Indulge in these heavenly Lemon Curd Cupcakes! As delicious and light as my Lemon meringue cake, they boast a moist lemony cupcake base, filled with homemade lemon curd, and topped with creamy mascarpone frosting. Perfect for a delightful treat!
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Get ready to tantalize your taste buds with these Lemon Curd Cupcakes! Made with a zesty lemon cupcake base, generously filled with homemade lemon curd, and topped with a creamy, light mascarpone frosting.
These Lemon cupcakes filled with lemon curd are a breeze to whip up! The creamy, tangy curd, reminiscent of a classic French lemon curd tart, pairs perfectly with the sweetness of the mascarpone frosting, creating a delightful balance of flavors.
For lemon lovers! Perfect anytime or for special occasions. With their tangy lemon filling and moist cake, they're sure to please!
Craving for more lemon recipes? Give these a try Lemon Bundt Cake with sugar icing, lemon curd cake, lemon macarons, Lemon poppy seed pound cake and lemon loaf cake.
Ingredients You Need
You need these ingredients to make these lemon-curd-filled cupcakes:
- Lemon cupcakes: My favorite vanilla bean cupcakes are made from unsalted butter, granulated sugar, room-temperature eggs, buttermilk, cake flour, baking powder, lemon juice and lemon zest, vanilla extract and salt.
- Lemon curd: Homemade lemon filling made from whole eggs, granulated sugar, fresh lemon juice, lemon zest and unsalted butter.
- Mascarpone Frosting: Mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract or lemon juice to flavor.
How to Make Lemon Mascarpone Cupcakes
Here are some quick visual instructions. Don't forget that full recipe instructions with exact ingredients can be found in the recipe card below!
- Preheat oven to 350°F/ 180°C and set up a cupcake or muffin tin or à mini cupcakes pan with cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl mix and sift together the dry ingredients, flour, salt and baking powder.
- In another bowl, beat butter with the powdered sugar and lemon zest with an electric whisk for 2 to 3 minutes until creamy.
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix again with electric mixer to incorporate.
- Finish by alternately mixing in the milk and lemon juice mixture and the flour mixture, mixing each addition with a rubber spatula.
- Fill cupcake cases ¾ full with an ice cream scoop and bake for 18-20 minutes until slightly puffed and golden on top.
- Let them cool a bit in the pan before removing them from the pan and letting them cool completely on a wire rack.
- In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and fresh lemon juice until light and fluffy.
- Cook the mixture in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens.
- Remove from heat, mix in the butter until melted and well combined.
- Cover the lemon cream mixture with plastic wrap and let it cool completely.
- Place all ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment, the cold heavy cream, mascarpone, and powdered sugar.
- Then beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes until the frosting is thick and firm.
- Using a cupcake corer, remove the center of the cooled cupcakes and fill them with the lemon filling.
- Place the mascarpone frosting in a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip and pipe swirls on top of the cupcakes.
- Garnish with a lemon slice and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.
Tips for this recipe
Variations & Substitutions
Recipe Questions
Can I Make Lemon Curd in Advance?
Absolutely! Lemon curd can be prepared ahead and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. Just make sure to bring it to room temperature before using it as a filling.
Can I Use Store-Bought Lemon Curd?
While homemade lemon curd offers the freshest flavor, you can definitely use store-bought lemon curd if you're short on time. Just ensure it's of good quality for the best taste.
How Far in Advance Can I Frost Cupcakes?
You can decorate them the day before serving and store them in the fridge until serving time. Just make sure to place them in an airtight container to keep them fresh.
Can I turn these lemon cupcakes into a lemon cake?
Yes, you can easily turn these lemon cupcakes into lemon cake by adjusting the baking time and using cake pans instead of cupcake liners.
More Cupcakes Recipes
I hope you love these lemon mascarpone cupcakes. If you make it, be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Happy Baking!
