These Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Icing make a deliciously refreshing treat. Packed full of lemon juice and zest; they have a real zingy taste. So If you’re mad about lemon flavoured desserts, this one is definitely for you. These moist and fluffy lemon cupcakes are delicious even on their own. So, if you’re not a big fan of icing you don’t need to miss out on the fun.
Baking your own cakes ensures they’re fresh, moist and without any of the unnecessary stuff shop bought cakes can have. Often though it’s easy to bake more than needed.
If you have any leftover icing just pop it into an air-tight container and freeze for later use. The same goes for any leftover cupcakes with which freezer bags also work great for freezing in batches. Just ensure that they have cooled down entirely beforehand.
Ingredients
- 250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 200g natural caster sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 250g plain flour
- 3 lemons
- 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- 250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 500g icing sugar
- 2 lemons
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Line a muffin tray with cases or alternatively grease if you’re baking directly into it.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the butter until soft and fluffy. Then mix in the caster sugar and whisk in one egg one at a time.
- Zest two of the lemons and juice three. Be careful not to get any pips in.
- Mix in half of the plain flour at a time then throw in the baking powder, lemon juice and lemon zest.
- Evenly divide the mixture into your cases. This should be around 1-2 heaped tablespoons of batter per case.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cupcakes have risen, are golden and firm. You can test them by inserting a tester/knife - it should come out clean (no wet batter). Turn around the tray halfway to bake evenly.
- Meanwhile for the icing: whisk the butter for the icing until soft and fluffy. Gradually add the icing sugar to the butter and mix in along with the zest and juice of two lemons.
- Once the cupcakes have cooled, decorate with icing.
Tips: I usually refrigerate the icing for around half an hour before I ice my cupcakes. This ensures the frosting doesn’t melt. I also use an electric whisk as this really ensures a fluffy batter which makes a fluffy cake.
