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Leigh Anne Wilkes

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Home / Latest Posts / Recipes / Dessert / Cake / Perfect Lemon Cupcakes

Perfect Lemon Cupcakes

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By: Leigh Anne WilkesPosted: 7/16/09Updated: 3/05/20

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see disclosure policy here.

The perfect lemon cupcake - perfection in every way!

We are going a little cupcake crazy at our house.

After the fun cupcake capers Logan and I had together on his last visit home I decided to try out some new cupcake recipes.

I am helping a friend with her son’s wedding reception next week and they wanted to have a cupcake bar.  She has put me in charge of selecting and planning the cupcake menu.  I have also been helping with the decorations too and can’t wait to show you what we have planned!

Back to the cupcakes – my first step was to go to some of my favorite food blogs and gather together some recipes.  Over at Real Mom Kitchen I found a recipe for Perfect Lemon Cupcakes.  She had gotten the recipe from my friend Melanie over at My Kitchen Cafe!

 

The perfect lemon cupcake!

These cupcakes were indeed perfect – lemon through and through.  Lemon cake, lemon frosting – it doesn’t get any better!  The cupcake starts with a boxed lemon cake mix but then is enhanced with some sour cream and pudding  which makes for a very moist cupcake.  The frosting, and it is all about the frosting, was super lemony too with fresh lemon juice and lemon zest.

Lovely Lemon Cupcakes - perfect lemon goodness!

Topped off with half a strawberry these lemon cupcakes were indeed perfect.  They are a definite go for the wedding reception and they are so pretty!

The most perfect lemon cupcake ever!

We had a surprise Sweet Sixteen birthday party at our house this week so I decided a cupcake bar would be part of the party food and an excuse to experiment with more recipes for the wedding reception.  We went with strawberry cupcakes and chocolate malted milk cupcakes for the party (we had a pink and black theme).

I’ll share pictures from the party and two more cupcake recipes on Monday!

I’m still in need of a few more cupcake recipes/flavors to add to the menu so if you have a favorite cupcake recipe please leave it in the comments or send it to me via the contact form – thanks!!

When you make these cupcakes you are going to want two of my favorite tools for working lemons:

Microplaner  and a  Lemon Juicer

5 from 5 votes
This is truly the most perfect lemon cupcake you will ever taste!

Perfect Lemon Cupcakes

Recipe From: Leigh Anne Wilkes
The perfect lemon cupcake.
serves: 24 cupcakes
Prep:20 minutes
Cook:25 minutes
Total:45 minutes
Rate Recipe

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 1 box lemon cake mix
  • 1 C sour cream
  • 3/4 C water
  • 3/4 C oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 box lemon instant pudding small box

Lemon Buttercream Frosting:

  • 1 cup butter very soft
  • 8 C powdered sugar
  • 1/2 C fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Instructions

Cake:

  • Mix dry ingredients
  • Add wet ingredients
  • Mix with electric mixer on medium speed for about two minutes
  • Use a strong mixer, this batter is thick
  • For cupcakes, bake them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (I was able to get 24 very full cupcakes from the recipe).
  • For regular cake, pour into a greased 9x11 pan or two round pans
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes
  • Don't over bake or the cake will be too dry!
  • The toothpick test works to check to see if they're done
  • The original recipe said that the cupcakes will fall after they come out of the oven, but this is normal and to just fill up the indentation with more frosting

Lemon Buttercream Frosting:

  • Place the butter in a large mixing bowl
  • Add 4 cups of sugar, then the juice and the zest
  • Beat until smooth and creamy
  • Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, until icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency (I added 6 cups total).
  • Use and store at room temperature. (Don't refrigerate and it will last in a covered container for about three days.)
  • Garnish with berries, if desired right before serving

Nutrition Facts:

Calories: 409kcal (20%) Carbohydrates: 62g (21%) Protein: 2g (4%) Fat: 18g (28%) Saturated Fat: 7g (44%) Cholesterol: 53mg (18%) Sodium: 264mg (11%) Potassium: 41mg (1%) Fiber: 1g (4%) Sugar: 49g (54%) Vitamin A: 336IU (7%) Vitamin C: 2mg (2%) Calcium: 62mg (6%) Iron: 1mg (6%)
* Disclaimer: All nutrition information are estimates only. Read full disclosure here.
Course:Dessert
Cuisine:American
Keyword:lemon cupcakes
This is truly the most perfect lemon cupcake you will ever taste!
Did you make this?I love seeing what you made. Be sure to share a picture and tag @yourhomebasedmom on social media!
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This is truly the most perfect lemon cupcake you will ever taste!