Print
Lemon Mascarpone Cupcakes
- Total Time: 1 hour 8 minutes
- Yield: 12 cupcakes
Description
Lemon curd cupcakes with a lemon curd filling and a light mascarpone frosting (for 12 cupcakes)
Ingredients
Lemon Cupcakes
- 100 g (½ cup) Butter - unsalted and softened
- 150 g (¾ cup) Sugar - granulated
- Zest of lemon
- 2 Eggs at room temperature - approx. 100g
- 1 ½ tsp Vanilla extract
- 120 ml (½ cup) Buttermilk - see notes
- 15 ml Lemon juice
- 150 g (1 ¼ cups) Cake Flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder - about 6 g
- 1 pinch of salt
Lemon curd
- 75 g (⅓ cup) Sugar - granulated
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 60 g (¼ cup) Butter - unsalted
- 2 eggs - room temperature
Mascarpone frosting
- 150 g (⅔ cup) Mascarpone cheese - cold
- 225 ml (1 cup) Heavy cream - full fat and cold
- 2-3 tbsp. powdered sugar
Instructions
Lemon cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C and line a cupcake tin with paper liners.
- In a bowl, mix and sift together all the dry ingredients, flour, salt and baking powder.
- In another bowl with the electric mixer or in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter with the sugar and lemon zest for about 2-3 minutes until creamy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat again for a minute to incorporate.
- Finish by adding the milk mixed with the lemon juice and the dry ingredient mixture, alternately and in 2-3 batches while mixing in between each addition with a rubber spatula or the paddle attachment to avoid over-mixing the batter.
- Pour the cupcake batter into the cupcake cases, filling them only ¾ full.
- Bake the cupcakes for 18 to 20 minutes until they are slightly puffed and golden on top.
- Check baking by plunging a toothpick into the center of a cupcake, it should come out clean if the cupcake is done.
- Let the lemon cupcakes cool a bit in the pan before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Lemon curd
- Place the sugar and eggs in a bowl and whisk for a few minutes until fluffy.
- Add the juice of the squeezed lemons and mix again for a few moments.
- Transfer this mixture to a saucepan over medium heat and whisk until the mixture thickens.
- Remove from the heat and add the butter cubes and mix again to incorporate them.
- Pour the lemon curd into a container with a lid and let it cool completely in the refrigerator.
- Use a cupcake corer to remove the core from the cupcakes.
- Fill the inside with lemon curd.
Mascarpone frosting
- In a mixing bowl or in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, place all the ingredients.
- Beat at medium speed for about 3 minutes until you have a thick, stiff frosting.
- Fill a piping bag fitted with a decorating tip (here tip 1B) and decorate the top of the completely cooled cupcakes by forming a swirl.
- Decorate with lemon zest and a lemon slice and serve immediately or refrigerate.
Notes
Storage: With frosting up to 4 days in the refrigerator, without frosting up to 5 days at room temperature or up to 3 months in the freezer.
Buttermilk alternative: Replace with the same amount of milk mixed with a tablespoon of white vinegar or fresh lemon juice, or make an equal mixture of milk and plain yogurt or milk and sour cream.
- Prep Time: 50 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Category: cupcakes, cakes
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cupcake
- Calories: 348
- Sugar: 22 g
- Sodium: 240.9 mg
- Fat: 22.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 33.9 g
- Protein: 5.1 g
- Cholesterol: 118.6 mg
Beautiful cupcakes!
Thanks 😉
Hello Fadela,
First of all, I want to tell you that I love your recipes! I was able to make wonderful cakes for my dad's birthday!
I am contacting you to ask if the frosting used for this recipe can be used to cover a layer cake?
Thank you in advance for your response,
LESCURE
Hello, sorry for the late response, thank you very much for your message and for trying out my recipes!! Regarding the frosting, I actually have a covering mascarpone frosting recipe that is perfect for covering cakes.
Feel free to ask your questions directly from the recipe page and share your feedback if you've tried it.