Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes
This classic flavor combination gets a delicious twist with a zingy lemon curd and sweet buttercream, resulting in an irresistibly tasty cupcake!
Ingredients
CUPCAKE BATTER
- 2 large eggs
- 135 grams granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 165 ml milk
- 42 grams butter
- 165 grams all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- Zest from 2 lemons
- 2 tbsp poppy seeds
FILLING
- 1 portion lemon curd
BUTTERCREAM ICING
- 226 grams unsalted butter, softened
- Pinch of salt
- Lemon zest from 1-2 lemons
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 240 grams powdered sugar
- Leftover lemon curd from the filling! (optional)
DECOR
- Poppy seeds, lemon zest, sprinkles, candied lemon, etc.
Instructions
- Make the lemon curd in advance (here's our recipe) so it has enough time to cool down, or you can use a store bought lemon curd!
- Preheat oven to 350F (176C).
- Melt butter and milk together on the stove. Let the mixture cool a bit, until it's not burning hot but just a bit warm.
- Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Beat eggs and sugar together, either in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, with a hand mixer, or by hand with a whisk. The eggs and sugar should about double in volume and become light in color and a little bit thicker than liquid. When you lift the whisk out of the mixture, the mixture that flows back into the bowl should sit on the surface for just a second before sinking back in – that's ribbon stage, and it should be ready for the next step!
- Add the vanilla extract to the eggs and sugar and mix together.
- Now you are going to add your cooled wet ingredients and dry ingredients into the fluffy egg mixture in batches. You can do this by hand or with a paddle/whisk attachment on your stand mixer. First, sift in half of the dry mixture and fold together gently or run the mixer for just 10-15 seconds on low.
- Then, add half of the wet mixture and fold together gently, or run the mixer for another 10-15 seconds on low. If you see dry ingredients stuck on the sides of the bowl, make sure to use a spatula to fold it in.
- Repeat the process of sifting in the rest of the dry ingredients, mix, then add the rest of the wet ingredients and mix together, either by folding the ingredients together or running the mixer.
- Add in the poppy seeds and lemon zest and mix together until just combined.
- Finally, fold everything together a few times at the end with a spatula until you have a smooth cake batter, making sure nothing is stuck on the sides or the bottom of the stand mixer bowl.
- Add cupcake liners to a 12 cupcake muffin/cupcake pan.
- Divide the batter evenly between the 12 cupcake liners - it should fill them about 3/4 of the way. Try not to fill them all the way to the top as the cupcakes could then overflow.
- Put the cupcakes in the oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or until a cake tester, skewer, or knife inserted in a cupcake comes out clean.
- Let cool for a few minutes before moving the cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool down fully.
- When the cupcakes are almost cooled down, make your buttercream by adding softened butter to the bowl of a stand mixer or a mixing bowl.
- Run the mixer with the whisk attachment for a few minutes just to get the butter whipped slightly.
- Add in about half of the powdered sugar and whip the mixture until the sugar is incorporated.
- Add in a pinch of salt, vanilla extract, and lemon zest. Whisk together to incorporate.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar to the buttercream mixture.
- Whisk well for at least 5 minutes, or until the buttercream is airy and light in color. Set aside until ready to decorate, but don't remove it from the bowl yet!
- Once the cupcakes have cooled down, cut out a hole about an inch wide from the center of each cupcake to make room for lemon curd. They end up coming out sort of cone shaped, but you could also try to use an apple corer or a melon baller for something more uniform in shape! Definitely set these pieces aside to snack on as you're decorating!
- Fill the center of the cupcakes with lemon curd, about a tablespoon or a bit more in each cupcake.
- If you have leftover lemon curd, add it to the buttercream and whisk it together one last time until well incorporated!
- Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag and decorate the cupcakes however you would like. We go with a classic swirl using a star tip, and there's enough buttercream to generously ice them all.
- Decorate with poppy seeds, lemon zest, candied lemon, sprinkles, or anything else you would like! Enjoy!