Previous Post
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Next Post
Pretty in Pink Sweet Sixteen Birthday Party

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  1. KAYLA DOTSON says

    Posted on 8/15 at 5:27 pm

    This is hands down the best lemon cupcake recipe I’ve seen! Love the texture and the taste! 🙂

    Reply
    • Leigh Anne says

      Posted on 8/15 at 9:56 pm

      Kayla, It is a good one! So glad you love it too

      Reply
  2. Olivia says

    Posted on 10/16 at 1:23 pm

    What can you use instead of the zest?

    Reply
    • Leigh Anne says

      Posted on 10/16 at 1:31 pm

      You can replace it with some additional lemon juice. 1 tsp of zest to 2 tsp of juice.

      Reply
  3. Stephanie says

    Posted on 8/5 at 10:11 pm

    I tried this recipe tonight and really was NOT a fan…..the cake was extremely dense and the “frosting” was sooooooo sweet and sugary and not fluffy at all. Very sad! 🙁

    Reply
  4. Sinea Pies says

    Posted on 7/24 at 12:41 pm

    Mmmm. These look SO good and SO pretty, Leigh Anne.
    They will be featured in this Friday’s Cupcakes on Parade on Ducks ‘n a Row!
    My readers will LOVE them.
    (oh, just pinned ’em too!)
    Blessings,
    Sinea
    Ducks ‘n a Row

    Reply
  5. Sara Vongthongthip says

    Posted on 3/18 at 5:53 pm

    These lemon cupcakes are sooooo good! Perfect indeed.

    Reply
  6. Stacey says

    Posted on 3/16 at 8:56 pm

    I made these as a birthday cake tonight and everybody LOVED it! I will definitely make again and I might just have to eat the rest of the frosting by itself! Thanks for a great recipe!

    Reply
    • Leigh Anne says

      Posted on 3/17 at 7:21 am

      I am so glad they were a hit – they are definitely the perfect lemon cupcake!

      Reply
  7. GiGiMarie says

    Posted on 3/13 at 9:27 am

    Try cutting back on the water and add in fresh lemon juice and zest instead. So super yummy! This is a similar recipe to my lemon cupcakes. My boys enjoy them very much!

    Reply
  8. Annice Hill says

    Posted on 9/28 at 3:33 pm

    Leigh Ann, thanks for sharing this recipe. I am making them next week for a lunch for college students at one of our local campuses here in San Antonio, TX. We are serving them after a pasta lunch and I thought these would be a nice refreshing end ot the meal. I am making candied lemon slices to decorate them with since strawberries don’t seem very appropriate in October. Also thanks for the decorating video. I am heading to our local cake suppy store right now to get the disposable bags, the large star tip, some beautiful liners, and cupcake transporting boxes. Thanks again.

    Reply
    • Leigh Anne says

      Posted on 9/28 at 3:54 pm

      Sounds like you have a delicious lunch planned I think the lemon cupcakes will be the perfect dessert. Have fun decorating them.

      Reply
  9. carolyn says

    Posted on 9/26 at 7:56 am

    I made these for a baby shower and the client wanted cream cheese frosting. They were wonderful!!! Like crazy wonderful! If you have problems with them falling in the middle, I found that they may need an extra minute of baking time. I didn’t want to overbake so I tested at 18 minutes and took them out. They fell a little. The next batch I baked for the full 20 minutes and they were perfect….no falling. So just and FYI

    Reply
    • Leigh Anne says

      Posted on 9/26 at 8:25 am

      Carolyn, So glad they were a hit! I bet they were amazing with cream cheese frosting. Thanks for the tip on baking them a little longer to prevent falling. Will definitely do that next time.

      Reply
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