Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes Recipe
Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes are the fresh and delicious treat you've been waiting for! These moist lemon cupcakes are made from scratch with fresh lemon, topped with a homemade raspberry buttercream frosting made with fresh berries for a fruity treat everyone will love.
Servings: 12 cupcakes
Ingredients
Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes
- ½ cup salted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ¾ cup raspberry jam, (optional for filling cupcakes)
Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup salted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup reduced raspberry puree (see notes), raspberry preserves, or raspberry jam
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- Fresh raspberries, for decoration
- Lemon slices, for decoration
Instructions
Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin or cupcake pan with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture and beat again, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix until combined.
- Add milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest, mixing again until combined.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared cupcake liners, filling them about ⅔ full. I find a medium cookie scoop works best.
- Bake the cupcakes for 15–18 minutes until the tops bounce back when you touch them or a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool completely.
Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy and smooth, about 2–3 minutes.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and mix on medium-low speed for 1 minute.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix again for 30 seconds.
- Add lemon zest and reduced raspberry puree, mixing until combined. Increase speed and beat for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add ½ cup more powdered sugar if it's too soft, or a little bit more raspberry puree, lemon juice, or a dash of whole milk if it's too thick.
- Use the frosting to frost the cupcakes, then decorate with fresh raspberries and a lemon slice on each cupcake as desired.
Notes
- To make reduced raspberry puree, blend 1 ¼ cups of fresh raspberries, strain through a fine mesh sieve, then simmer on the stove in a small pan over medium-low heat until reduced to about ¼ cup. Cool completely before using.
- You can use 1 Tablespoon of raspberry Jello powder or ¼ cup thawed raspberry lemonade concentrate in place of the raspberry reduction or preserves.
- Store: These cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. They can last up to 5 days in the refrigerator, but the cupcakes may dry out a bit and become denser if you do this, so it's best to eat them within 2 days or freeze them unfrosted for longer storage.
- Freeze: Freeze the unfrosted cupcakes for up to 2 months in the freezer when wrapped in plastic wrap and put into a large Ziploc bag or freezer-safe container. Thaw them at room temperature and frost them with fresh raspberry buttercream frosting before serving.