These lemon and raspberry cupcakes consists of moist fresh lemon cake and flavorful raspberry buttercream. Made with raspberry puree in the frosting and freshly squeezed lemon juice in the cake layers, these colorful cupcakes are a delightful spring and summer dessert.
🌿 Ingredients You'll Need
- All Purpose Flour works best for the structure of these lemon cupcakes.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda are used to make the cupcakes rise.
- Unsalted Butter enhances all the lemon flavor.
- Granulated Sugar adds a subtle sweetness to the cake crumb and also enhances the oils from the fresh lemon zest.
- Eggs provide structure and moisture.
- Milk adds moisture to the cake crumb.
- Fresh Lemons are a must to add in lots of lemon zest and fresh juice to the cake batter.
- Fresh Raspberries add a lovely flavor and pink color to the raspberry frosting.
- Powdered Sugar is used to sweeten and thicken make the raspberry buttercream frosting.
Cupcake and Frosting Tips
Weigh Your Ingredients:
My recipes are all tested by weighing ingredient in grams to be the most accurate. By using a kitchen scale, your recipe will turn out as close to the written recipe as possible.
The recipe card includes both metric and US conversions, but since I create all my recipes with metric measurements, I can't guarantee the same results if you use a different measuring method. This is the kitchen scale I use everyday.
Use Softened Butter:
Cold butter from the refrigerator will not cream properly with the sugar in the cake and the buttercream. Be sure to set the butter out on the counter at least an hour or more before baking.
Don't Add All the Raspberry Reduction at Once to the Buttercream Mixture:
Spoon in a couple of tablespoons at a time, mixing with the powdered sugar to create preferred consistency.
Use Raspberry Jam:
To save time use raspberry jam with or without seeds if you don't have time to make the reduction. You will need to add a tablespoon or two of milk to the frosting as well, since the jam will be thick.
Lemon and Raspberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcake Batter
- 1 ½ cups (192 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 cup (128 grams) cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- ⅓ Cup (76.7 grams) fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
Raspberry Reduction
- 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Raspberry Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter , softened at room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup raspberry reduction, add in gradually
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt , *optional, taste buttercream before adding and adjust, helps counter balance the sweetness of the buttercream
Toppings
- Fresh Raspberries
Instructions
Cupcake Batter
- Preheat Oven to 325 F (162 C). Line a 12 muffin pan with paper cups.
- In a medium bowl, hand whisk together sifted flours, salt, and baking agents. Set aside.
- Place butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium with paddle attachment until fluffy. Scrape around the edges and across the bottom once or twice to make sure everything is incorporated.
- Add lemon zest and eggs one at a time while continuing to mix on medium low speed.
- Slowly spoon half the flour into mixture at low speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Continue on medium speed alternating between spooning in flour and pouring in milk and lemon juice. Mix until a smooth cake batter is formed.
- Spoon batter into cupcake papers, filling each one to the top.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean after being inserted down the center.
- Place cupcake pan on cooling rack to cool 10-15 min.. Remove each cupcake and place on rack to cool completely.
- Now make your frosting!
Raspberry Reduction
- Place fresh raspberries and lemon juice in a small saucepan on medium heat.
- As the raspberries begin to heat and breakdown, mash with a wooden spoon. Allow mixture to simmer and thicken for about 10 minutes.
- Remove raspberry reduction form heat. Option to strain through mesh sieve to remove seeds, or leave as is. Transfer to a small bowl and let chill in the fridge for about an hour.
Raspberry Buttercream
- Clean and dry your stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment.
- Place room temperature butter in bowl and whisk until fluffy.
- Add 2 tablespoons of raspberry reduction and 2 cups powdered sugar. Mix on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl as needed while making frosting..
- Continue to add remaining 2 cups of powdered sugar along with 2 tablespoons if raspberry reduction, mixing until frosting is thick but still spreadable. If you want a stiffer frosting add more powdered sugar, a ¼ cup at a time. To thin the frosting, add in additional strawberry reduction one tablespoon at a time.
- Scoop frosting into a piping bag with desired tip and pipe onto cooled cupcakes.
- Top frosted cupcakes with a fresh raspberry to serve.
- Store frosted cupcakes in an air tight container at room temperature or in the fridge.
Jan
These cupcakes are beautiful and delicious! I loved the tart raspberry flavor in the icing and the berry on top. What a great flavor profile with the lemonade cake. Once you eat one, you are definitely going to want another one.