Soft and tender lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, made from scratch with lemon juice and zest for a burst of natural lemon flavor.
Ingredients
For the lemon cupcakes:
1 ½cupscake flour
2teaspoonbaking powder
½teaspoonsalt
½cupunsalted buttersoftened
1cupgranulated sugar
2large eggs
½cupwhole milk
¼teaspoonvanilla extract
1Tablespoonlemon zest
¼cuplemon juice
For the cream cheese frosting:
½cupunsalted buttersoftened
8ouncescream cheesesoftened
4cupssifted powdered sugar
1teaspoonvanilla extract
Instructions
For the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line the cupcake pan with cupcake liners and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
Using a stand mixer or handheld mixer, beat the butter and sugar together for 2 minutes, or until creamed.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing until fully incorporated.
Slowly mix in half of the dry ingredients, half of the milk, and the vanilla extract, lemon zest, and lemon juice; mix until well-combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients and milk. Mix until fully combined and no lumps are visible.
Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners until about ⅔ full.
Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting:
In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until well blended and no clumps remain.
Slowly mix in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Add vanilla and beat until creamy.
Pipe onto cupcakes using a knife or your favorite frosting tip (we used tip 1C). Garnish with a slice of lemon, if desired.
Notes
Cake flour substitute: Measure out 1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour, then remove 3 tablespoons of flour from your measurement. Replace with 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, whisk together, then sift.Prep ahead: Baked cupcakes can be made a day ahead of time and stored in an airtight container at room temperature until ready to frost and serve.Storage: Frosted cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.