These are THE BEST Lemon Curd Cupcakes. They’re soft and moist, packed with fresh lemon flavor, and are topped with silky smooth lemon cream cheese buttercream and homemade lemon curd.
What makes these Lemon Curd Cupcakes the BEST?
- Fresh Lemon Flavor. These are so citrusy and perfect for spring. There’s lemon in the cake, the curd, AND the frosting. This recipe is definitely for lemon lovers ONLY!
- Moist. This recipes uses both butter and oil which I think is the best combo for making cakes, because you get the flavor from the butter and the oil keeps it nice and moist! We’re also using the reverse creaming method which results in a tender and moist cupcake.
- Textures. These cupcakes have the best combo of textures – soft moist cake, silky smooth frosting, and velvety lemon curd.
- Cream Cheese Frosting. Need I say more? The cream cheese gives it a subtle tang that helps to balance out the tart lemon flavor.
Ingredients
- Salted Butter. I always bake with salted butter. Salt makes sweet things taste better. If all you have in unsalted, no problem – just add an extra pinch of salt.
- Lemon. Fresh lemon juice and zest are in the cupcakes, the frosting, AND the lemon curd, so just grab a big ole bag!
- Eggs. For both the cupcakes and the curd.
- Flour. Regular all purpose is great – you can also make these gluten free by swapping out the all purpose for a cup for cup gluten free flour like this one from King Arthur Baking.
- Poppyseeds. I love a lemon poppyseed situation, but you can omit them if you want!
- Cream Cheese. These cupcakes are topped with a lemon cream cheese buttercream – grab the full fat Philadelphia for the creamiest silkiest frosting.
- Sugar. Regular granulated sugar for the cupcakes and curd, and powdered sugar for the frosting.
How to Make Lemon Curd Cupcakes
Make the Lemon Curd.
You’ll want to give the lemon curd plenty of time to cool and then chill, so make that first. I have always used Martha’s recipe. It’s the best!
Start by adding the sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs and egg yolks to a medium saucepan. While stirring constantly, cook it over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until it starts to thicken and bubble. It should become thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Then, remove it from the heat and stir in the butter until fully melted and combined.
Pass the curd through a fine mesh sieve to remove the lemon zest and any stringy bits of egg whites, leaving your lemon curd perfectly smooth. Press some plastic wrap right up against the surface of the curd to prevent it from forming a skin and place it into the fridge to chill.
Make the Lemon Poppyseed Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350 and line 2 cupcake pans with 18 cupcake liners. Add the sugar and lemon zest to the bowl of your stand mixer. Use your hands to massage the lemon zest into the sugar. This will release the oils from the lemon and help bring out the lemon flavor.
This recipe uses the reverse creaming method. So, instead of adding the butter here and creaming it with the sugar, add the dry ingredients – flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.
Next, cube the butter, and add it along with the oil to the mixer. Using the paddle attachment on medium speed, cream until the mixture is fully combined and resembles a wet sand. Meanwhile in a large liquid measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, vanilla, water, vinegar, sour cream, and lemon extract. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly pour in the wet ingredients and let mix until combined. Add the poppyseeds and then give the batter a final mix by hand to incorporate the poppyseeds and make sure everything in mixed evenly. It’s ok if there’s small clumps of butter in the finished batter!
Fill the cupcake liners half full with the batter, then bake at 350 for 15-16 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs attached. Allow cupcakes to cool for a few minutes, then remove from cupcake pan and place on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Make the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
In the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer) add the cream cheese and butter. Mix with the paddle attachment for 10 minutes on medium high speed. Stop the mixer every 2-3 minutes to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.
Next, add the powdered sugar half at a time. After each addition of powdered sugar, mix on the lowest possible speed for 3 minutes. Then, add the vanilla, and lemon zest and mix until combined. Finally, warm the lemon juice in the microwave for 5-7 seconds, or until it is slightly warm to the touch, but NOT HOT! Add it to the frosting 1 TBSP at a time mixing on low, until you reach your desired consistency. For cupcakes, I like it soft, but firm enough that it will hold its shape when piped.
Assemble the Lemon Curd Cupcakes
Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, assemble them. Use a large round tip to pipe the lemon cream cheese frosting onto the cupcakes. Start in the middle of the cupcake to coat the bottom, but keep the tip close to the cupcake so that it pipes a thin layer. Then slowly rotate the cupcake while lifting the piping bag up, piping a border around the cupcake. There should be a small well in the center of the frosting, as pictured below. Fill the center with the chilled lemon curd, then top with a few extra poppyseeds. Serve immediately.
Lemon Curd Cupcake FAQs
- Can I make these cupcakes gluten free? I haven’t tested it yet, but you should be able to swap the all purpose flour in this recipe for a cup for cup gluten free flour replacement for a gluten free version!
