Lemon-Limoncello Cupcakes
These cupcakes have almost rendered me speechless. Trying to come up with the words to describe the incredible flavor experience that these provide is no small task. These lemon beauties topped off an Italian-themed meal (one that had begun with the Fontina-Stuffed Bacon-Wrapped Dates as an appetizer) and was the perfect clean-flavored dessert that I was looking for. There are three levels of lemon flavor in the cupcakes that combine to deliver the perfect balance of tart and sweet, and had people fighting over the last cupcake (seriously). The batter is flavored with lemon zest, lemon juice and a punch of limoncello; a tart lemon curd fills the inside of the cupcakes, and on top sits a sweet cream cheese frosting with the subtle tang of limoncello. These are simple and classy, a perfect dessert for a summer meal.
Although comprised of three separate steps, these cupcakes are simple to put together and not very time consuming. While the cupcakes are in the oven baking, the lemon curd can be made in less than 10 minutes. While the cupcakes and curd cool, make the frosting and then you are ready to assemble and serve! I tasted a spoonful of lemon curd before assembling the cupcakes and thought it might be a bit too tart, but was pleasantly surprised when I tasted the entire cupcake. The curd didn’t appear too tart at all, and was perfectly balanced by the cake and frosting. As you can see, I popped the finished cupcakes into an additional liner – Wilton Nut & Party Cups – for a prettier presentation.
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If you want to make homemade limoncello, you can certainly do so, but plan ahead! Homemade recipes require 7 to 10 days of the lemon steeping in vodka before proceeding with the rest of the recipe. If you want to give it a go, you can find recipes here and here.
These cupcakes have been entered into Bake at 350's Flavor of the Month event for August: PUCKER UP! Lemon, Lime or a combination. Head on over to check out the event, see what everyone baked up, and find out next month's theme.
1 year ago: Strawberry Pretzel Jello Squares
2 years ago: Black Bean Burgers
Lemon-Limoncello Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1½ cups (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 2 ounces (56.7 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, (½ stick )
- 2 ounces (56.7 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons limoncello
- ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk
- ¼ cup (61 g) lemon juice
- Zest of one lemon
For the lemon curd:
- Zest of 2 lemons
- ½ cup (122 g) lemon juice
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
For the cream cheese limoncello frosting:
- 2 ounces (56.7 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, (½ stick)
- 4 ounces (113.4 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon limoncello
- 2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar, sifted
Instructions
- 1. Prepare the cupcakes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and position a rack in the center. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; 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, 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the limoncello 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 12 muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely.
- 2. Prepare the lemon curd. In a heavy medium saucepan, stir together the lemon zest, juice and sugar and bring to a simmer over medium heat. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and egg yolk. Whisk the lemon mixture into the eggs to temper them. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and place over medium heat, whisking constantly until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and let cool completely.
- 3. Prepare the cream cheese limoncello frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until light and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the limoncello 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.
- 4. Assemble the cupcakes. Cut a hole into each cupcake with the large end of a melon baller or the back end of a large pastry tip. Fill each cavity with the lemon curd. Fill a pastry bag with a star tip (I used Wilton 1M) with the cream cheese limoncello frosting and pipe onto each cupcake. Decorate with lemon and berries, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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Hi Michelle, so our family are FIRM non-alcoholic drinkers.. would you be able to substitute lemonade for the limoncello ?
Hi Kelly, I haven’t tried it, but you could certainly give it a go. Limoncello is a mellow flavor, so I would take that into account when making the lemonade for the recipe.
Sounds good, I’ll take that into account when I give these a try.. I’ll let you know how they turn out :) thanks!
I just finished my cupcakes, and Im a little disapointed. My cupcakes are dense, my filling is not as thick as i think it should be, and my icing is definently not as thick as it should be. Everything tastes really good, but I wish I knew where I went wronge. Im sure its not the recipe. It must be something I’ve done. Please help, so next time they will be better.
Hi Mine – For the cupcakes, make sure you don’t overmix the batter to keep them from becoming dense. It sounds like the curd filling may have potentially not been cooked long enough if it’s not thick enough, and if the frosting is too soft, you can try starting with cold cream cheese or adding more powdered sugar.
