I zested a lemon.
And all of a sudden, everything felt like spring.
So I made cupcakes!
Lemon cupcakes.
Confession: I used to eat lemon slices like they were oranges when I was younger. It makes me cringe now.
But not these.
These are filled with sweet, sugary lemon flavor. And zest. Lots of zest.
Oh and a ribbon of raspberry jam. Did I mention that?
I should've. It's the best part.
Together with the swirl of raspberry buttercream on top, these cupcakes turned out so beautifully and were absolutely heavenly. I really love the strong, but not overpowering lemon flavor of the cake and the sweet layer of raspberry jam hidden inside. They're perfect for springtime and Easter, but I think they'd be super cute for even Mother's Day.
Especially with the little marshmallow flowers.
Oh and look what I woke up to this morning!
It's our 3 year anniversary! Can you believe that? 3 years. I have the best boyfriend in the world.
Printable Recipe
Cupcakes
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
12 teaspoons seedless raspberry jam (Confession: I didn't use seedless)
Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
3 cups powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter, powdered sugar, and lemon zest in a large bowl until fluffy & well blended. Add eggs, beating to blend. Beat in half the flour, then buttermilk and lemon juice, then the remaining flour.
Drop a spoonful of the cupcake batter into the bottom of each muffin cup.
Use the back of a spoon to spread it around to the edges of the tin, otherwise the jam will go right to the bottom.
Spoon 1 teaspoon of raspberry jam on top of the batter of each muffin cup.
Divide remaining batter among muffin cups to top the jam.
Bake for 18-22 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.
To make the frosting, in a large mixing bowl, beat butter and raspberry jam together until well mixed and smooth. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until you reach a consistency that you desire. Pipe onto cupcakes and decorate! (I used a Wilton #1M tip for these cupcakes.)
Using an electric mixer, beat butter, powdered sugar, and lemon zest in a large bowl until fluffy & well blended. Add eggs, beating to blend. Beat in half the flour, then buttermilk and lemon juice, then the remaining flour.
Drop a spoonful of the cupcake batter into the bottom of each muffin cup.
Use the back of a spoon to spread it around to the edges of the tin, otherwise the jam will go right to the bottom.
Bake for 18-22 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.
To make the frosting, in a large mixing bowl, beat butter and raspberry jam together until well mixed and smooth. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until you reach a consistency that you desire. Pipe onto cupcakes and decorate! (I used a Wilton #1M tip for these cupcakes.)
Source: From Recipe Girl.
Goodness me, these look insanely delicious, and pretty! Definately giving these a go, these two flavours are delicious, so refreshing!
ReplyDeleteThat raspberry buttercream is just beautiful. What a great cupcake for this time of year.
ReplyDeleteI loved the raspberry surprise inside! Lemon makes me think of spring too. Happy anniversary!
ReplyDeleteThese are gorgeous and the marshmallow flowers are adorable!
ReplyDeleteI am afraid that spring will never arrive here in NYC and we will jump straight in to summer. :(
these are so pretty! love the flavor combo!
ReplyDeleteI love these and your strawberry cookies, you are very inspirational. I love those marshmallow flowers, maybe I'll give it a try one day. I really adore your blog and baking style!!
ReplyDeletehey i was planning to make these but i had 2 questions #1 did yu smash or shape the marshmallows? #2 did yu notice a negative difference using the seeded jam?
ReplyDeleteFor the marshmallow flowers, I just cut mini-marshmallows in half and pressed them into sanding sugar. When you cut them, they get that petal sort of shape, the only thing I had to do was pinch the ends a little.
ReplyDeleteI didn't notice a difference at all with the seeded jam. The only negative thing I can see would be if you didn't like your jam with seeds or if you wanted the raspberry frosting to be a solid pink (you can see the flecks of seeds in mine).
I smoothed the batter to the edges like you said, but the jam still made its way to the bottom. What might I have done wrong? --Jen
ReplyDeleteJen- That happened with some of my cupcakes too & the only thing I can figure is that maybe I didn't put enough cake batter on the bottom. A thicker layer might keep the jam from ending up on the bottom. I hope they were still good!
ReplyDeleteBakegirl noooooo complains at all u did a FABULIZIOUZZZZ job love it
ReplyDeleteThis frosting is amazing!
ReplyDeleteHow far did you fill up the cups with the second layer of batter?
I was also curious if you knew what might've caused the middles to fall a bit?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous & Katherine- I filled the cups up only a little bit, about a small spoonful of cupcake batter, then topped it with jam, then filled them about 2/3 of the way. Next time though, I would fill them about 1/3 full, then the jam, then another 1/3 so it's even & the jam isn't sunk towards the bottom of the cupcake. If that made any sense. Too much math!
ReplyDeleteI've tried your cupcake recipe and it was great. I think I'll make it my "default" cupcake recipe ;)
ReplyDeletedear future cupcake maker,
ReplyDeleteplease disregard the jam in the recipe.
it completely ruined our cupcakes.
the cake itself is awesome though.
happy baking ;)
Wow these are absolutely incredible! Do you mind if I post the recipe on my blog http://www.shopdropnroll.ca?! I will credit you as the brains behind it obviously, but I know my readers would be mad if I created such an amazing recipe and didn't share!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much:)
Ashley
Ashley- Thank you! Of course you can post the recipe on your blog, just make sure you link back to me or give me credit somehow if you post one of my pictures on your blog.
ReplyDeleteI just made these last weekend (substituting blackberry for the raspberry) and they were delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteI did have a similar problem with the jam, but I just think I didn't spread it enough. They still tasted great though.
