Meyer Lemon Cupcakes
Sweet and tangy, these Meyer lemon cupcakes are flavored with Meyer lemon juice and zest and topped with a Meyer lemon cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
Meyer Lemon Cupcakes:
- 1 ½ cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon zest, from 1-2 Meyer lemons
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup sour cream, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup Meyer lemon juice, from 2-3 Meyer lemons
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
Meyer Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 8 ounces full-fat block cream cheese, softened, see note
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons Meyer lemon zest
For Decorating:
- Meyer lemon slices
- Candied Meyer lemon slices
- Meyer lemon zest
- Sprinkles
- Sanding sugar, I used gold sanding sugar in the photos
Directions
Meyer Lemon Cupcakes:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Set it aside.
- In a mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ cups cake flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons of Meyer lemon zest. Whisk together and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl with a hand-mixer, add ¼ cup unsalted butter and 1 cup granulated sugar and mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the ½ cup sour cream, ¼ cup vegetable oil, ¼ cup Meyer lemon juice, and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract and mix until fully combined, about a minute or so. Now add the egg and egg yolk, one at a time, until fully incorporated.
- Now add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in 2-3 increments, mixing on low. Increase the speed to medium low after adding the final amount of dry ingredients, scraping down the bowl as necessary until just combined.
- Spoon or pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling the liners roughly ½ to ⅔ full, keeping them as even as possible. Place into the middle of the oven and bake for 17-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes mostly clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool and finish setting up in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack until completely cooled before frosting.
Meyer Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- While the cupcakes are baking, you can make the cream cheese frosting.
- In the cleaned bowl of the stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or another mixing bowl with a hand mixer, add 6 tablespoons unsalted butter and 8 ounces of softened cream cheese. Beat on medium speed until well combined, soft, and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the 3 ½ cups powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons Meyer lemon zest, a little bit at a time, and mix on low speed until the powdered sugar is mostly combined, then turn the speed up to medium until fully mixed. It should be thick at this point.
- Pour in the 2 tablespoons of Meyer lemon juice, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt and mix until fully combined. If the frosting feels a bit loose, and a bit more powdered sugar. Refrigerate while the cupcakes cool. This should help thicken the frosting as well.
Decorating the Cupcakes:
- Once the cupcakes have fully cooled and the cream cheese frosting has set up and chilled, you can decorate the cupcakes.
- Fill a piping bag with some frosting and pipe from the outside into the middle of the cupcake in a closing circle, going up and making another circle towards the center. For reference, I used a large 8B piping tip. Decorate with lemon slices, sprinkles, sanding sugar, or more zest and enjoy.
Equipment Used
Notes
1) Lemon Cupcakes – If you can’t find Meyer lemons, you can replace everything with regular lemons as well. Because they’re tarter and sourer, you may want to add a few more tablespoons of sugar in the cupcake batter. Alternatively, for a similar flavor profile to Meyer lemons, mix lemon and orange juice and zest at a ratio of 4:1 lemon to orange.
2) Cream Cheese – Use softened cream cheese for the frosting, not room temperature. Leave it out for 15-20 minutes before using, but not so long that it’s no longer cool. This will help keep it from becoming too loose to use. If the cream cheese frosting seems too thin to pipe or frost with, you can refrigerate it for 30 minutes or longer to stiffen up. You can also try adding a teaspoon or so of cream of tartar to thicken it. It will always feel softer compared to American buttercream though, so don’t expect the same texture.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 cupcakeCalories: 429kcalCarbohydrates: 66gProtein: 6gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 52mgSodium: 295mgPotassium: 97mgFiber: 1gSugar: 53gCalcium: 106mgIron: 0.3mg
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