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.
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Hey(: I made this recipe tons of times now and plan on making them for my sister’s graduation which on Saturday. However, the kitchen won’t really be available tomorrow, and I probably wouldn’t have much time on the day of the party. So, to get to my point, would these cupcakes still taste good after a 2 days. (Frankly they never really last that long because my family eats them all haha.) I was wondering if it’s fine to just make the batter and then just refrigerate it until the morning of the party and bake. (Same question with the frosting as well?) Or if not, will they still taste yummy if I bake and frost them all today and serve them on saturday evening? (I would out the raspberries day of.) Please let me know! Thanks (:
Lol, I meant put the raspberries, not out them. Sorry for the spelling errors, it’s not my specialty. (:
Hi Lena, You would be fine to bake them 2 days in advance, just make sure you place them in a covered airtight container and keep them at room temperature. I would recommend frosting and decorating them the day of the party, though. You could make the frosting 2 days in advance, then refrigerate it until the morning of. You’d need to rewhip before piping it.
Can i freeze these cupcakes??6
Yes, but I would freeze them without the frosting. I would thaw them, then frost them within a day of serving.
if i eat those i would die happy
I made these cupcakes once for my grandmother’s birthday party and they were a huge hit! They were even requested for my sister-in-law’s bridal shower! Everybody loves how they are just lemon-y enough. The curd is always the unanimous favorite. At first I thought that the curd would be too tart, but with the combination of the cupcake and the frosting, it is perfect. Thank you so much for the recipe!! I have no doubt that I will be using it again!
I made these 3 times now. The third were for my daughters birthday. They were the best batch of the three and a big hit.
Love this recipe, but made the following alterations to make it less dense and more flavorful (issues I had with my first batch)
1. Added a 1/4th cup less flower and a 1/4th teaspoon more baking powder
2. Doubled the lemon juice and zest in the batter
3. Added zest to the frosting
Absolutely love these, I’ve made these like a hundred times and I have to say it gets better with time. Everyone who tries these are just in love, and its not too sweet which is good since my family is not really into sweets. And luckily for me an inexperienced cupcake maker these turned out perfect. I have to admit the 1st time I made the curd (my first time making curd) it sort of turned into egg. Haha. But I guess error makes you better? And I was wondering about the toppings, my raspberries tend to..mmmm stain the frosting? I don’t know just like the juice I guess from the berries sort of gradually changes the color of the frosting around it making it look a little sloppy. And usually when I make these its for a gathering and by time we get to them it’s about 5 hours later, so yeah. I haven’t tried putting the lemon cuz I’m afraid the acid from the lemon would do the same??
I can not get recipe to pull up I found it this am but can’t pull it up now,
Doubled the recipe for my husband’s birthday and it was a big hit! My husband loves lemon everything and needless to say, he loved these cupcakes with the limecello kick. The flavors of the cake, lemon curd, and frosting complimented each other perfectly. However, the cake was a little too dense for me and would like to know if it could be the cream cheese that made it dense. Thanks for the fantastic recipe as I plan to make this again very soon!
What to do with an unexpected snow day and a bottle of limoncello that’s been at the back of the fridge for about 2 years? Make these cupcakes, of course! They are beautiful AND delicious! I decided to ramp up the limoncello taste by brushing the cupcakes with limoncello before I frosted them. It gave them a nice little kick! I will definitely make these again.
Made these yesterday and they were wonderful! Decorated with sliced candy lemons and yellow flakes-absolutely beautiful! If you’re looking for a cupcake with a lot of lemon flavor -this one is it! I did add some lemon extract to the frosting for a little extra kick:)
I just finished baking these but had a problem because the cupcakes did not rise as I expected them to. So instead I had little half inch thick cakes. Not sure what could have gone wrong. Still tasted delicious, though.
I had the same problem…
I made this last night with limoncello I made a couple a weeks ago, and hello! they turned out totally delicious! The rich lemon taste… it was… aaahhh! Totally worth the time and all! I live in Sweden so I had to convert the measurement and use swedish ingredients but that made no difference – apparently ;O)
I made these and I am so impressed! These are the best cupcakes I have ever made. Mine weren’t as pretty but my — they taste great! Definitely using this recipe again.
Can lemon extract be used instead of Limoncello? Also, will the be ok for a 6″ cake pan?
Hi Amber, You can use lemon extract, but I would probably only use 1/2 as much. The batter will be too much for a 6″ cake pan; you would need to use an 8″ pan.
