If you’re looking for an easy lemon cupcake recipe that is super soft, moist, and bursting with lemon flavour, then this recipe is it!
Fluffy cupcakes are filled with a half batch of my super easy eggless lemon curd recipe, and topped with a small batch of my all time favourite cream cheese frosting that has a slight kick of lemon too! The cupcakes are great on their own as well, so you can skip the lemon curd and frosting if you prefer (though I highly recommend them!).
How to Make Lemon Cupcakes
These cupcakes come together really easily!
Begin by preheating your oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 3 on recipe card below if you don’t have a fan function) and line a cupcake tray with cupcake liners.
In a bowl, sift together your flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
In another bowl, add in your butter, vegetable oil, sugar and lemon zest. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine – see note 4 on recipe card below), cream together for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
Next add in Greek yoghurt and fresh lemon juice. Mix until well combined. The batter may look a little curdled at this stage but that’s okay.
Lastly add in your premixed dry ingredients from earlier, and using a spatula, gently fold until just combined. Do not overmix. Your batter should no longer be curdled, and there should be no large chunks or streaks of flour. It’s okay if the batter is a little lumpy in the end.
Distribute the batter evenly into the cupcake liners (fill no more than about 3/4s of the way up), and bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tray for 10 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to completely cool. The cupcakes do ever so slightly sink in the middle while cooling , but once you fill and frost them you won’t be able to tell. In my opinion, it’s a necessary trade-off for the perfect texture 🙂
How to Make Lemon Curd
My eggless lemon curd recipe is SO DELICIOUS and really easy to put together.
Add your lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, milk and vanilla to a saucepan and mix until well combined.
Place your saucepan over a medium heat and stir your mixture continuously until you reach a thick consistency (see video below for visual).
Take your saucepan off the heat and stir in the cold unsalted butter until completely melted.
Strain your lemon curd to remove the little bits of lemon zest (optional).
Stir in gel colour or turmeric for additional colour (optional). Leave to completely cool.
How to Make Cream Cheese Buttercream
Cream your butter for a few minutes until it’s light and fluffy. Either use a hand mixer or stand mixer on a medium high speed. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.
Add in the icing sugar in 3 batches while mixing on low. Ensure that each batch of icing sugar is mixed into the butter well before adding in the next batch.
Next add in your cold cream cheese, vanilla and fresh lemon juice. Mix just until the frosting is smooth. Avoid over-mixing (see note 5 on recipe card below).
How to Assemble Lemon Cupcakes
Once the cupcakes are completely cool, using the back of a large piping tip (you can also use an apple corer, a small serrated knife or small spoon), and poke it halfway through each cupcake, twist and then bring it back up (see video below for demonstration). The middle of the cupcake should come out with the piping tip, leaving a hole in the centre for the lemon curd to go. Remove the part of the cupcake that’s in the piping tip (you can use the back of a spoon or toothpick to push it out if it’s stuck), and repeat the process with the remaining cupcakes.
Next fill the centre of the cupcakes with the lemon curd (see note 6 on recipe card below). I just use a teaspoon to do this.
Next frost the cupcakes with the cream cheese buttercream. I pop mine into a piping bag with a 1M piping tip on it, and pipe cupcake swirls on the top. Make sure the lemon curd is completely cool before doing this.
OPTIONAL: Place any remaining lemon curd in a piping bag, and cut the tip of the piping bag so you have a small hole, and then pipe that in a zig-zag motion on the top of the cupcakes. Enjoy!
Moist Lemon Cupcakes
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Lemon Cupcakes
- 1¼ cups (150 g) flour - regular, all purpose (see note 1 if you want to use cake flour)
- 1½ tbsp (11 g) cornstarch - also known as cornflour in some countries
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 3 tbsp (43 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ⅓ cup (70 g) unflavored vegetable oil - I use canola oil
- 1 cup (200 g) white granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon zest - about 1 medium sized lemon
- 2 large eggs - room temperature
- ⅓ cup (90 g) Greek yoghurt - room temperature
- 2½ tbsp (35 g) lemon juice - freshly squeezed
Eggless Lemon Curd
- ½ tbsp lemon zest - about 1/2 a medium sized lemon
- ⅓ cup (80 g) lemon juice - freshly squeezed, about 2 and 1/2 lemons
- ⅓ cup (66 g) white granulated sugar
- 1½ tbsp (10 g) cornstarch - also known as cornflour in some countries
- ⅓ cup (80 g) milk - full fat
- ¼ tsp vanilla essence/extract
- ¼ cup (56 g) unsalted butter - cold
- 1 small drop of yellow gel food colour or pinch of turmeric - OPTIONAL
Cream Cheese Buttercream
- ½ cup (112 g) unsalted butter - room temp
- 2¼ cups (285 g) icing sugar - also known as powdered/confectioners sugar
- ¾ cup (168 g) cream cheese - cold, firm type (see note 2)
- ¾ tsp vanilla essence/extract
- ¾ tbsp lemon juice - freshly squeezed
Instructions
Lemon Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 3 if you don't have a fan function) and line a cupcake tray with cupcake liners.
- In a bowl, sift together your flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
- In another bowl, add in your butter, vegetable oil, sugar and lemon zest. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine - see note 4), cream together for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
- Next add in Greek yoghurt and fresh lemon juice. Mix until well combined. The batter may look a little curdled at this stage but that's okay.
