Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes!
*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details!*
Easy, sweet and sour lemon drizzle cupcakes!
Lemon drizzle cupcakes
Sometimes, going quite simple and classic is the way to success. In this case, it’s all things lemon because it is DELICIOUS. To be fair as well, lemon drizzle cupcakes has been one of the most highly requested bakes on my blog in a long time, and I was in a lemony mood.
I realise that a recipe like this is really so simple, but my god it’s a good bake. I haven’t made anything lemon flavoured in a while, so I felt like it was time to rectify that atrocity and go slightly lemon overboard. Like, these are so lemony, that would probably won’t forget the flavour for a while!
Morph of recipes
Anyway, for these I decided to take influence from a couple of recipes on my website – my lemon & lime drizzle cake, and my lemon & poppyseed cupcakes. It basically morphs the two recipes together into a wonderful, light and refreshing bake. You can add poppyseeds into this bake if you want as well, but I just wanted something lemon through and through.
The thing that I love about anything ‘drizzle’ themed, is that they always taste fresh and delicious. I hate to use the word, but they are the most ‘moist’ of bakes as well, so it’s rare that they ever dry out. I always think the sugar in a drizzle is important, and it also forms a lovely sugary crust on the cake which is delicious to bite into.
They taste even better then they look!
I always want to be able to post a recipe such as this, and have you guys be able to taste and smell them fresh out of the oven because it is honestly incredible, so I just try my best with the photos instead. If you look at my older posts, such as my lemon & lime drizzle cake, and my lemon & poppyseed cupcakes, you will see how ropey my photography skills used to be. Slightly embarrassing to be honest.
Either way, I have had so much more practice with my decorating skills, my piping skills and everything in general so hopefully the images sell these cupcakes well enough! I like to think they do, but baking them yourselves is definitely the best option. They taste so light and just delightful. Perfect for Spring, or Summer or any time!
Optional chocolate
I wasn’t sure how well this recipe would float considering it has no chocolate in, but every now and again it is appreciated. Not every person in the world likes chocolate (personally, I love it), but now and again you find someone who likes it fruity and sweet. You can add chocolate chips into the cupcakes themselves if you wish to make them even sweeter though!
Adaptable recipe
Either way, these beauties are the best for someone who loves lemon, who loves cupcakes, and wants a bake that is a general crowd pleaser for everyone. The buttercream can be easily coloured to suit a theme, or you can use lemon extract in place of the lemon juice/zest if you wanted to make it easier! Enjoy! x
Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes!
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 175 g unsalted butter
- 175 g caster sugar
- 175 g self raising flour
- 3 medium eggs
- Zest of 1 lemons
Drizzle
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 75 g caster sugar
Buttercream
- 150 g unsalted butter (not stork - room temperature)
- 300 g icing sugar
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan, and get 12 cupcake/muffin/baking cups ready! I use 12 Iced Jems baking cups on a flat tray!
- Beat together your butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in the flour, eggs and lemon zest and beat until smooth!
- Split evenly between the 12 cupcake cases, and bake in the oven for 18-22 minutes, or until baked through.
- Once out of the oven, whisk together the lemon juice and caster sugar for the drizzle, and spoon evenly over the 12 cupcakes.
- Leave the cupcakes to cool fully.
- Once the cupcakes are cool - beat your room temperature butter for a couple of minutes so its smooth and supple - don't use a spread like stork.
- Add in the icing sugar 1/2 at a time, and beat fully each time.
- Once the icing sugar is in, beat for 3-5 minutes so its nice and fluffy, and add in the lemon and beat again.
- Pipe your buttercream onto your cupcakes with your favourite piping tip - I used a medium 2D closed star!
- Sprinkle with your favourite sprinkles!
Notes
- These beauties are inspired by my lemon & lime drizzle cake and my lemon & poppyseed cupcakes!
- These will last for 3-4 days at room temperature in a container!
- I used the beautiful baking cups from Iced Jems!
