These Lemon Cupcakes Filled with Lemon Curd Topped with Vanilla Buttercream are light and ultra-lemony! They’re like sunshine on a plate!
Hello friends! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Did you do anything fun? My weekend was filled with excitement! Fun with friends, a beautiful wedding and some Sauvignon Sunsets!! It could not have been better! Well, maybe if the weather had cooperated, but that’s okay Mother Nature. We didn’t let it get to us!
I can’t believe it’s only a few days until the kickoff to summer 2016! I am so incredibly excited!! So with summer on the horizon, today I’m sharing one of my favorite little warm weather cupcakes. I got a chance to make these yummy little dessert treats when I was visiting my niece Ally this spring in sunny Florida! Ally is a very talented baker, so it was nice to have an assistant to help me in the kitchen!
And I can tell you, nothing screams bright and sunny days better than one of these Lemon Cupcakes filled with Lemon Curd and topped with Vanilla Buttercream. These little beauties are so light and refreshing. They’re sweet, tart and tangy and they’re double the lemon flavor. They’ve got a fabulously moist, lemony flavored cake with an added little bonus of some delicious tart lemon curd filling. You can use a cupcake corer to core your cupcakes, or simply use a small pairing knife to carve out a small little hole in the middle of each cupcake to fill with the curd before you frost the cupcakes.
Hope you enjoy these sweet treats friends! They’ll be PERFECT on the Memorial Day dessert menu! Get ready Summer 2016…here we come!!
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 cup one stick unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp. freshly grated lemon zest
- 1./2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup lemon curd I use Dickinson's
- Vanilla Buttercream:
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 cups confectioner's sugar sifted
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp. whole milk
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12 count muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
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In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
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Add eggs, one at a time until well blended. Add vanilla and beat an additional 1 minute.
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With a spatula add the flour mixture until just combined, then add the juice, zest and milk being careful not to overmix.
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Spoon batter into liners about 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.
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When cupcakes are cooled, fill with lemon curd. To fill the cupcakes with the curd, use a cupcake corer or pairing knife to remove the center of each of the cupcakes, making a well about one-inch deep. Spoon a small amount of lemon curd into each well, then top with frosting.
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While cupcakes are cooling make frosting.
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In the bowl of a stand mixer combine butter and sugar. Beat on low speed until blended, about one minute. Add the vanilla and milk and increase speed to medium and continue to beat for 4 minutes until smooth and creamy.
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Add more milk, if necessary, until you reach a good spreading consistency.
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Frost cupcakes when cooled.
These are adorable – they look like cupcakes with a side of sunshine! And is that a Lilly dress I spy in the background?? Happy Monday, and here’s hoping there’s a cupcake in everyone’s day!
Yes, that’s my niece Ally! Ally LOVES her Lilly! I loved making these cupcakes with her. Since I have boys, it was nice having a girl who in the kitchen who has as much fun as I do baking!
We had a lovely weekend around here and plus it was a long weekend, our unofficially start to the Summer season, really. So a long weekend plus nice weather is a good thing, isn’t it? These are almost to pretty to eat! How adorable! And I love lemon anything so I would LOVE to have these right about now with my morning coffee. Never to early for a cupcake, is it :) ?
Yay Dawn! I know, I read your post this morning and it sounded like you had lots of fun! Perfect with your morning coffee! Have a wonderful week my friend!
It has been raining non-stop here in MD for so long, I’m desperate for sunshine. Maybe making these lemon cupcakes would bring me some joy when the sun’s not shining. Looks delicious!
I know Karen, I’m so sick of the gloomy weather too! These cupcakes will put a bit of brightness into your day! Go for it! Have a great week!
I simply love lemon cupcakes and that dollop of lemon curd in the center makes yours even more special. Perfect bright boost after a too-long stretch of rainy days. Your photos are just gorgeous Mary Ann!
Thanks so much Cathy! Lemon cupcakes are a favorite of mine too! And getting to make them with my niece Ally was even better! Have a wonderful week!
Lemon cupcakes are so delicious! I love that you filled yours with lemon curd. They are the perfect way to brighten up dreary weather!
I agree Jen and I’m hoping the weather will be changing for the better soon! Hope you enjoy!
I’m so glad you had a beautiful weekend and the weather didn’t get in the way of your fun, Mary Ann!! You already know the weather got in the way of my fun. :( LOVE these cupcakes!!! These are so cute and the lemon curd with vanilla buttercream sounds amazing! So sweet your niece helped you make these!! She must be quite the little baker! Pinned! Cheers, friend! <3
She really is Cheyanne! She could teach me a few things! We’ll be working with fondant this summer! Can’t wait!