Loves all of your cupcakes presentation, it’s gorgeous and tempting too!
won these for Poynton show! :) they look delicious but i dint ry mine!! :( xxx
Hi,
I just tried your recipe (my first cupcakes ever:-) and they turned out fabulous!!! I love the curd in the middle, it gives an amazing flavor explosion! I was a bit hesitant at first that the batter was too sweet, and the curb too tart, but in the end it all fitted together perfectly – I wouldn’t change a thing. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe! I look forward to trying another one soon!
Christa
My cupcakes also turned out dense but were moist and tasty- more like a pound cake than what I think of when I think of cupcakes, but a friend commented that the cupcake bakeries in our home area in the States make similar dense and moist cupcakes! The curd was way too tart, so I had to make a quick syrup with a bit of water and another 1/4 c sugar to stir into it. Next time I will definately at least double the called for sugar in the curd. Also, I currently live in China where I can’t find limoncello so I used a concentrated lemon syrup, worked well. Great recipe. Loved by all who were lucky enough to try one.
I made this for work and people LOVED them!!! My husband, who doesn’t like cake or frosting, loved them too. I used extra lemon juice instread of the liquer and they still turned out fabulous!!! Thank you!
My friend and I made this earlier today and they turned out fantastic! The creaminess of the icing, along with the moist texture of the cupcakes offered a lovely balance to the tartness of the filling. All together they were splendid! And very satisfying. We’ll definitely be making this again! :)
MICHEEEEEEELLE!!!! :D thank you soooooo much for this wonderfuL recipe!! i baked this yesterday and my staff incLuding our big boss reaLLy Love it! :) we don’t have raspberries here for garnish so i used watermelon balls instead. i foLLowed your instructions carefuLLy that’s why it was a huge success. :) thanks a Lot B.E.B!
PS: i’LL be baking grape muffin using your bLueberry muffin recipe next time. :)
I wanted to love these cupcakes but they were so dense. My husband loves anything with lemon and he did not like these! I wasted so much time and ingredients…..I followed your recipe exactly but they cupcakes were more like muffins or maybe even heavier. What could have happened?
Hi Eva, If they were dense, it could have been caused by overmixing the batter or accidentally overbaking the cupcakes.
Just delicious! this amazing recipe was approved by all my European and Latino friends! easy to prepare and to get the expected result. even the presentation was so easy to follow that my cupcakes looked exactly as the one above. I’m more than happy, thanks for sharing it!
These cupcakes are so yummy!!! Actually, that doesnt even begin to describe how these taste! The cupcake itself is very much like Angel Food cake with lemon. Even before baking, the batter is beautiful, delicious and even a little frothy. At first I thought the curd filling was too tart but once its combined with the cupcake, the flavors blend wonderfully and its not overly tart.
I feel like you can never go wrong with lemon so this recipe will be kept forever and ever!
Hi,
Can you tell me where you purchased the white folded cups that surround your beautiful cupcakes?
Kind regards,
Jen
Hi Jen, I bought them at Michael’s.
Hi,
I seriously love this cupcakes, just the look of them makes me mouth-watering. But i got a problem :(, i can´t use limoncello, my prohibed to drink or eat alcohol, i can´t used it in any way, would u recommend me something to substitute the limoncello?? Thank u very much!!! Btw i love ur page! it´s amazing, to say the least!!!
The recipe calls for such little of the Limoncello… just add more lemon, but be careful not to over do the lemon too… You could actually leave it out. I have done that with the Margharita cupcakes… I think it is more for the added flavor.
Hi Lucia, I would just omit the limoncello. You’ll get enough lemon flavor from the other components of the recipe.
I made these for a BBQ and they were a hit! As my friend said, “I would pay for these cupcakes!”
Made these for Father’s Day. They were a HIT!!! Very light and refreshing. I was amazed at how easy they were to make too!
I made these again for a baby shower and again they were totally awesome. Much preferred over the vanilla and chocolate ones that I also made (which were also good, but can’t hold a candle to the lemon). Even my curmudgeonish brother liked them, and he doesn’t like much.
I’ve made them as both full size cupcakes and mini ones and I’ve not had trouble w/ either. They aren’t really spongy like cake mix cupcakes, but they aren’t dense either, just so good. And I love, love, love the bite of the curd as it mixes with the creamy frosting and the cakey goodness. I can’t wait to have a reason to make them again.
I made these cupcakes twice today. Neither batch came out correct. They were both rubbery and dense. The first batch looked fine out of the oven and then fell when cooling. The second batch started to brown at 20 mins. so I took them out of the oven. They were not completely cooked and some were gooey. I see some posts questioning the 3 eggs. I am going to make them again and if they don’t turn out…. oh well. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.