Oh, and I just started a cupcake blog and posted photos of these over at http://istillwantmorecupcakes.blogspot.com - I sent my readers here for the recipe. :)
how do you make the marsmello flowers
ReplyDeleteMmmm, I'm thinking of this frosting on top of the chocolate ganache filled cupcakes. What do you think? Does this frosting pipe well? I guess so, from the looks of your lovely cupcakes. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteCan we use whipping cream instead of butter to make the frosting?
ReplyDeleteThese cupcakes look amazing...thanks for sharing
Thought you might like to know that I made some cupcake tonight and although not this recipe i put 3 fresh raspberries in between the sponge mix and they turned out lovely. Might not keep as long but I don't think that will be a problem as they are yummy :) Lorna
ReplyDeleteCAN NOT WAIT TO TRY THESE!! I LOVE BOTH RASPBERRYS AND LEMON!! THEY ARE MY FAVORITE INGREDIENS! AND CREAM CHEESE HAHAHA I THINK IM GONNA ADD SOME CREAM CHEESE TO THE FROSTING.. OMG! MY MOUTH MELTS HAHA
ReplyDeleteI baked these cupcakes today by following your recipe and it turns out GREAT! :D Cheers!
ReplyDeleteOh anyway, the frosting I made was kinda too sweet for my parents. How do I make it less sweeter? For example what can I substitute the butter with?
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to try these! However, I only have strawberry jam. Can I substitute the jam for raspberry? I don't know if strawberry and lemon go together as well as lemon and raspberry?
ReplyDeleteKerry,
ReplyDeleteLet me start by complimenting you on your blogging style, I stumbled across your recipe for Raspberry Lemon cupcakes and I could not resist checking out a few of your other recipes. You are witty, funny, and very entertaining! And your photos are incredible! I truly enjoy your blog and cannot wait to read future posts!
Now, your raspberry lemon cupcakes, I made them twice over the past 2 days and both batches were delicious. The first batch was not quite lemon-y enough so the second time around I added an additional 2 Tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice (call me crazy, but when I bite into something with "lemon" in the title, I want that zesty zing associated with biting into a fresh wedge of the citrus fruit!) I also opted to top my batches with raspberry cream cheese frosting and lemon cream cheese frosting. I love the compliment of the cream cheese to the more "muffin like" texture of the cupcakes. The only other issue I had was baking time, mine needed to bake for much longer than what you had recommended, but I went with my trusty toothpick and problem was solved!
I imagine this recipe would be great with any sort of fruit, I can't wait to try it with a blueberry preserve! mmm
Thank you so much for sharing, I will definitely be checking in on your blog often! Happy Baking.
I'm making these this weekend - been waiting to make these for 3 weeks now... I cant wait to try one!
ReplyDeleteJust stumbled across this recipe and I can't wait to make them this weekend. I must say, it's the first recipe for Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes that doesn't look overly complicated, but still delicious! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteOMG, these cupcakes are amazing!! I love to use fresh fruit in recipes, so I used fresh raspberries instead of jam... It was delicious! Sure it's amazing with the jam also!! Love your blog!
ReplyDeleteHello, I just made this recipe and the frosting turned out perfect but the cupcakes fall and the jam went all the way to the bottom. I leave on an island and it is very humid, I wonder if this has something to do with the cupcakes not rising? Here I can not find self rising flour so I mixed 1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour with 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. I really, really want to make this recipe work, could you advise me on what changes to do so it can turn out well for me? Thanks for sharing the recipe and your knowledge.
ReplyDeleteOMG, i'm absolutely in love!
ReplyDeleteI too had difficulty with the jam falling to the bottom of the cupcake- is there a special trick to spreading the batter/how full you fill the liners?
ReplyDeleteI made these last night and they are WONDERFUL!
ReplyDeleteI used 3 cups of powdered sugar for the frosting, and the frosting is so sweet. I confess I do not usually eat frosting. I do not like it because it is too sweet. But, even with this sweet frosting, I an in love with this recipe!!!
My jam did not fall. I live in AZ, so we have low humidity, but we were having an actual thunderstorm last night so the humidity was very high. I think the trick with the jam is to follow the directions. Make sure your batter is spread around and touching the sides of the liner.
These are now my absolute favorite cupcake EVER!
Yeah, my jam fell too, but no worries. I'm sure the taste is still just as awesome as it would've been if the jam had not fallen. I used sugar free strawberry preserves, because Lord knows all the other sugar in it would cause a sugar rush in of itself. I sneaked a cupcake before i refridgerated the others (I popped four in the freezer. High expectations! :D) and it was FABULOUS. I put the jam about halfway in the cupcake, but it still fell. If I do this recipe again, I literally will probably put the jam on top of the full cup of batter.
ReplyDeleteWhen measuring dry ingredients, especially flour, try sifting it first. This keeps the dry items fluffy, even, and without clumps, which makes the batter easier to mix and slightly lighter. Even if you're using a cake mix, sift it from the box into the bowl.
ReplyDeleteThese cupcakes have become my all time FAVORITE. I brag about them to all my friends =)
ReplyDeleteI have been getting a lot of useful and informative material in your website.
ReplyDeleterecipes and soup
These cupcakes taste amazing!! Unfortunately they look terrible! I have tried this 3 times and each time the batter fell and stuck to the sides of my cupcake tin. What am I doing wrong?
ReplyDeleteI would never like to fail out any chance to read out your listings. Ur Hun Tips
ReplyDeleteI need more articles and blogs please post soon.
ReplyDeleteRelationship Tips by Rainbow Systems
I want more and more articles and blogs please post soon such informative information.
ReplyDeleteGood Relationship With Milvia Design
You have really done the brilliant work dude!! I’m looking forward for more, hope you will never disappoint me. Leonardo Spencer Website
ReplyDelete