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Sweet & Tangy Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes start with fluffy, moist lemon cupcakes and are topped with a fresh strawberry frosting!
Nothing says summer like a cool glass of Homemade Lemonade, or even better – Strawberry Lemonade! These Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes bring that delicious summer flavor, but in cupcake form!
Summertime in a cupcake
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?
These have 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!
Making Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
PREP. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line a 12 cavity muffin pan with muffin papers.
DRY INGREDIENTS. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.
WET INGREDIENTS. 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.
COMBINE. 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.
BAKE. 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. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Frosting
PREP. 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.
BOIL. 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.
CHILL. Remove from the heat and allow mixture to cool fully. You can place it in the fridge or freezer to speed up the process.
BEAT. 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. Once added, beat in the rest of the powdered sugar and the whipping cream if necessary.
FROST. Frost the cupcakes either with a piping bag (I used a 1M tip) or with a knife.
Storing Info
Make ahead: These cupcakes can be made a day ahead of time, covered, and stored in the fridge before serving. If you want to make these cupcakes farther in advance you can store them separately and then assemble before serving.
STORE frosting in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
STORE cupcakes in an airtight container on the counter for 2-3 days or in the fridge for about 5 days. To FREEZE them you’ll want to individually wrap them and store them together in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 6 months.
And for more favorite strawberry treats:
- Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes
- Strawberry Shortcake Bars
- Strawberry Shortcake Poke Cake
- Frozen Strawberry Dessert
- Strawberry Cookies
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 sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon zest freshly grated
- 3 large egg whites (you can discard the yolks)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 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 heavy whipping cream if needed
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line a 12 cavity muffin pan with muffin papers.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Strawberry Frosting
- 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.
- 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.
- Remove from the heat and allow mixture to cool fully. You can place it in the fridge or freezer to speed up the process.
- 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.
- Once added, beat in the rest of the powdered sugar and the whipping cream if necessary.
- Frost the cupcakes either with a piping bag (I used a 1M tip) or with a knife.
Notes
**I recommend storing these cupcakes in an airtight container in the fridge
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
2 Cups powdered sugar and 2 cups whipped cream
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!
Can this be made into a giant cupcake cake?
I haven’t tried, but I don’t see why not?? 🙂 That would be fun!
I i made this!
I sure hope you liked them!!
I would like to send you pictures of the cupcakes
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 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?
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!
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!
My family and I are not big fans of sour cream or buttermilk. Do you think it could be substituted with anything such as whole milk/cream or be omitted altogether?
The sour cream helps the cake be moist and tender. I haven’t tried omitting that dairy element, so it could yield a drier result. Whole milk is a different consistency than sour cream obviously, so it may also affect the texture differently. If you enjoy greek yogurt, you could probably swap the sour cream for a plain greek yogurt and it would turn out pretty similar! If you do use the whole milk or omit the dairy, you’ll have to let us know how they turn out. 🙂
Instead of sour cream can buttermilk be used?
These are so perfect for summer! Yum!
Totally!! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!