This summer is full of wedding festivities. And I’m not only talking about the planning that’s been going on for my own big day, but the other events leading up to the many fall weddings going on this year too. We’re going to 4 weddings this fall so there are plenty of showers and bachelorette parties keeping me busy the rest of the summer. My friend Alyssa has also been busy planning the parties celebrating her bride-to-be sister and asked me to make a big batch of cupcakes for the event. Since the party was outside last weekend, I wanted to make something light that wouldn’t weigh everyone down on a hot day. And since pink was the main color of the party, I went with a lemon cake filled with raspberry curd and topped with dyed cream cheese frosting. The perfect combination of a tart and sweet dessert for a summer shower!
I absolutely loved how these cupcakes turned out. The method of making the lemon cupcake batter is a bit more labor intensive than I’m used to, but using whipped egg whites resulted in an amazingly light cake that was well worth it. And the raspberry curd was out of this world. I had never tried raspberry curd before, but it was all that I hoped it would be – creamy, tart, and totally addicting. Topped with my go-to cream cheese frosting spiked with a bit of raspberry curd, I couldn’t have dreamed up a better summertime cupcake. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly love my chocolate peanut butter combinations, but in the summer I definitely prefer fruity concoctions like this one.
I highly recommend this cupcake recipe and I will definitely use it in the future when I’m looking for a light crumb recipe. There’s nothing worse than a dense vanilla cupcake reminiscent of cornbread, and this recipe will ensure you end up far from that result. The recipe is easily adaptable, but I truly loved this combination and look forward to making it again!
Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Smells Like Home
Yield: 24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
for the raspberry curd filling:
8 tbsp unsalted butter
1, 12-oz package frozen raspberry, thawed (or 1 pint ripe)
5 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
2-3 tsp fresh lemon juice
for the lemon cupcakes:
2-1/3 cups cake flour
2-3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
5 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 tbsp lemon zest
12 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
for the raspberry cream cheese frosting:
18 oz cream cheese, cold
9 tbsp butter, at room temperature
1-1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp raspberry curd (recipe above)
6-1/2 cups powdered sugar
Food coloring, as desired
Directions:
for the raspberry curd filling:
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the raspberries, egg yolks, sugar, and salt. Stir and mash the berries frequently at frist, then constantly at the end until the mixture thickens (about 10 minutes).
- Pour the mixture through a mesh sieve set over a bowl, pressing down on the mixture with a wooden spoon to squeeze as much liquid as possible through.
- Cool to room temperature, then stir in the lemon juice.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 2-3 days. The curd will thicken as it cools.
for the lemon cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Then add the cream of tartar and increase the speed to medium-high. Beat just until stiff peaks form. Transfer egg whites to a separate bowl.
- In the cleaned bowl of the electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and lemon zest and beat until well incorporated.
- Beat in 1/4 cup of the milk until just blending. Then reduce the mixer speed to low and alternate adding the flour mixture and remaining milk in three batches, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat until just blended.
- Fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the batter with a rubber spatula. Once incorporated, add the rest of the egg whites and gently fold until well combined.
- Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners, filling each liner about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 18-22 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, until cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
for the raspberry cream cheese frosting:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the cold cream cheese and room temperature butter until light and fluffy, for about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and raspberry curd and beat well.
- Add the powdered sugar slowly and then beat mixture on medium-high speed for 3 minutes until well mixed and homogeneous. Add food coloring if desired and beat until mixed.
- Transfer frosting to a piping bag fit with a large star tip and store in the fridge until ready to use.
for the cupcake assembly:
- Use a paring knife to cut out a small cone from the top of each cupcake (with the point of the cone towards the bottom of the cupcake).
- Fill cavity with raspberry curd, and cut the top part of the cone that was removed to cover the filling.
- Pipe a swirl of frosting onto the top of each cupcake and top with a raspberry if desired.
These look amazing! I love fruit + lemon dessert combinations during the hot weather.
By the way, belated congrats on your engagement! I’m quite behind in my blog reading apparently!
So cute! They look so summery – making me wish I was in the Northern Hemisphere!
Will the raspberry curd keep for a while in the fridge or does it need to be frozen to keep?
It will keep for several days in the fridge, just cover it with plastic wrap with the wrap touching the top of the curd so it doesn’t form a film. Good luck!
It will keep for several days in the fridge, just cover it with plastic wrap with the wrap touching the top of the curd so it doesn’t form a film. Good luck!
Yummmy! I’m salavating. :)
Oh my, you had me at raspberry curd! these look and sound completely delicious! thanks for sharing!
Erica…Another hit out of the flavor town park! I get soooo many great ideas and inspiration from you!! In appreciation, I’m passing on the Versatile Blogger award to you! Here’s the post that explains it to everyone, http://www.bakeitwithbooze.com/2012/07/versatile-blogger-award.html
Cheers!
These cupcakes are gorgeous! I love dropping by to drool over your latest creations and today I’m featuring this post in Food Fetish Friday (with a link-back and attribution). I hope you have no objections and it’s always a pleasure following you…
Love this!!
Do these need to be kept in the frig until ready to serve or are they okay to leave out for a few hours?
Erica — July 23rd, 2012 @ 1:59 am
I would keep them in the fridge for as long as possible, but they will definitely be okay left out for a few hours. I just would make sure they aren’t somewhere too warm, like not outside on a hot summer day :)
This was a GIANT undertaking for someone who doesn’t really bake and is more of a cook, but they turned out DELICIOUS…(and you can see pics on my instagram feed http://followgram.me/kyahhillis). I will note that I tripled the recipe and only used half of the 19 cups of powdered sugar that the icing recipe called for and it was PLENTY sweet :) Thanks for having the perfectly delightful fluffy cupcake recipe!
I am looking at my shopping list to make these and before I head out I was wondering…is it 18 ounces cream cheese or is it 1-8 ounce package of cream cheese?
Erica — August 7th, 2012 @ 2:39 pm
Yea it’s 18 oz – seems like a lot but it takes a lot of frosting if you want to decorate 24 cupcakes with full swirls! Feel free to make less frosting if you’re not going to be using a decorating tip and swirl. Good luck!
I was hoping to do these for a wedding, and I want the tops to be more the giant rosette style (i.e. cupcakes that look like one big rose), but the frosting looks a little stickier (and more delicious) than your typical cream cheese frosting. Do you think I’ll have a problem creating a nice rosette with this frosting recipe?
I want to make these for a co-worker’s birthday and was wondering if they will turn out OK if I bake, fill, and frost them the night before? I am planning to refrigerate them overnight. They look delicious, can’t wait to try them!
Erica — August 20th, 2012 @ 12:37 pm
I think they’d be great as long as they are refrigerated. Enjoy them!!
These cupcakes were amazing! Looking forward to your next creation at the wedding! Thanks Erica :)
Made these for a party and they were a huge hit! I was impressed at how easy the curd was to make, and ended up eating the leftover curd on waffles–yum! Thanks for the awesome recipe, I’m loving reading your site!
Hi Erica! It looks like your cupcakes turned out great and I’m so glad you like them! It seems that the link to my blog post where you found the recipe is broken; would you mind please adding the corrected link and name of my blog (Smells Like Home) to your recipe? Thanks so much and happy baking!! http://smells-like-home.com/2012/05/lemon-cupcakes-with-fresh-raspberry-curd-filling/
I have made these several times always get great comments on them. Most love the curd surprise in the middle. Thanks for sharing!