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Browsing for a treat to satisfy your sweet tooth? Cupcakes are always a good idea! Because who doesn’t love mini bite-sized cakes? The ratio of icing to cake in each bite is supreme!
Nothing screams summer more than strawberry and lemon combination. The tartness of the lemon pairs so well with sweet strawberries, making it a match made in summer heaven. Each soft zesty lemon cupcake is topped with a generous amount of fresh strawberry cream cheese frosting and topped with fresh strawberry slices. The flavors are light but they shine through in each bite.
If you take these to your next party, be prepared to make a double batch or have the recipe on hand! People will be asking you for more!
Looking for more cake recipes? Check these out!
Funfetti Coffee Cake with Cream Cheese Filling
Key Lime Cheesecake Bars with Ginger Snap Cookie Crust
Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
What You’ll Need
Lemon cupcakes
Strawberry cream cheese frosting
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Buttermilk
- Lemons
- Strawberries
- Cream cheese
- Butter
- Powdered sugar
- Salt
- Vanilla
How to Make Lemon Cupcakes
Each mini cake starts with a vanilla buttermilk cupcake base and has a healthy amount of lemon zest to give it a bright, light zesty flavor.
Prep the muffin tin for baking…
Start by lining muffin tins with muffin liners and preheating the oven to 325ºF.
If you don’t have muffin liners, grease each well with butter or cooking spray. Make sure the bottoms and corners are greased well, so you can remove the cupcake easier after baking.
Mix dry ingredients…
Whisk together all purpose flour, baking powder and salt. This will be your dry ingredient mixture that you will add to the batter after creaming butter and sugar.
Cream butter and sugar…
Next step is cream butter and sugar. Make sure to warm you butter to room temperature. If the butter is too cold, it will be more difficult to incorporate with the other ingredients. Once butter is creamy, add in sugar and whisk until blended.
Next add in one egg at a time, making sure each egg is blended before adding the next one. Whisk in vanilla extract and you’re ready to start mixing in the flour mixture and buttermilk.
Alternate adding in flour and buttermilk...
We used buttermilk as the liquid in these cupcakes. One reason we love using buttermilk in cupcakes is that it makes the most tender crumb. And even though buttermilk can smell and taste sour, it only leaves a slight tangy taste to the cake. Depending on the flavor of your cake, you may not even notice it’s there.
Last step is to alternate adding flour and buttermilk into the mixture. You’ll start by adding in half of your flour, mixing on medium-low until blended, before adding in half of the buttermilk. You’ll repeat this step another time.
Alternating both dry and wet ingredients is going to make a smooth batter without over mixing.
How to make Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- Make strawberry puree. This is super easy to do. All you’ll need is. High powered blender and a cup of fresh strawberries. Add a cup of sliced strawberries to your blender and blend until smooth. Reserve 2 tbsp of strawberry puree for the icing and save the rest for another use.
- How to use extra strawberry puree? Add into muffins, smoothies, lemonade, or fruit dip for a strawberry flavor.
- Cream butter and cream cheese. Using an electric blender, with the paddle attachment, start by creaming butter until smooth. Next add in the cream cheese and mix until smooth.
- Add in vanilla and powdered sugar. Although this is strawberry icing, vanilla is going to add a little extra flavor to the icing. Mix in vanilla and gradually add in powdered sugar to avoid a mess of flying powder. Mix until just combined.
- Mix in strawberry puree. Last step is to add in 2 tbsp of strawberry puree. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it will add a lot of flavor to the icing. If you add too much puree, your icing will start to thin and will be too runny.
Tips for Making Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
- Use unsalted butter. This way you have more control over the flavor of the cake. Don’t over mix the batter. Overtaxing the batter can overwork the gluten in the cake, resulting in a tougher texture. One reason you alternate mixing in flour and buttermilk into the cake is to evenly mix the batter without over mixing.
- Use room temperature butter and eggs. Room temperature eggs are going to blend better into the batter, making it smoother.
- Don’t over mix cream cheese. Over whipping the cream cheese will whip too much air into the icing and will make it too thin. You just want to whip it until creamy.
How to Store Cupcakes
Storing iced cupcakes: Store iced cupcakes at room temperature in a airtight container, like a cupcake carrier or cake carrier.
If you are making cupcakes ahead of time, we recommend icing right before you’re ready to serve.
- Storing cupcakes: Store in an airtight container or plastic bag, at room temperature for 2-3 days. You can also store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, but they may lose some of their moisture in the fridge.
- Storing frosting: If you make frosting ahead of time, you can store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
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Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Description
Each soft zesty lemon cupcake is topped with a generous amount of fresh strawberry cream cheese frosting and topped with fresh strawberry slices.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1.5 tsp vanilla
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- Zest from 2 lemons
Strawberry Frosting
- 1 cup chopped strawberries
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325ºF. Line muffin tin with muffin liners.
- In medium bowl. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt. Set aside.
- In an electric stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add in sugar and mix until combined.
- Next add in eggs one at a time, blending on medium low until just blended in. Add vanilla and mix to incorporate.
- Slowly add in half the flour mixture. Mixing on medium-low speed until combined. Add in half of the butter milk and mix. Add in the last half of the flour mixture, then the remaining buttermilk. Mix until just combined. Scrape any excess flour on edges and blend in. Be careful not to over mix the batter.
- Scoop batter into lined muffin tins. Make sure to fill 3/4 of the tin. The batter should evenly devide into 12 cupcake wells. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely while you make the frosting.
- Make strawberry puree for frosting. Blend strawberries in high powered blender or food processor until smooth. You will only use 2 tbsp of the mixture. Store the rest for another use.
- Make the frosting. In an electric mixer, whip cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla and salt and mix until combined. Mix in powdered sugar until fully incorporated. Pour 2 tbsp of the strawberry puree into frosting and mix until combined. Reserve the rest of the strawberry puree for another use, like
- Add a dollop of several tbsp of frosting on top of each cupcake. Using a icing spatula or butter knife, spread icing over top of each cupcake. Garnish with a slice of strawberry and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cooling Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