- Can I make these cupcakes ahead of time? You can make all three components ahead of time, yes. But, I would recommend not assembling the cupcakes until you’re ready to serve them. You can make the frosting and curd up to a week in advance. But for the freshest cupcakes, make those only 1 day ahead of time.
- Can I omit the poppyseeds? Yep! Just leave them out, no other modifications are necessary.
- Can I omit the cream cheese in the frosting? Yes. If you just want a regular lemon frosting, swap the cream cheese for an equal amount of butter.
Tools & Equipment
- Stand Mixer. You can make this recipe in a stand mixer OR in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer. However, it is a lot of mixing, so if you have a stand mixer I’d recommend using that. I also recently upgraded to this stainless steel paddle attachment and I love it!
- Piping Bag & Tips. I use these 18″ disposable piping bags and a large round tip for these cupcakes.
- Fine Mesh Sieve. You’ll need this for straining the lemon curd to make it perfectly smooth.
- Cookie Scoop. I like to use a large cookie scoop like this one to portion the cupcake batter into the pans, but you can also just use a regular spoon as long as you make sure to fill the liners half full.
- Cupcake Pans. USA Pan is my go to for all baking pans including cupcake pans. They’re the best!
- Cupcake Liners. I love a good parchment colored cupcake liner that lets the cupcake be the star of the show.
Lemon Curd Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 18 Cupcakes
Description
Tender and moist lemon cupcakes topped with soft and silky lemon cream cheese buttercream and homemade lemon curd.
Ingredients
For the Lemon Curd
- 200 g (1C) Granulated Sugar
- 6 Lg Egg Yolks
- 2 Lg Whole Eggs
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Fresh Lemon Zest
- 2/3 C Fresh Lemon Juice
- 6 TBSP Salted Butter
For the Lemon Poppyseed Cupcakes
- 1 C (200g) Granulated Sugar
- 2 tsp Lemon Zest
- 1 1/2 C (175g) All Purpose Flour
- 2 TBSP Cornstarch
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 6 TBSP (85g) Salted Butter, cubed and at room temperature
- 3 TBSP Vegetable Oil
- 1/4 C Water
- 1 tsp Vinegar
- 1/2 C (125g) Sour Cream, at room temperature
- 2 Lg Eggs + 1 Egg Yolk, at room temperature
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp Lemon Extract Paste (or regular lemon extract)
For the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz Cream Cheese, at room temperature
- 1 C (226g) Salted Butter, at room temperature
- 5 C (600g) Powdered Sugar
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 2 tsp Lemon Zest
- 2–3 TBSP Fresh Lemon Juice
Instructions
For the Lemon Curd
- Add all ingredients minus the butter to a medium sized sauce pan and whisk to combine.
- Cook over medium heat while stirring constantly.
- After 5-7 minutes, the mixture should begin to bubble and thicken enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
- Remove from heat and stir in the butter until melted and fully combined.
- Pour the curd through a fine mesh sieve to remove the bits of lemon zest and any stringy egg whites.
- Press plastic up to the surface of the lemon curd to prevent a skin from forming and place it into the fridge to chill until ready to serve.
For the Lemon Poppyseed Cupcakes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line 2 cupcake pans with 18 total cupcake liners.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer add the sugar and lemon zest. Massage the zest into the sugar for 1-2 minutes to release the oils from the zest.
- Add the dry ingredients to the sugar – flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Add the cubed butter and oil and cream on medium high speed for 3-5 minutes until it’s well combined and resembles wet sand. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
- In a large liquid measuring cup, whisk together the water, vinegar, sour cream, eggs, egg yolk, vanilla, and lemon extract paste.
- With the mixer running on low speed, slowly pour in the wet ingredients, then continue to mix until fully combined.
- Add the poppyseeds and do a final mix of the batter by hand with a rubber spatula.
- Fill the cupcake liners half full, then bake at 350 for 15-16 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs attached.
- Let cupcakes cool completely.
For the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese on medium high speed for 10 minutes. Stop the mixer every 2-3 minutes to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- Add the powdered sugar half at a time (2 1/2 C at a time) and mix on the lowest speed for 3 minutes after each addition. Again, scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the lemon zest and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Warm the lemon juice in the microwave for 5-7 seconds or until it is slightly warm to the touch, but NOT hot! Add it to the frosting 1 TBSP at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes using a large round tip. Leave a well in the center of the frosting and then fill that with the chilled lemon curd.
- Top with extra poppyseeds and serve immediately.
If you loved this recipe for my Lemon Curd Cupcakes be sure to leave a star rating and review below and tag @buuckfarmsbakery on TikTok and Instagram. To save this recipe for later, click on the Pinterest icon on the recipe card above, or on any of the images throughout this post.
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