Hi there! It’s Fiona stopping in from Just So Tasty, and today I’m sharing these Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes.
I absolutely love strawberry lemonade because it’s like summertime in a glass and pretty in pink. And whenever there’s a delicious flavor combination – I always want to make it into cupcake.
These strawberry lemonade cupcakes are moist, perfectly fluffy, and bursting with fresh fruit flavors. The cupcakes have a delicious slightly tangy lemon flavor. Then we’re using fresh berries for the frosting. Isn’t strawberry season the best?
The lemon cupcakes are made with sour cream so they’re perfectly moist. Then we’re using just the egg whites and adding a little cornstarch to keep the batter light. Fresh lemon zest & freshly squeezed lemon juice give the lemon flavor. I found these cupcakes have a nice hint of lemon, but they’re not too tart.
Then the strawberry frosting is really the star of the show. It’s fluffy, creamy and has the prettiest color. Because we’re making the frosting using fresh berries it takes a few extra steps – but it’s 100% worth it.
I think these strawberry lemonade cupcakes are the perfect flavor combination. The hint of tanginess and fresh lemon flavor, moist cupcake crumb, and creamy strawberry frosting – I hope you love them as much as I do!
Strawberry Lemonade Cupcake Recipe:
Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
Ingredients
Lemon Cupcake
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon zest freshly grated
- 3 large egg whites (you can discard the yolks)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup sour cream room temperature
- 3 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed*
Strawberry Frosting
- 8 oz fresh strawberries
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 tbsp whipping cream if needed
Instructions
Cupcakes
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Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line a 12 cavity muffin pan with muffin papers.
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In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.
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Then in a large bowl using an electric mixer beat together the butter, sugar and lemon zest until fluffy. Add in the egg whites and vanilla extract and continue mixing until combined.
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Turn the mixer down to low speed and mix in about ½ of the sour cream followed by half of the flour mixture. Then turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Repeat with the rest of the sour cream and flour mixture. Then turn off the mixer and stir in the lemon juice. Be careful not to over mix.
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Spoon the batter into your prepared muffin pan, filling each muffin paper about ⅔ to ¾ full. You'll end up with 12-14 cupcakes total.
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Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Strawberry Frosting
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Core the strawberries to remove the green centers. Then puree in the food processor or blender until smooth. Then push the puree through a wire sieve to remove the seeds. You should have about ¾ cup of puree.
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Transfer the puree to a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil while gently stirring. Allow the mixture to boil for about 15-20 minutes, or until the mixture has reduced to about ⅓ to ¼ of the original volume (about ¼ cup). The thicker your puree is, the thicker your frosting will be.
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Remove from the heat and allow mixture to cool fully. You can place it in the fridge or freezer to speed up the process.
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In a large bowl beat the butter until fluffy, then beat in about 1.5 cups of the powdered sugar. Then turn the mixer down to low and beat in 2-3 tablespoons of the reduced strawberry puree. The mixture must be cold when it's added to the frosting, otherwise the frosting will separate.
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Once added, beat in the rest of the powdered sugar and the whipping cream if necessary.
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Frost the cupcakes either with a piping bag (I used a 1M tip or with a knife).
Recipe Notes
 *Use 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and 1 tablespoon milk for a less strong lemon flavor
**I recommend storing these cupcakes in an airtight container in the fridge
Whenever I find a good recipe for frosting made with fresh fruit, I hold onto that recipe for dear life. These seriously look DELICIOUS!! Thanks so much for sharing with us, Fiona! For more delicious recipes by her, head on over to Just So Tasty!
For more Strawberry treats, check out:
Strawberry Shortcake Poke Cake
And for more favorite strawberry treats, check out:
- Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes
- Strawberry Shortcake Bars
- Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Frosting
ENJOY!
These are so perfect for summer! Yum!
Totally!! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Instead of sour cream can buttermilk be used?
Can I use buttermilk instead of sour cream?
I personally haven’t tried. I’m not sure if or how that would change anything. You can always try?? I’d love to know. Good luck!
Can I use buttermilk instead of sour cream. And if so what is the measurement portions? Love the recipe thou.
I haven’t tried that, so I wouldn’t know an exact measurement. I’m sorry. I don’t want to tell you the wrong thing. I’m glad you like the recipe, though 🙂 If you give it a try, let me know how it comes out. Thanks!
I want to make these for my daughter’s 1st birthday but I would like to do 2 frosting colors. Could I make a puree with blueberries the same way the strawberries are done and use that in the frosting?
I’m sure you could 🙂 I haven’t tried, but I don’t see why not! That would be good!
Well the cup cakes were a bit over all! Thanks for sharing this recipe! Also I did the blueberry frosting and it turned out great with the strawberry. The only thing was my strawberry frosting did not turn out nearly as bright in color as the ones you have shown in the pictures. Why might that be?
I meant “hit” not “bit”… Dang auto correct.
I’m glad they were a hit!! I’m not sure why they weren’t as bright. Maybe my contributor used a little more strawberries?
Hello, I just signed up for your yummy recipes, happy I did. All look, sound, yummy. I can hardly wait to have the time to go through them, tasting only in my mind, until I can make them. I do have a “?” on the strawberry lemonade cupcakes. Are they super tart that children year to grade school might find them tart? I was going to make them for my grdaughter’s 1st bday party. My daughter choose the flavor. I choose because you say they’re moist & look awfully tasty. Thank you for time.
Sheryl
This is my contributors recipe, Fiona at https://www.justsotasty.com/. You may want to ask her. I haven’t tried them, yet, but I am so glad you signed up!! Hope you find some great recipes! 🙂 Thank you!
I i made this!
I sure hope you liked them!!
I would like to send you pictures of the cupcakes
Can this be made into a giant cupcake cake?
I haven’t tried, but I don’t see why not?? 🙂 That would be fun!
Thanks for the recipe!! I used the lemon cupcakes with a different frosting recipe, so I can only account for the cake, but the lemon is spot on. Bursting with flavor!! My batter actually made 15 cupcakes-I used a big scoop, but perhaps I could have put a little more in each one. It filled a normal cupcake liner though so….
I’ll be using this recipe for any future lemon cake/cupcake requests!! So delicious!
Thanks for sharing that!! Thank you!
2 Cups powdered sugar and 2 cups whipped cream
Omg, these are the best cupcakes ever, I made these for a project and the teachers loved them!!!
I am glad they did!! Thank you for letting me know!
Can the frosting be made ahead of time?
It should be 🙂