Enjoy these light, fluffy, tangy lemon cupcakes topped with vanilla buttercream in under 45 minutes! Made from just 8 ingredients and enjoyable as a cheeky snack or dessert!
Preheat the oven to 350ºF/175ºC and prepare a cupcake/muffin tray with either paper cases or buttering/oiling the pan (I've used both methods without any 'sticking').If you plan on adding poppy seeds, first toast them in a dry pan for around 1 minute.
In a large bowl sift in the flour, salt, and baking powder (and poppy seeds if using).
You can do this process using a stand mixer or a hand-held one (electric or manual whisk).In a separate bowl, first cream the butter and sugar together - I like to do this for several minutes as this will yield even fluffier cupcakes.
Add the eggs (and vanilla extract if you didn't use vanilla butter) and mix until well combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk until just combined.
Zest the lemon using a Microplane grater, being careful not to get the white pith, which is very bitter.
Add the lemon juice, milk, and lemon zest to the lemon cupcake batter and whisk just enough to combine.
Step 2: Bake them
Pour the batter in the cupcake/muffin tray.
Bake the lemon cupcakes in the oven at 350ºF/175ºC for between 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick is inserted into the center of a cupcake and comes out clean.
Remove the cupcakes from the oven once baked, allow them to cool for a little while before removing them from the tray, and allow to fully cool on a wire rack.
Step 3: Cool and decorate
While the lemon cupcakes cool, you can prepare the vanilla buttercream.If you want to make lemon frosting instead of vanilla then add around 1 tbsp lemon juice (and optionally some zest), taste, and increase slightly until you have your desired level of tang and flavor.
Once cooled, either pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes or slather it on with a little spatula/knife and optionally decorate with a candied lemon slice or some edible flowers and enjoy!
Notes
Make sure to measure the flour using the spoon and level method - spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then level it off with the back of a knife.
Mix up the citrus for different flavor; use lime juice and zest or even orange depending on what you have available.
For lemon lovers, feel free to add a few drops of lemon extract for an even more powerful citrus punch
Adapt this recipe to mini lemon cupcakes and reduce the baking time to between 11-15 minutes. Use a toothpick to check when they're done.
Adapt this recipe to muffins by omitting the icing, instead possibly using the lemon sugar glaze or a streusel topping. If you want to put them in a larger muffin pan then the yield will be lessened and the baking time may increase by a few minutes.
For gluten-free lemon cupcakes - you may be able to use an all-purpose gluten-free blend, though it isn't something I've tried.