Lemonade Strawberry Cupcakes combines zesty lemon-flavored cupcakes and sweet strawberry buttercream for a refreshingly delicious dessert. Perfect for spring and summer parties!
These fluffy lemon cupcakes are great for spring and summer parties and events. They have a bright and refreshing flavor that makes them perfect for warmer weather.
This Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls Casserole is another sweet strawberry dessert perfect for special occasions.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Fresh flavors: Combines the zesty taste of fresh lemons with the sweetness of ripe strawberries, making it the perfect flavor combination.
- Perfect for summer: A refreshing dessert choice for warm weather or sprint or summertime gatherings.
- Visually appealing: This bright-colored dessert is perfect for a birthday party or warm weather celebration such as a spring or summer baby shower.
Ingredients in Lemonade Strawberry Cupcakes?
These strawberry lemon cupcakes are made from scratch so fresh fruit and pantry staples are used to make these cupcakes.
- Fresh lemon juice
- Lemon zest
- Unsalted butter, room temperature
- Vegetable oil
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Eggs
- Milk
How Do You Make Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes From Scratch?
It's easy to make strawberry lemon cupcakes from scratch with the help of some kitchen tools.
For juicing and zesting the lemons, a lemon zester and a lemon juicer are great tools to use to make this recipe easier.
A cookie scoop is a useful top to scoop the batter equally between liners.
Preheat the oven- Preheat to 350ºF and place 16 cupcake liners in two cupcake pans.
Cream together the wet ingredients- Using an electric mixer, beat the softened butter until creamy in a large bowl. Beat in the granulated sugar and the vegetable oil. Then, pour in 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice as well as the lemon zest and the vanilla extract. Once that is done, beat in the eggs until combined.
Combine the dry ingredients- In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour together with the baking powder, and salt.
Mix the wet and the dry ingredients- Once combined, slowly mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Mix in the milk until incorporated. Do not overmix.
Fill the cupcake liners- Scoop the cupcake batter equally between 16 paper liners and place the cupcakes in the preheated oven.
Bake the lemon cupcakes- Bake for 18-21 minutes or until the center of the cupcakes are done. Check with a toothpick to ensure they are done.
Allow the cupcakes to cool- Remove the cupcake pan from the oven and allow them to cool for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
How to Make Strawberry Frosting
Making strawberry buttercream frosting from scratch is easy. To make the process even easier, however, a mini food processor is a big help to help cut up the fresh strawberries into small pieces and make the strawberry puree. The smaller the pieces the easier the frosting is to pipe!
A piping bag and a piping tip are a huge help when decorating these lemon cupcakes. A 1M Piping Tip or another large star tip is a good tip to use when piping this frosting because the hole is big enough to allow small pieces of strawberries to pass through without getting stuck.
Prepare the strawberries- Add ¼ cup of hulled strawberries to a food processor and pulse until the strawberries are into small pieces.
Beat the ingredients together- Beat the softened butter until smooth and creamy. Then, mix in the vanilla extract, lemon juice, and salt. Once everything is smooth, add in the pureed strawberries as well as the strawberry jam.
Add the powdered sugar- Beat in the powdered sugar by adding a little at a time. At this point, if it is needed, add a little milk at a time until the desired texture is reached. Frost completely cooled cupcakes and store them in the refrigerator.
If desired, top with fresh strawberries before serving.
Using the piping bag, squeeze the frosting onto the lemon cupcake base and store the freshly made cupcakes in the refrigerator.
Storage Tips
Keep refrigerated: Store cupcakes in the fridge to maintain freshness when using fresh fruit.
Airtight container: Store the cupcakes in airtight containers to prevent drying out and to lock in freshness and enjoy within a few days.
FAQ's
Lemon Cake is a fantastic pairing to a strawberry frosting recipe but some other flavors pair just as well. A classic vanilla cupcake has a great balance when matched with strawberry frosting.
Another yummy pairing is Angel Food Cake. Angel food cake is light and fluffy and a little strawberry frosting goes a long way.
Yes, you can use lemon cake mix to make these cupcakes. For a fresh flavor, add freshly squeezed lemon juice to the cake batter before baking.
📖 Recipe
Lemonade Strawberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
- Lemon Cupcakes
- ¼ cup unsalted butter - room softened
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cups granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour -spooned & leveled
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoon milk
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
- ¾ cup butter - softened
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup fresh strawberries - pureed
- ¼ cup strawberry jam
- 4 cups confectioners sugar
- 2 tablespoon milk - if needed
Instructions
Lemon Cupcakes
- Preheat to 350ºF and place 16 cupcake liners in two cupcake pans.
- Beat the softened butter until creamy.
- Beat in the granulated sugar and the vegetable oil.
- Pour in 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice as well as the lemon zest and the vanilla extract.
- Beat in the eggs until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the all-purpose flour with the baking powder, and salt.
- Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture.
- Mix in the milk until incorporated. Do not overmix.
- Scoop the cupcake batter equally between 16 cupcake liners.
- Bake for 18-21 minutes or until the center of the cupcakes are done (check with a toothpick).
- Remove the cupcakes from the oven and allow them to cool for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost completely cooled cupcakes.
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
- Add ¼ cup of hulled strawberries to a food processor and pulse until the strawberries are into small pieces.
- Beat the softened butter until smooth and creamy.
- Mix in the vanilla extract, lemon juice, and salt.
- Mix in the pureed strawberries as well as the strawberry jam.
- Slow beat in the confectioners' sugar.
- If needed, add a little milk at a time until the desired texture is reached.
- Frost completely cooled cupcakes and store them in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate based on third-party calculations. Actual values may vary due to ingredients, measurements, and serving sizes.
© Popular Recipes
Dana is the lead recipe developer and photographer for PopularRecipes.com. With her 10+ years of experience creating, testing, and photographing recipes, she has become an artist in developing wholesome, family-friendly meals that are a hit with both kids and parents.
Beatrice Mendoza says
Good recipe, I used a boxed lemon cake for the cupcakes and followed the recipe for the frosting. The only thing I tweaked was to add strawberry extract to the frosting. My granddaughter who usually doesn't like frosting liked it. I'll be using this frosting recipe again.