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Fluffy Lemon Cupcakes are topped with BLACKBERRY Buttercream! These Lemon Blackberry Cupcakes are so pretty and always a showstopper. Their refreshing flavor makes them perfect for Spring and Summer celebrations!
Moist Lemon Cupcakes topped with Fluffy Blackberry Buttercream
Fact: I’m a little cupcake obsessed this Summer. Cannot get enough of them! Doesn’t matter if they’re Super Decadent Chocolate Cupcakes or of the Perfect “One Bowl” Vanilla variety – I WANT THEM ALL.
Question Tiiiiime: What’s your favorite cupcake flavor? Are you into crazy flavor combos? Or more of a classic chocolate/strawberry/vanilla kinda guy (or gal)?
Homemade cupcakes can seem like a lot of work to some people, but I’m here to tell you these lemon blackberry beauties are totally doable in just over an hour, and virtually impossible to screw up. They’re also just downright FUN to make! Cupcake baking is one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon or evening, and the workload is even easier (and a lot more FUN) if you have a friend joining in on the action. I baked 3 different cupcake recipes down the beach with my nieces, and it was a BLAST! I definitely think we have some budding bloggers in the fam 😉
This simple but lovely flavor combo was inspired by the late Summer wave of (very fresh and affordable) berries we have at our fingertips. Cheap and juicy berries… such a luxury! I ate 2 cartons standing over the sink, and decided halfway through the third to regain some self-control and make a vibrantly flavored (and colored) buttercream with what was left. Thank goodness that self-control kicked in! This buttercream is killer 😉
These cupcakes are a little more work than the store-bought kind… but they’re also SO much more rewarding in the end. The base of this recipe features an easy-to-make lemon cupcake. These cupcakes are made with lemon sugar, butter, flour, baking soda, sour cream, milk, vanilla and egg whites. The method is very simple, and you can make them with or without a stand mixer.
Two things to be sure you do do:
1) Separate your eggs and use only the whites! This keeps the cupcakes light in color and nice and fluffy. If you add the whole egg it will mess with the consistency of the cupcake, since the whole egg is much more liquid.
2) Place the sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl and RUB the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingertips. This releases the oils in the lemon zest. Lemon oil = nice and light lemon flavor in our cupcakes! Yum.
The blackberry buttercream is probably the trickiest part of this recipe, but I think once you read how it’s done, you’ll find it’s really not tricky at all 😉 The first time I tested this recipe I tried adding fresh blackberries straight into the buttercream. That did not work. The berries broke up, released liquid, and made the buttercream a very strange texture. Hmm. Onto batch two! For my second go, I tried using a store-bought blackberry jam. This one came out OK… but the jam was sweetened, and I found the blackberry taste was mute. I wanted a bold blackberry taste. So for the third try (the winning round!) I made a blackberry reduction from blackberries, lemon juice, and just a touch of sugar.
Now, if you’re like, EEK. A blackberry reduction sounds like a lot of work. Relax 🙂 It’s really easy. You’re just going to place the blackberries in a small saucepan, add the lemon juice, and cook it on a low simmer for about 20 minutes. During this time the berries will burst, release juice, and cook down to a nice, thick berry puree. Once it’s reduced to about a quarter cup, you’ll set it aside to cool, maybe do some dishes, and then add it to the buttercream. See! Easy, right?
So next time you need/want to get your cupcake on, ditch the store-bought stuff and make your own! Once you see how simple and fun making them from scratch is, you’ll never want to go back to the box. And that’s a promise 😉
Lemon Cupcakes with Blackberry Buttercream
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 3/4 cups cake flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sour cream (I used full fat)
- 1/2 cup milk (I used whole)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- *Zest of one lemon (about 2 teaspoons)
For the Blackberry Buttercream:
- 1 cup blackberries
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, VERY soft
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (do not SKIP!)
- 4 cups confectioners sugar (more if needed), sifted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line a 12 mold muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well to combine. Set aside.
- In a large measuring cup or bowl combine sour cream, milk, vanilla, and egg whites; mix well to combine. Set aside.
- In a small bowl combine sugar and lemon zest. Using your fingertips, rub the zest IN to the sugar, until fragrant and well combined.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat melted butter and sugar on medium speed until well combined; about 2 minutes.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar combination, beating until just combined. Add in sour cream/milk/egg combo and beat on low until *just combined. Over-mixing will result in a dryer/denser cake.
- Divide the cupcake batter evenly into the 12 molds, then place the pan in the oven. Bake for about 16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before topping with frosting.
For the blackberry buttercream:
- Combine the blackberries and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and stir constantly until blackberries have become soft enough to mash effortlessly.; about 6-7 minutes It will look like blackberry jam. Once the mixture can coat a spoon (you will have about 1/4 cup of blackberry puree) remove from heat. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a small bowl and push the puree though, leaving any seeds/large chunks behind. Allow mixture to cool completely before using.
