This fabulous lemon cupcake recipe is always a definite hit for us when in need of a little afternoon pick-me-up. We love the sweet yet tangy dimensions of taste found in these little gems and adore how they work so well against the soft and creamy textures of the cake and buttercream. They’re wonderful additions to get-togethers, parties or a quick treat during the warm summer months so why not follow our lemon cupcake recipe below for a crowd-pleasing batch treats!
Zesty Lemon Cupcakes Recipe (Makes approx. 12 cupcakes)
- 226g self raising flour
- 226 butter
- 226g caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- Lemon extract
- Finely grated peel/zest of 1/2 a lemon
Step 1: Pre-heat your oven to Gas Mark 3 / 160C / 325F and line a cupcake pan with cupcake cases.
Step 2: Cream your butter and sugar first and when ready add your eggs, lemon zest and lemon extract (test your batter to make sure it’s as lemon-y as you’ve like it).
Step 3: Once combined add the flour, mix well and pour your batter into your cases.
Step 4: Bake for around 20-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when tested.
If you’re throwing a grown-up party why not fancy this recipe up with a splash of King’s Ginger (one of our favourite liqueurs) in the buttercream, fill with a vodka and lemon curd preserve, or add a touch of class with reduced champagne in the buttercream and topple with curled lemon zest and fresh raspberries!
Lemon buttercream
- 500g softened butter
- 400g-500g icing sugar
- Lemon oil or extract
Step 1: Cream your softened butter in a stand up mixer.
Step 2: Sift your icing sugar and this add to your butter. Cream together.
Step 3: Add in your lemon oil or extract to flavour your frosting. We add in around 2 teaspoons, but you should add in whatever amount tastes best for you!
Our top tip when it comes to baking gorgeous cupcakes is to fill your cases carefully. It doesn’t matter how busy we are and how insane our workload gets we make sure to never spill or drip batter onto the cases. Not only does this look rather unsightly and adds burnt cake to the outer edges of your cupcake cases, but it can even hinder your cakes baking evenly! A really handy method for filling your cases is to use a disposable piping bag and pipe batter into each cases.
We fully advocate baking and making buttercream completely from scratch so we’re perfectionists when it comes to getting super silky buttercream. Our advice is to experiment, modify and test like a mad scientist! Our baked creations, buttercreams and fillings are the result of stressful late nights in the kitchen timing how long butter was whipped for, which butter performs/looks/tastes/holds better, etc. When we found a recipe that didn’t work we took it apart and adjusted it, tried again and repeated until it was perfect for us!
Make sure to pipe each cupcake with a generous swirl of buttercream and decorate however you wish. Some fantastic decor ideas include sprinkling fun popping candy on top or a dash of lemon sherbet crystals, using sugar pearls for a more subtle look, jellied fruit inspired candies or some grated lemon peel.
If you’ve followed our lemon cupcake recipe you should be left with a deliciously sweet and zesty batch of lemon treats; perfect for relaxing with in the garden. We’d highly recommend pairing these tasty cakes with tangy lemonade or a soothing cup of fruit tea for a well-deserved rest!