These cupcakes are just stunning and exactly what I am craving this time of year! I just adore lemon curd! :) :)
Me too Sarah! Thanks so much!
These may be the prettiest cupcakes I’ve ever seen! I love lemon desserts — I’m hooked on that sweet/tart flavour! Annnnnd now I want cupcakes for breakfast ;).
Do it Olivia! Lemon is a fruit, so let’s go with that! Fruit for breakfast!
These look delicious and I LOVE the pictures!! So bright and summery :) Thanks for sharing, Mary Ann!
I really love these cupcakes Jessica! They are so moist with just the perfect amount of lemon! Anything lemon perks me up! Hope you enjoy!
These are just the prettiest and lemon is always a winner! We had a long weekend here in Canada (we are a week ahead of US sometimes in our May long weekend) and the weather was perfect. Doesn’t get much better :)
Oh, I’m so glad you enjoyed your weekend Jennifer! Hoping we will have some nice weather for our long weekend this weekend! Thank you and enjoy the cupcakes!
Just gorgeous, I love that lemon curd filling!
Thanks so much Laura!
Mmmmmm I adore citrus and vanilla together! These cupcakes are my dream :)
Yay Bethany! Hope you enjoy them if you give them a go!
I have a lemon tree and always have a surplus of lemons – I will be making this, Mary Ann! They are so cute and I’m glad you had an assistant to help you – that’s a great shot of her (or is it you??) holding the cupcakes – all the photos are so summery!
That’s my niece Ally in the photo! I’m so glad you’ll be giving these a try Geraldine! We really enjoyed them! Hoping Ally can help me with another recipe this summer!
Mary Ann , these cupcakes look so cute and anything lemony appeals to me. I love your photos.
Thank you so much! I’m a big fan of lemon desserts too Gerlinde, and these are a favorite! Hope you have a great week!
These cupcakes are so fun and festive! I love that you made them extra lemon-y but adding that lemon curd – so irresistible! These are perfect for the summertime :)
Thanks Rachel! The weather’s been so gloomy here, I needed a pick me up!
I used to work at a bakery and I would eat lemon curd by the spoonful!! Miss those days. These cupcakes remind me of all of those great memories. Hope you’re having a great week Mary Ann!
It’s so delicious isn’t it Lauren?! I hope you are too Lauren! Thanks!
Cupcakes are so much fun to make and eat!! No doubt stuffing these little treasures with lemon curd makes them sublime. What fun you and your niece had pulling these together! They’re just perfect! Hope your weekend is fabulous, Mary Ann!
Thanks so much Traci! So excited for Memorial Day weekend! Hope you enjoy yours too!
OMG, Mary Ann, I love lemon EVERYTHING and these look to die for. They’re the perfect way to usher in summer!
Thanks so much Kelsie! Lemon flavored desserts are my favorite too! Thanks so much for commenting!
Oh wow, those cupcakes are completely adorable! And lemon curd is always completely wonderful in cupcakes :) I’m so looking forward to summer as well!! Only two-and-a-half weeks of school left… not that I’m counting or anything!! (Summer vacation is for teachers as much as for students…)
I’m sure you’re looking forward to a nice long, relaxing summer Mary Beth! Hope you enjoy your Memorial Day weekend! Fingers crossed for nice weather!
I have such a weakness for lemon curd so I can already imagine filling these cupcakes with it would be divine! Perfect way to welcome summer. Love these photos! Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend, Mary Ann!
Thanks so much Tessa! I’m so excited for summer! My favorite time of year!
Absolutely gorgeous! Lemon overload is exactly what is on my agenda this weekend, i have 2 huge bags of freshly picked lemons! Thanks for sharing x
Yay Samantha! These are so delicious! My niece and I had such fun making them AND eating them! Enjoy your holiday weekend!
Beautiful cupcakes! I love lemon curd and adding them to a cupcake is a brilliant idea. It’s a little burst of flavor just packed with sunshine! :) Love those cupcake wrappers too!
Thanks so much Kathy! I got those at Home Goods! They’ve always got the cutest cupcake wrappers!
I made these cupcakes for my birthday once, people loved them and asked for more! now I make them for a lot of occasions! But instead of using vanilla buttercream I add a teaspoon and a half of lemon juice to make everything lemon.
I’m so glad Libby! I’d LOVE the lemon buttercream! Great idea! Thanks so much for following!
What am I missing. Read directions x3 but still do not see when or where you add the lemon curd?
Hi Judi. I apologize. I’m not quite sure how that got deleted. I just added. Thank you so much for giving me the heads up!