry Buttercream
Strawberries go for about $5 a container at my local grocery store and lemons are $1 each! Since I didn’t win the lottery recently, I splurged and got just one lemon.
As far as the strawberry, I compromised and made a recipe utilizing strawberry jam instead of fresh. This worked beautifully! I was able to get the sweet hint of strawberries and not break the bank.
I stumbled upon a recipe using jam for the buttercream. This is quite a genius way to add a specific flavor to the buttercream, as I noticed that the first ingredient in jam is sugar!
Now don’t look too closely at this picture or you might start seeing things. Ha! I can’t tell you how many people have told me these look like boobs. (Also, sorry for saying boobs on my blog.) But they do. I can’t deny it! They would be perfect for Breast Cancer Awareness month!
There is something so magical about these Lemon Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream! The flavors, the light, warm, refreshing flavors of summer that tastes amazing any time of year!
- 1½ cups (192g) all-purpose flour sifted
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon coarse salt
- ½ cup (1 stick, 113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup (123g) whole milk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- ½ cup (1 stick, 113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅓ cup strawberry jam or preserves
- 3 cups (384g) confectioners' sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
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Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare cupcake tins. (This recipe yielded 15 cupcakes for me.)
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In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
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In stand mixer with paddle attachment (starting on low), cream together room temperature butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add in eggs, one at a time and mix until just blended.
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Add in vanilla, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and milk and mix for about 30 seconds on low. Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
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Remove from mixer then fold in lemon zest with spatula.
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Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 18 to 20 minutes.
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Use a pastry brush to brush remaining 1 tablespoon of lemon juice over the top of the cupcake while they are still warm.
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Let cupcakes cool completely and dry before topping with strawberry frosting.
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Place butter, vanilla and jam in stand mixer with whisk attachment. Whisk on medium-high for 1-2 minutes, or until fully incorporated.
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With mixer on low, add in sugar, one cup at a time. When mixer starts to struggle, drizzle in milk one tablespoon at a time.
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After all milk as been added whisk buttercream on high for 1-2 minutes.
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To make cupcakes, put buttercream in a pastry bag with a large open tip. (or no tip at all, just the opening of the bag) and pipe out dollops on top of cooled cupcake.
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OPTIONAL: Sprinkle with gold Star Dust.
Recipe Video
Recipe adapted from Cherry Limeade Cupcakes.
I hope you will make these today and enjoy a little summer-time flavor journey just like I did!
These look so delicious! Can’t wait to try this beautiful and cost effective(thank you) recipe!
This lemon cupcake recipe is slightly different than the lemon cupcake with lemon buttercream recipe. I am trying that recipe but if it doesn’t turn out, I will try this one. However, I’m also making an 8inch 4 layer round cake instead of cupcakes so I’m keeping that in mind. So far, the first two layers came out great and (yes, i licked) the mix tasted so good…(Lemon = LOVE) I’m excited to see the end result! I will keep updated on the other recipe but, glad I found this one just in case!
I would like to make a cake with this recipe. Do you know how many layers, or what size pan(s) I would utilize with your measurements here?
Thank you 🙂
Can i substitute butter with oil?
Thank you for adding grams weights into your recipes. For us British cooks it makes it so much easier and so few American cooks do it. Even the most famous and expensive cookbooks I’ve purchased. Well done, I will enjoy making these little delights.
Made these little beauties and they were delicious. Loved by all the family. Easy to make. Thank you for the recipe.
Do you know how/if it can be adjusted for high altitude?
this recipe is so easy to make and the cupcakes taste delicious!
Oohhhh..im making these…yummy..n cherry limeade…omg…your creativity rocks…cant wait for cupcakes n coffee later today..thanks girl..🧁🧁🧁🧁☕
Excellent recipe… my 3 year old nephew could not have enough of them. The servings were exactly 20 cupcakes. Not too lemony. Everything was just perfect. Best lemon cupcake yet!
Looks like a recipe I d like to make
These were delicious! I used a cream cheese frosting at my families request, but the cupcakes were perfect, and I have decided they will be my go-to for lemon cupcakes! Thanks for the great recipe!
SUPERB!
I substituted yogurt for milk and it turned out super moist.
Where can I find gold star dust?
Thank you…..
Hi…I want to try these but I’m a little confused….the ingredients for buttercream stated one tblsp of milk but in the directions it states to add milk one tablespoon at a time….is this a typo ?
Love your recipe! Especially use o lemon.
I just my first batch of these and they turned out perfectly. They are sure to be a family favorite, Thanks
Can I use yogurt instead of milk?
Hi, Juliana! I work with iambaker and am happy to help with questions. We have not tried using yogurt in place of the milk, but let us know if you try it and how the cupcakes turn out. Have a great day!
Looks good I’m going to make it
This recipe is amazing. Thanks for sharing. I would offer one suggestion with the frosting. Whip the room temp butter for a few minutes before adding anything to it. Once the butter is whipped it will hold shape better on the cupcakes.
I made these today and decided to view the video after I made them. Recipe says to use baking powder and video says baking soda. Would this be why the cupcakes did not rise much. Was this an error in the ingredient list.
Hi, Eileen! I work with iambaker and am happy to help with questions. Follow the written recipe. Have a wonderful day!
Made these for my husband’s office. They didn’t last 5 minutes!!!
Can you tell me what cake tip you used to pipe the frosting? Thanks!
Is it ok to refrigerate the icing to make it easier to pipe?