Hi there ! there’s look fantastic to make! was wondering, if i dont use limoncello, what can i replace it with? thanks!
Hi Hiba, There is no real substitute, as it’s a much subtler flavor than lemon juice or extract. You can just omit it.
I spent the afternoon baking these and one member of my family liked them. The cake is very dense, and the curd is very strong bordering on bitter. I added an extra tsp of limoncello to the frosting for flavor. Everyone agreed the frosting was the best feature of the cupcakes.
Making these without the liquor (kids), but was wondering how you store them? Since the even is in the morning and I’m making it the day before, what are your suggestions to keep cupcakes moist if I put them in the fridge?
Hi Elaine, If possible, I would make them and keep them in an airtight container at room temperature and frost them in the morning. If you can’t, then make sure whatever you store them in inside the refrigerator is absolutely airtight to keep them as moist as possible.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! I made them this weekend and they were a big hit! The weather here is FINALLY getting warmer and I wanted something that felt (and tasted) like Spring. These were PERFECT!
I have made over 200 of these for my son’s Senior Composition Recital. The first batch I made were with Gluten-free flour and soured milk (instead of buttermilk). That first batch were beautiful, rose perfectly and everything was great. The 200 I made after that were with the cake flour & buttermillk – they didn’t rise and were not beautiful – the taste, texture, lemon curd and frosting pulled them off! I am not sure what the deal was and will stick with the sour milk/GF flour! Everyone loves them, even those who don’t like the taste of lemon!
Gluten free! Yes!! I need to make these gluten free! What flour did you use?
I made these for easter and looooved them. Like another poster, i too found the lemon curd to be overwhelmingly lemony, (maybe my lemons?) so will only use the juice and zest from one lemon next time. I also had to add slightly more icing sugar to the icing to make it the right consistency for piping. Beautiful presentation and these are amazing! Thanks for a fabulous recipe!
Delicious. Even though I overzested the lemons and made the curd a bit bitter (don’t overzest!), they came out really awesome. I did not taste the limoncello in them, but other people said they did. Thanks for the recipe!
Made these last night for a Thai -themed dinner party (Thai uses lots of citrus flavors, so they finished the heavy meal with a bright, light taste). They turned out PERFECT! no problems. They take some time to make from start to finish, but each step is simple and easy to follow, well worth the effort! The lemon curd filling is to die for…. I licked the pot clean! All together it was a moist, well thought-out cupcake. My guests and Husband loved them! Will make them again. VERY GOOD RECIPE!!! Thanks Brown Eyed Baker!!!
I made these as mini cupcakes for a teacher luncheon today and they were awesome! Not one was left, good thing I saved back a few for my kids. The curd was so mouth puckering on its own, but delicious with the cake and frosting. Everyone raved about the flavor. Thanks!
I made these last night and I was very sad with how they turned out. I found the cupcake really dense and the frosting was super runny. Did I do something wrong? I would love to make them again if I could get them to turn out better. Please help me! Thanks.
Maybe your cream cheese and butter was too soft for the frosting? That’s usually why my frosting is limp. I made a second batch of frosting and it was more runny than the first, I’m guessing because it was much hotter in the kitchen by afternoon. As for the cake, I found it hard to get the lemon juice to incorporate w/o overmixing. I ended up folding it in by hand so that the cake wouldn’t get too dense by mixing too much with my mixer.
Ditto Heather’s comments, I was going to say the same thing. It sounds like the batter may have been overmixed and the cream cheese was too warm.
I’ve tried making these cupcakes and they turned out way to dense. It definitely isn’t a fluffy cupcake that I’m used. The flavor is great and it is very lemony but I just recommend doubling the baking powder in the cake recipe.
These look spectacular. Most cupcakes/cakes taste artificial, but these look like they’ll pop with flavor (especially using limoncello (how could you not love it after seeing “Under the Tuscan Sun”? ;o). You mentioned using the cupcake tin … but no papers? You have it pictured in a paper cup above. If you use just the tin itself, do you use anything to prevent the batter from sticking? Apologies if I missed something, and that it should be a given to use cupcake papers. I’m very excited to try these! Thanks for your kind suggestions.