- And I used the gorgeous medium 2D closed star piping tip from Iced Jems!
- I also used these cute lemon meringue sprinkles from Iced Jems!
- The lemon drizzle is optional, it's just delicious!
Find my other recipes on my Recipes Page!
You can find me on:
Instagram
Facebook
Pinterest
Twitter
Youtube
J x
© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.
Love your bakes and can’t wait to try this. Is it possible to halve the recipe and if so how many eggs should be used please?
I usually say it’s better to make 4 or 8 because of the eggs. So you’d make 1/3 of the mix, or 2/3 x
Hi Jane how much lemon extract would I use instead of fresh lemon please?
Probably 1tsp! x
Hello if I was to use bottles lemon juice for the drizzle and buttercream, how much would i need in each ? Thank you
Hey! I want to make these as 16 cupcakes instead of 12, but I was wondering whether or not I’d be able to and what the measurements would be? Thank you! X
Hey! Yes you can – you just need to use another third of the recipe xx
Hi Jane! I made these and they were absolutely amazing! I made using stork for the cake and butter for the buttervream. Do you recommend making the cake with butter or stork for the best taste?
Thankyou!
I don’t really taste that much of a difference between the two personally so its whatever you prefer x
Hello, I only have XL eggs – how many would I use for this recipe please? Many thanks, Vikki
So that depends on the weight – typically a medium is roughly 50g, large is roughly 60-65g. You will want to weigh them in shells, and match the other ingredients accordingly x
Hello, after making your lemon drizzle loaf which really is the best lemon drizzle EVER, I’m trying these at the wkend. But… In error I stupidly ordered mini tulip muffin cases & they are diddy! (3cm at base) How long would you bake minis for please? I’ve read it’s 3 x the yield per the batch for minis, is this about right? 36? Thank you ☺️ xx
Ahh yes so it is usually about 3 per regular cupcake – and I think about 10-12 minutesish?! I can’t quite remember!! X
Hi Jane, these look really scrummy, I’m going to give them a try this weekend. I wondered, do they freeze well? I can’t decide whether it would be better to freeze them before you put the drizzle on or after as I need to then decorate them with fondant icing for a friends party. Any pointers would be great. Thanks Sharon
I think they would freeze well either way, but after thawing and then adding the drizzle may not have the same effect! Xx
Absolutely delicious. so light and moist. I had so many compliments when I made them for the first time. Makes a perfect batch of 12 cupcakes.
Hi Jane ,
Love your recipes ! Can’t wait to make this for my Mum’s Birthday as a surprise .🎊. Do you know of any dairy-free alternative that I can use instead of unsalted butter for the buttercream icing . 😊
Thanks !
Hey! So I would use something such as stork block for the cake and buttercream – but because it’s softer it won’t take much lemon juice before it goes very sloppy so it’s probably best to use flavouring!
I love your recipes, easy to follow and love a video to watch too. One question though, I used my food processor to make the butter icing today and the recipe says beat for 3-5 minutes…. I did it for about one minute and it’s now sloppy 😬. Have I over mixed? I’ve put it in the fridge to harden up again.
Foor processors aren’t the best for buttercream in my opinion as it doesn’t beat, it basically breaks down! You need to also make sure to use real butter and not a spread. x
Hi Jane – I don’t have enough lemons but have bottled lemon juice. Can I use this and if so, how much do I use? I thought it would have some guidance on the bottle of the equivalent but it doesn’t! many thanks 🙂
I usually use a straight swap between fresh lemon juice and bottled lemon juice! x
Hi, these look amazing but would love to make this into a cake for my dads birthday. I have 2 8in cake cakes so how much of the ingredients would I need?
Hey! I would double the ingredients and split between the two tins! x
First time I have made these lemon drizzle cupcakes, they were definitely loved by my family. Simply put they are delicious cupcakes and a recipe I will be using again. I did add a little more lemon juice into the buttercream.