Strawberry lemonade cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting
3 Jun
Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Yield: 24
Cupcake Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 cup strawberry puree
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
Strawberry curd
Frosting Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
12 oz cream cheese
5 tsp lemon juice
1/2 lemon extract
4-5 cups powdered sugar
Yellow food coloring
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and position the racks toward the center. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until light and creamy, 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the strawberry puree and beat an additional minute. On low speed, add flour mixture and buttermilk alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Add the lemon juice and zest and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Divide the batter between 24 cupcake wrappers in cupcake tins. Bake for 18 minutes, then check with a toothpick. An additional 2 minutes might be needed. Cool completely.
For the frosting, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until light and creamy, about 2-3 minutes in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the lemon juice and extract and beat for an additional minute. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat until fully incorporated and smooth.
Cut a hole into each cupcake with the large end of a melon baller. Fill each hole with strawberry curd. Frost the cupcakes with a pastry bag and decorate with sprinkles.
This is a good first shot for my Iron Cupcake Challenge Cupcake. The moisture level in these cakes is astronomically high, which makes them a smidge too dense for my tastes. The strawberry curd didn’t set up exactly as it should have, but I definitely like the flavor. And lastly, my cream cheese frosting didn’t quite stiffen up. Do they taste good? I think so, but that’s really up to the taste testers to decide.
Wow. Admittedly, I was skeptical of a summer cupcake, but this one was perfect. Strawberry and lemon go well together, certainly, but what put this cupcake over the top was the dense, powerful lemon cream cheese playing with the strawberry curd and cake. Plus, these were truly beautiful cupcakes to look at . . . and then devour.
And by the way, kids would go over the moon for this cupcake as well. This CC definitely belongs in the starting roster of your future cupcake store!
After several weeks without cupcakes, drinking rye heavily while watching City of Angels and crying every night, I’ve finally found a reason to go on. It’s called Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
Also, I had a pretty awesome cupcake.
While I’m not sold on the concept of fruit-based cupcakes (I feel like you’re trying to trick me getting vitamin C), most of them have been great. Taking it from the top, the frosting was decent, with a pronounced cheese presence and slight lemon aftertaste, reminding me almost of a lemon danish flavor. The cupcake itself was a perfect strawberry and lemon blend: the right tones, the right consistency, the right everything. I wasn’t expecting the strawberry curd, which was very tart and pure in taste, and a pleasant surprise.
This one is middle of the pack for me, as far as fruit cakes are concerned. The limoncello is still at the top, with this coming next. My only real complaint is that the balance could use tweaking: separately everything tastes great, but eating it together, the icing (my least favorite part, admittedly) pretty much dominated the palate. A smaller spread of frosting would let the cake flavor pop more.
Yeah, the frosting was a little unwieldy and not as firm as I would have liked it (that would have given me more piping control). And yes Kyle. I’m trying to keep all you cupcake boys healthy. Next up: flax seed and fish oil cupcakes!
What a perfect cupcake for a perfect (at least weather-wise) day, and a few rough weeks.
I never expected the strawberry curd, which this time, was my favorite part of the cupcake. The cream cheese icing was near-perfect, with a nicely-rationed lemon flavor (i.e., not overwhelming). And I liked the denseness of the cake, more so than with some of the other, heavier cupcakes we’ve had so far.
This is the right cupcake for a Summer picnic. Give me 2 or 3 of these with some Allagash White or a few gin-and-tonics, and I’ll be content.
Oooooh…a gin & tonic cupcake. I have to figure out how to make that happen!
Summer is officially here! Perfect cupcake for a sun-shiney morning (that’s right… despite my best efforts, these cupcakes never make it through the morning).
I liked this one! The icing was delicious, and (unlike Kyle) easily my favorite part of today’s cupcake. It had a great flavor and consistency. Not too overpowering on the lemon, either. The cake was moist and dense (which I personally love), but I didn’t feel like I got too much strawberry flavor here. That came as I got toward the center of the cupcake and the strawberry curd appeared, producing that nice lemon/strawberry flavor but, I wanted a bit more of that throughout!
All in all – I’ve been missing cupcakes on Fridays (oh no, two whole weeks of deprivation!), and this cupcake did not disappoint.
I can’t be eloquent or detailed in my review today. Simply put, this cupcake was bangin’! No issues at all, seriously. I can see Kyle’s point about the large portion of icing, but considering I love all things lemon, I was fine with it.
I don’t think this beats the limoncello cupcake (for me), but I’d definitely list it as my #2.
I didn’t believe in heaven until I bit into this cupcake. HEAVEN. For whatever reason I was skeptical of strawberry lemonade and almost didn’t go in this Friday (it only flashed through my mind for a split second. Why would I pass up Friday cupcakes? duh). This worked so well and was completely refreshing and delightful.
I loooooved the icing. I think the lemony tang counteracted some of the sweetness I generally get from buttercream. Melt. In. Your. Mouth. The cake was awesome too, but really second fiddle, in my mind, to the icing.
Presentation? 10. So adorable. Love the fat tipped icing swirl.
I LOVED this one! But I am partial to fruit cupcakes and am currently OBSESSED with pastries incorporating lemon. (I don’t even want to admit to how many lemon macaroons I have eaten in the last month!) There’s something about the sweetness of desserts combined with the tart of lemon that I am loving right now. I missed out on the limoncello cupcake so I can’t make a comparison but I think this might have been my favorite.
On a side note, and against my husband’s wishes, I would love to see a banana cupcake make it’s way into these tastings… maybe even add Nutella to it and make it a full on death-to-Jones cupcake extravaganza.
P.S. Thank you for packaging up my cupcakes every week! I love being able to taste all these wonderful creations.
Today, when I came into work Melissa put a gun to my temple, and reminded me that if I didn’t leave a comment re. last week’s cupcake she’d paint the walls with my brains. So, as one does when they have a gun to their head, I say these cupcakes were the best cupcakes I’ve ever had in my entire life.
All kidding aside, these were a delicious batch, particularly the cake which was very moist and scrumptious. The icing was uber-sweet and went very well with the cake. As some who particularly loves strawberry lemonade, these were one of my all-time favorite batches. Top 5 for sure.
Can’t wait for this week’s cookies!!!
I drove six hours to eat this cupcake and I would do it again. I promised I’d review the cupcake later and was a horrible tardyslackerface (yes, that’s a word). Six weeks later, I’m keeping my word.
I loved this cupcake. I’m addicted to all things lemon right now, so I was stoked when I heard this would be my first CFP delight. The cake had a nice fresh strawberry taste with a subtle citrusy tang and the curd was simply delicious. The frosting was, by far, my favorite part – perfectly sweet and lightly lemony. (NOMNOMNOM!) I was impressed with the perfect balance of the fresh, bright, fruity flavors – not overly sweet or puckery tart or artificial tasting. Great job, Mel!
I’m afraid I can’t remember what I thought of the consistency anymore – but I’m going to assume that’s because I was entirely pleased with the cake, curd, and frosting. I guess I should have reviewed it right away. Next time…
I’m typically really good at remaking cupcakes I see online but these didn’t want to cook, I literally had them in the oven for a good half hour and they were still doughy at the bottom and smelled of flour.
I copied the recipe to the T and made another batch but SAME RESULT.
…this was an utter failure and a nightmare to make.
I HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Annabel, so sorry you had a tough time with this recipe. Did you bake these for the full time at 350? Also, what kind of flour did you use?
THEY ALSO DIDN”T TAN AT ALLL!
These cupcakes aren’t supposed to brown, or ‘tan’ as you put it. They bake up pale pink in color and are fairly moist.