- Lastly add in your premixed dry ingredients from earlier, and using a spatula, gently fold until just combined. Do not overmix. Your batter should no longer be curdled, and there should be no large chunks or streaks of flour. It's okay if the batter is a little lumpy in the end.
- Distribute the batter evenly into the cupcake liners (fill no more than about 3/4s of the way up), and bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tray for 10 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to completely cool. The cupcakes do ever so slightly sink in the middle while cooling , but once you fill and frost them you won't be able to tell. In my opinion, it's a necessary trade-off for the perfect texture 🙂
Eggless Lemon Curd
- Add your lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, milk and vanilla to a saucepan and mix until well combined.
- Place your saucepan over a medium heat and stir your mixture continuously until you reach a thick consistency (see video for visual).
- Take your saucepan off the heat and stir in the cold unsalted butter until completely melted.
- Strain your lemon curd to remove the little bits of lemon zest (optional).
- Stir in gel colour or turmeric for additional colour (optional). Leave to completely cool.
Cream Cheese Buttercream
- Cream your butter for a few minutes until it's light and fluffy. Either use a hand mixer or stand mixer on a medium high speed. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.
- Add in the icing sugar in 3 batches while mixing on low. Ensure that each batch of icing sugar is mixed into the butter well before adding in the next batch.
- Next add in your cold cream cheese, vanilla and fresh lemon juice. Mix just until the frosting is smooth. Avoid over-mixing (see note 5).
Assembly
- Once the cupcakes are completely cool, using the back of a large piping tip (you can also use an apple corer, a small serrated knife or small spoon), and poke it halfway through each cupcake, twist and then bring it back up (see video for demonstration). The middle of the cupcake should come out with the piping tip, leaving a hole in the centre for the lemon curd to go. Remove the part of the cupcake that's in the piping tip (you can use the back of a spoon or toothpick to push it out if it's stuck), and repeat the process with the remaining cupcakes.
- Next fill the centre of the cupcakes with the lemon curd (see note 6). I just use a teaspoon to do this.
- Next frost the cupcakes with the cream cheese buttercream. I pop mine into a piping bag with a 1M piping tip on it, and pipe cupcake swirls on the top. Make sure the lemon curd is completely cool before doing this.
- OPTIONAL: Place any remaining lemon curd in a piping bag, and cut the tip of the piping bag so you have a small hole, and then pipe that in a zig-zag motion on the top of the cupcakes. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
60 Comments
Perfect recipe ! Made it for my child’s birthday , it turned out great . Thank you .
Thanks so much Niveditha! So happy to hear you loved the cupcakes 🙂
Hi! I love your recipe! However, is there am eggless version??
Thanks so much Prathna! 🙂 I haven’t got an eggless version of this recipe yet sorry! For some of my eggless recipes check out this link: https://cakesbymk.com/recipe-category/eggless/
Will do! Thank you so much!
Fantastic easy to follow recipes so well shown and explained. More recipes please
Thank you
Thank you Frances! So happy to hear you’re enjoying the recipes 🙂
These cupcakes were so delicious. Everyone LOVED them. They’re a bit finicky with grating the lemons but well worth the effort. If I had read the recipe before I started I could have grated all the lemon rind at once. I’ll be making these again soon.
So so happy to hear you enjoyed them Helene 😀
Hello MK, what can I substitute for the Greek yoghurt or can I completely leave it out
Hi Frederica! You can use regular yoghurt too 🙂 I wouldn’t recommend leaving the yoghurt out as it plays an important role in the texture of the cupcake. If you prefer not to use yoghurt you can also try buttermilk 🙂
Hi….. these are the best lemon cupcakes I’ve ever made & tasted! I’d love to use this recipe for an upcoming wedding.! I see the recipe portions calculator, but wondering if recipe is just as good when it’s doubled…..? Thank you so much for your awesome easy to follow videos 🙂
Hi Jennifer! So happy to hear you enjoyed the lemon cupcakes 😀 and yes it’s just as good when doubled, just remember to cream the butter and sugar for a little longer to make up for the extra quantity of ingredients 🙂
I made your lemon cake with greek yoghurt and turned out so delicious and so moist! I want to make lemon cupcakes with lemon curd today but I only have natural plain yoghurt in the fridge can I use it instead of greek yoghurt?
Thanks so much for sharing your amazing baking talent to us, I used to follow other 2 famous pastry Chef influencer but when I discovered your youtube channel I started following you and tried your recipes. All of your cakes and other dessert recipes are soooo moist and so delicious, always a hit to my family and friends!!!
Hi Maricel! So so happy to hear you’re enjoying the recipes, really appreciate the feedback! 😀 And yes natural plain yoghurt should be fine if you don’t have Greek 🙂
The flavour of these cakes was delicious but mine had a hard crust on the outside, did I overbake them?
I baked these and the flavour was delicious – but I wonder if it’s possible I overbaked them as they were quite hard on the outside, sort of like a crust, whereas the middle was melt-in-your-mouth light, almost like sherbert. Can you tell me whether they do typically bake up very firm on the outside or should I reduce cooking time?
Hi Jenny! 🙂 So happy to hear you enjoyed the cupcakes! And sounds like they may have been slightly overbaked as the outside shouldn’t be hard, it does have a very slight crust but it should break very easily and shouldn’t feel very firm. If you find that your cupcakes are still forming a crust when they’re just baked through, then it could be that your oven is running a little hot so I would recommend reducing the temperature slightly so the outside doesn’t overbake. Hope that helps 😀
Thanks so much for your reply, I will try again!