Hi MJo, I do use paper liners in the muffin tins. My apologies for omitting that step!
Thanks much! I’m anxious to try these (and a few sips of the limoncello while cooking won’t hurt … remember the Galloping Gourmet? ;o) Take care and thanks for posting this wonderful recipe!
Wow… fabulous recipe and photos. Can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing!
These cupcakes are delicious! I was so glad we had some Limoncello just lying around. However, I may just use some store bought filling in the future… this filling was a bit tart for me. Otherwise, these cupcakes were incredible!
Made these this weekend, and they were FAB , my husband and kids loved them, thanks so much, they are super easy and I even made lemon curd for the first time..yippee
These look beautiful and delicious!! I wanted a nice and light dessert t go with the chicken alfredo I’ll be making for dinner today and this eill be what Im going to try. Unfortunately I’m undrt 21 so I’ll be subing the alcohol with something I can purchade.
These cupcakes were delicious! I was so happy that when I wanted to make these, we just happened to have Limoncello just lying around… talk about good luck! And I also thought the lemon curd just a little bit tart…next time, I might just add a tad more sugar perhaps? But overall, this was definitely the best lemon cupcake recipe I’ve ever used!
hmmmm these were goood but they tasted like lemon bars!!! YUMMMMM
These look beautiful! i just made them and there in the oven right now :)
Hey is it okay if i put this recpie and pic on my blog? I will tell how wonderful browneyedbaker.com cupcakes are!
Thanks you so much for sharing this recpie!
even though i havent tried them yet (in the oven baking)
i have a good feeling about these cupcakes :)
Im going to make them again tomorrow for my cousions!!!
Thanks sooo much!
check out my blog: http://yunaemilyshin.blogspot.com/
:)
Yuna
Absolutely! I just ask for a link back, thank you! :)
Hi, tried these at the weekend and they came out very dense, although very tasty! I wondered if I had converted one of my ingredients from US to UK incorrectly??? I’ll try again and if I get a good conversion I will post the recipe as a UK recipe if that’s ok, Michelle?
Can you substitute oil for butter?
Hi Bridgette, I have not experimented with this substitution. I imagine it would alter the texture of the cupcakes, but you could always give it a try. If you give it a go I’d love to know how it turns out!
I love lemon and especially Limoncello (ever since my first trip to Sorrento!) so I was delighted to find your recipe. I am going to try making a cake pop version of these cupcakes and will let you know how it goes!
Hey Michelle!
If I were to use lemon extract in the batter and frosting in place of Limoncello, would I have to make any other changes in the recipe if I want to achieve a flavor as close to the original recipe as possible?
Thanks!
Hi Meryam, I would cut the amount in half, as lemon extract has a much stronger/concentrated flavor than the limoncello, which is more mellow.
Where can I find limoncello? Would typical grocery stores have it?
Hi Rachel, Limoncello is a liquor, so wherever you buy liquor – here in PA that would be state stores, but I know some states do sell it in the grocery store.
I have tried several of your recipes (all wonderful) and can’t wait to try this one. I have never tried limoncello but I am going to just to try this recipe. I don’t even drink liquor but this sounds wonderful. I had to look up limoncello to see what it was.
I made these cupcake for our
youngest daughter who is crazy about lemons, she loved this recipe…….the rest of the family thought the lemon curd was waaaay to tart. At least one member of our family is happy, thanks for sharing the recipe :-)
Hello! I just loved the way these cupcakes looked and I’m a nut for anything citrus-y so I had to try them out. I did have a little trouble making them however. The cupcakes looked great when I took them out of the oven but they shrank a lot and became very dense and rubbery after they cooled. Any ideas why?
Hi Alexandra, That texture could have been caused due to overmixing of the batter.
I just made these cupcakes and they turned out horrible! No fault of anyones but mine. I think that the buttermilk was a little sour, it is hard to tell with buttermilk. Anyway, I would like to try again tonight and am wondering if I can use sour cream instead of buttermilk. I am determined to get this to work.;)
Hi Kathleen, That’s a good question, I have never done that substitution so I can’t say for sure how it would work with these cupcakes, but it might work. Let me know what you end up doing!