When ready to make buttercream:
- Place soft butter in the body of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat butter on medium-speed until completely smooth, scraping down the sides when needed; about 2 minutes. Add in the blackberry puree and beat until completely combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed. Add in the confectioners sugar, one cup at a time, on low speed. Once all of the sugar has been added, add in salt then increase speed to medium-high and beat for 2 full minutes. Ice cupcakes as desired.
- *Cupcakes can be made up to 6 hours ahead of time, but be sure to store in the fridge and bring to room temperature 30 minutes before serving.
So, I made these last night to bring to work this morning. They were a BIG hit. ‘My favorite yet”, “yummy’ “Oh my’ were some of the comments. The funny part is – not until I read the comment above mine did I see that cream cheese was required for the frosting. I accidentally left it out. I probably added an extra teaspoon of cream and the consistency was ideal. The frosting was still awesome. Thank you!!!
Hi Rebecca! I am SO happy to hear these turned out for you. They are one of my all-time favorite cupcakes – especially the frosting – so I am pleased to hear they were a home run for you too 🙂
I made these cupcakes today, while the cake turned out very yummy, I found I had to add an extra lemon’s worth of zest, and possibly could have added more to amplify the flavour. The frosting I was rather dissapointed with, as after doing all the right amounts, all I could taste was the cream cheese. I had to do another batch of the blackberry and lemon jam, and therefore had to add much conf. sugar to keep it light. Even then, the taste was not there and I had to end up adding strawberry extract just to give it some fruit flavor and to cover up the cream cheese.
Those look so good! I am going to make them. YUMMY!
I am in the process of making this right now! I cooked some blackberries I had saved in the freezer from the summer. I guess I was rushing, because the blackberries never thickened up! Now I have basically blackberry/lemon juice after straining. I don’t know if this will be seen, but wondering if it will still work to use the juice, and just not use all of it? Also, I didn’t add sugar because it wasn’t in the written recipe. I am worried they will be too tart.
Hi Wendy. I promise any comment you leave will always be seen 🙂 The icing will definitely not be too tart, as there is plenty of sugar to balance it out. I would just add a little puree at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.
Hey! I am getting ready to make these as a trial for a shower I’m hosting ina few weeks. I’ve read all the comments to try and make sure i avoid some of the common pitfalls. I am a little confused though. When you make your reduction and strain it, you use what’s left in the strainer, NOT the liquid, correct? I suppose if it’s all to sweet, as some of the comments suggest, adding lemon zest to the mixture could help take care of that. Thanks in advance!
Hi Cortney. You actually use the liquid. Straining it just helps take out any chunky bits. You can always add a pinch of salt if the frosting is too sweet. I like to taste it once it’s done whipping and add a 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt if it’s too sweet. Simply beat it in until it’s well combined 😉
I just tried making these cupcakes about 1 hour ago. The cupcake itself turned out fantastic. However, I am having troubles with the frosting. First off, the puree was more liquid than anything. I tried to let it sit longer but I was worried about it starting to burn. Now the frosting looks gritty but isn’t. It is simply not fluffy. Do you have any tips on what I may be able to do?
Hi Kelsey. Did you strain the blackberry puree? It definitely should not be mainly liquid, but more of a thick jam. If it’s looking gritty you may need to add some heavy cream, about a tablespoon or two to start. Whip the cream into the frosting and continue to whip it on medium-high speed for 2 minutes.
I cheated and used boxed Lemon cake mix and added a few drops of doTERRA Lemon Essential Oil and they came out amazing! The icing is a beautiful color and I don’t have a problem with the sweetness of it I have an issue with it being very sticky. There is no possible way I can even pipe this. I even added an extra cup of confectioners sugar and 2 tablespoons of meringue powder hoping it would stiffen up, and chilled it over night. But delicious flavor, will have to make icing like I always do and add compote.
Hello!
First off.. I made these but did a blueberry butter cream and did the reduction with blueberries. It was amazing.
Second this cake recipe is awesome. It is my go to recipe now.. If I want a different flavor then lemon then I switch out the lemon zest and use whatever flavor I want in the sugar. ie: lime, vanilla beans, chocolate etc. All have had amazing results!
Thanks for sharing such an amazing recipe!
What tip did you use to frost the cupcakes? I’m experimenting with different styles of icing these days…
Hi Erin. It’s a Wilton star tip; I believe a 6 B.
Hai, thank you so much for the recipe! I made it yesterday and it was delicious!! But the icing was really too sweet. But pls remind me again the recipe for the icing, is it 1/4cup butter with 4 1/2cup icing sugar? Cause it turns out too sweet and grainy! Couldn’t get the texture right so I changed it to 1 cup butter to 2cups icing sugar with the blackberry reduction and it turns out beautifully. But again thank you for the inspiration I definitely gonna do t again!
Hi Shen. Did you add the cream cheese and cream to recipe as well? There is a half cup of butter, a half cup of cream cheese, and cream as needed, which should give you the right texture 😉 I’m happy you enjoyed the recipe! And thank you for letting me know. xo