It may be snowing and bitterly freezing here in CNY, but I’m still going to act like it’s spring with my Double Lemon Cupcakes. I bet if you could taste the springtime sun, it’d taste like bright, fresh lemon. Okay, the sun wouldn’t taste like anything because you’d torch your tongue and face and entire body off, but just work with me here.
Think happy spring thoughts.
These treats were a custom creation for my very good friend whom I like to think of as the big brother I never had. We celebrated his birthday, and his favorite cake is lemon, so I brought twice the lemony goodness here. The cake is a semi-homemade lemon cake that still beats all scratch-made recipes I’ve tried, and the frosting is packed with real fresh lemon zest. We could’ve stopped at one lemon element, sure, but this gives us double the bright zing we love so much.
It’s like a wake-up call when you take the first bite. The frosting is fluffy, the cake is tender and moist, and the flavor is so sunny and fresh. Sinking your teeth in is equivalent to stepping outside on a spring morning and getting that whiff of wet grass as the early morning sun first hits your skin.
That is exactly what I need in a cupcake right now.
A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:
1. If your cake is always dry, you’re probably overbaking it. But the nice thing about this recipe is that it’s hard to dry it out. You’ll find you have a large window where you can still achieve moist goodness. That said, I always suggest taking cakes out just a minute or two before you actually think they’re done. If you insert a toothpick into the centermost cupcake, it should come out with just a bit of crumb on it.
2. Frosting with a piping bag seems challenging, but it’s actually quicker than frosting by hand. You can make your own piping bag by piling the frosting into a large plastic bag, pushing it down to one corner, tying off the top, and snipping off the bottom corner. Pipe away!
3. It’s essential for your cream to be well-chilled, or it won’t whip.
4. The cornstarch acts as a stabilizer in or frosting, which well keep it from separating or melting.
Double Lemon Cupcakes
By The Smart Cookie Cook
Ingredients:
For the cake
Slightly adapted from My Baking Addiction
Slightly adapted from My Baking Addiction
- 1 box lemon cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
- 1 box vanilla Jell-O instant pudding mix (not cook and serve)
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 3 eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
For the frosting
By The Smart Cookie Cook
- 2 cups chilled heavy cream
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp. cornstarch
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- ¼ tsp. almond extract
- 1 ½ tsp. lemon extract
- 1 ½ tbsp. fresh lemon zest, plus more for topping.
- optional: yellow food dye
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with cupcake liners.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat together cake mix, pudding, oil, and sour cream until well-combined. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in vanilla.
- Fill cupcake tins 2/3-full then bake for 12-14 minutes or until puffed. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with just a few crumbs. Let cool completely.
- Make the frosting: place all frosting ingredients in the bowl of a standing mixer and beat on high until thick, fluffy, stiff peaks form. Pipe or spread frosting onto cooled cupcakes.
- Grate a little bit more lemon zest on top of the finished cupcakes. Enjoy or store in fridge in an air-tight container.
