Lemon Cupcakes
Another lemon recipe for you today! 🍋 Between all of the testing I’ve been doing for my lemon brownies, lemon curd, lemonade, and now these lemon cupcakes, it’s a miracle my grocery store has been able to keep up with the amount of lemons I’m going through. Today’s recipe comes by request. I’ve had a lot of fans of my vanilla cake ask me how to make a lemon variation of that recipe, and while I’d love to have an easy fool-proof response to that question, I really don’t know the answer until I get in the kitchen and try it myself. So, into the kitchen I went, and I didn’t leave until I had a dozen perfect lemon cupcakes. We’re topping these off with a lemon cream cheese frosting (which is a variation of my cream cheese frosting), which really puts gives us a great, tart, lemon flavor.
How to Get the Best Lemon Flavor in Your Lemon Cupcakes
When I started developing this lemon cupcake recipe, I knew that I did not want to use lemon extract. I have nothing against it (and even use it in my lemon brownies) but I know that not everyone keeps all different kinds of extracts stocked at all times, and I like to keep my recipes as pantry-staple-friendly as possible. We’re halfway there with this recipe (no extract in the cupcakes, but I do recommend it for the frosting). It only took a few attempts before I found that slightly tart, sunny, lemon-y flavor I was looking for, no extract necessary. To get there, we’re using lemon juice and fresh lemon zest. You’ll need two Tablespoons of lemon juice, which you’ll stir in with your buttermilk (or buttermilk substitute). This helps to brighten up that bright lemon flavor a bit, but what really packs a powerful punch is the lemon zest (pro-tip, make sure you zest your lemons before you juice them!). We’re also using two Tablespoons of lemon zest. When zesting your lemon, it’s very important that you just use zest from the outer layer of the rind (the yellow part!). If you grind too deeply into your lemon, what you’re actually grating is the “pith” of the lemon. The pith is white and bitter and doesn’t have the same citrus flavor that the zest does. If you end up with two Tablespoons of pith rather than zest, your cupcakes will be bitter and not nearly as lemony as they ought to be.
When developing the lemon cream cheese frosting, I found that I wasn’t happy with the flavor derived from just using lemon juice and zest, so I do recommend using lemon extract there for a bolder lemon flavor, if you have it. Enjoy!
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Be sure to check out my Lemon Cupcake video at the bottom of the recipe! If you enjoy watching, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel where I’ve already uploaded over 150 recipe videos that you can watch for free!
