Light, fluffy lemon cake filled with lemon curd and topped with a lemon frosting rosette.
It’s Birch Tree Baking’s 3rd anniversary! I can’t believe that I started this blog 3 years ago when I was bored to tears on a snow day. A lot has happened in those 3 years…I graduated high school, I began college, I started a baking club, I travelled to Eastern Europe, I got deep into my Accounting classes at school, I had an internship in tax accounting, I started to enjoy running, and of course… I baked!
My posts have definitely become less frequent over the years but I have my reasons. I’ve sort of hit a bit of a wall with new recipes that I’m excited about. I don’t want to pass along a mediocre recipe, and I’ve posted most of the recipes that I repeatedly make. While I do find new recipes that I want to make (like that Pretzel Crusted Chocolate Pie), I don’t have a backlog of recipes like I did when I first started blogging.
But this lemon curd cupcake recipe is one of those recipes that I’m excited to post because they are oh so good! This cupcake recipe is so fluffy. I’ve always struggled getting cupcakes to be light and airy but these are everything cake should be. When you bite into one, you get the surprise tangy lemon curd filling. And of course there is the lemon frosting to top it off. 
These cupcakes would be great for a birthday, any sort of party, or a Tuesday. They look so simple but really take it to a more pro baker level.
Happy Birthday Birch Tree Baking!!
- 3 egg yolks
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons loosely packed lemon zest
- 4 Tablespoons salted butter, cut into chunks
- 1¾ cups cake flour, see note for how to make cake flour**
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup salted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 egg whites
- 1 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup salted butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup of the lemon curd (above)
- In a double boiler with 2 inches of simmering water, combine egg yolks, powdered sugar, juice, and zest and cook over low heat, whisking constantly, for 10-12 minutes or until thickened. It is ok to have little pieces of cooked egg but if you start getting scrambled egg, you'll need to start over.
- Remove from heat and whisk in the butter.
- Strain the curd. You will have to push it through the strainer and scrap the curd off the underside of the strainer because it is so thick. Zest and small pieces of egg will be left behind in the strainer.
- Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the curd and refrigerate until chilled. Store curd in the refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tin with paper liners. This recipe makes about 15 cupcakes.
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
- In a mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
- Add in sugar and beat until the butter and sugar clump together and pull away from the side of the bowl. It shouldn't look very grainy like it does when you first add in the sugar.
- Add in egg whites, vanilla, and lemon zest and mix on medium speed until somewhat consistent.
- Add in the sour cream and beat until combined and consistent.
- Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just barely incorporated.
- Add in the milk and mix very little with the electric mixer. To fully incorporate the milk, whisk by hand. It is important to not over beat at this stage.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin tin. Fill each cup ⅔ the way full. Do not overfill or you get a muffin top with a crispy underside.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Don't worry if you mutilate the top of the cupcake because you'll cover it with frosting.
- Cool cupcakes in the muffin tin for 10 minutes and then remove them from the pan and let them finish cooling on a cooling rack.
- Cream butter and sugar together until completely combined and fluffy.
- Mix in the ⅓ cup of lemon curd until completely combined.
- Poke a small hole in the center of each cupcake that is about the diameter of a pen or about a ¼ inch. I used a clean lollipop stick.
- Using a piping bag or a ziplock, pipe the remaining lemon curd into the center of the cupcakes.
- Pipe the frosting onto the top of the cupcakes with a piping bag or ziplock and a rosette piping tip. I used a 1M wilton rosette piping tip. To get the rose shape, start piping in the center of the cupcake and work your way around the cupcake like a coiled snake. You don't want to build the frosting up into the classic swirl shape.
Cupcake recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction
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These tell me spring is coming….and not too soon! The cupcakes look good!