Sometimes, you just need a few cupcakes, like for Father’s Day! I got my dad this ridiculous, super cute print of a quote that he has been talking about all the time lately and I’m making him TWO kinds of cupcakes – these lemon ones and a batch with vanilla cakes and chocolate frosting. He’s going to love them!

Because I’m making two kinds, I’m making a small batch of each. I’m so excited to decorate them and see what he thinks! They’re so fun and this recipe is also so flexible which you know I love.

The Recipe

For these cupcakes, my goal was to make moist, fluffy, super flavorful cupcakes that would have a nice lemon zing. There are a few key elements that got me there:

• Buttermilk – this helps make sure they’re super moist, which is a key characteristic of a great cupcake. You could use whole milk instead, but they won’t be quite as moist and fluffy
• Lemon juice and zest – using both makes for lots of lemon flavor in the final cupcakes! I initially tried this with limoncello, but, because of the low boiling temp of alcohol, all the flavor basically escaped and left me with vanilla cupcakes. See the Variations section for ways to still incorporate it!

However, the cake part is only half of the cupcakes – you still need a great frosting! For mine, I’ve chosen to go with an Italian meringue buttercream instead of a traditional American buttercream. It’s a bit more effort, but totally worth it, I think. American buttercream can be super rich adn buttery while Italian meringue buttercream is lighter and a bit marshmallow-y, so you can really put a bunch on without the whole cupcake becoming too rich. It sounds like a lot of effort, but there are a few tips that will help you be super successful:

• have everything in place before starting – this recipe goes pretty quick once things get going, so having everything measured out and within reach mean you won’t overcook the sugar syrup or overwhip the frosting
• be patient – be sure to wait until the sugar syrup gets up to the right temperature, and once you start whipping make sure you give it looooots of time. it’ll take some time, but that’s just the process. If it isn’t coming together, just keep going and it will, I promise!
• butter temperature is pretty important – if your butter is too cold, it won’t incorporate well. if it’s too warm, the buttercream might split. you know it’s the right temperature if you can poke it with your finger and leave an indent but the butter doesn’t completely squish if you do. if your butter is too warm and your buttercream splits, don’t worry! just pop it in the fridge for 10 minutes and keep whipping, you’ll be just fine

Variations

These are so, so flexible! Let’s look at some ideas:

• switch up the citrus in the cakes! try using limes or oranges for a different flavor
• go vanilla – substitute the citrus juice in the cupcakes for additional buttermilk and leave out the zest and you’ve got beautiful, soft vanilla cupcakes
• add some spices – if you want to add some spices to the cakes, go for it! start with small amounts and taste as you go – you can always add more, but you can’t take it away
• throw in a filling – you could add a tasty filling into the middle of the cupcakes! a lemon curd, or really any kind of curd, would be amazing and add lots of extra flavor
• add flavoring to the icing – add 4oz of melted and cooled chocolate to the finished vanilla frosting and you’ve got chocolate frosting! you could also add a fruity extract if you wanted to go in that direction instead

Looking for other cake ideas? I’ve got you covered there too:

• pumpkin coffee cake
• chocolate peanut butter snack cake
• lemon poppy seed bundt cake
• pumpkin spice cupcakes
• peach bourbon bundt cake
• hot fudge sundae cupcakes

So many different versions that you could go with! Let me know what you end up trying, I’d love to hear what you come up with 🙂