Lemon Drop Cupcakes with Fresh Lemon Curd and Buttercream Frosting

I love my sister. While she is picky with most foods (fruits, vegetables, meats, etc...), she is never picky when it comes to her sweets. I've been wanting to try out a lemon cupcake but didn't seem to have the time to do it.

Enter her birthday. She let me pick whatever treat I wanted to make. What a good sister.

I usually do not like most things lemony because they usually taste fake or too sour. This strikes a good balance of sweet and tart.


Lemon Cupcakes

1 stick butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t baking soda
2 cups all purpose flour
juice and zest of one lemon
 3/4 c water

Place paper liners in muffin pans. Yields about 18 cupcakes, or 36 mini cupcakes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine softened butter and sugar, creaming together until smooth with a hand mixer or stand mixer. Once smooth, add eggs and beat well. Add vanilla, salt, baking soda and powder. Mix until well incorporated. Add ONE cup of the flour and mix well.  Add the zest and lemon juice. Add ALL the water and mix again. Add last cup of flour and mix. Using a one ounce ice cream scooper, scoop batter into the paper liners. Bake at 325 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, or until baked through. You can test doneness by lightly pressing your finger in the middle of the cupcake. If you see a fingerprint, they are not done. if it bounces back, they are done. BUT BE CAREFUL. Obviously they are hot.

Remove from oven when done, and using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke a hole in the middle of each cupcake. This is where the lemon curd will go. Let cool.

Lemon Curd

1 stick butter
4 Lemons, zest and juice
1 3/4 c sugar
4 eggs

In a stand mixer, cream together butter, zest and sugar until smooth. Add the juice of the lemons and the eggs one at a time, mixing on low. Transfer mixture into a large sauce pan and cook over low heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring often. DO NOT LET THIS BOIL. While it is cooking, it may look curdled, but just keep stirring and let it cook and come back together. When it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, it's done. Remove from heat and cool in fridge completely before using it.


Buttercream Frosting

3 c powdered sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBSP milk

In a large mixing bowl, on low speed, mix together sugar and butter until creamed. Add vanilla and milk and mix on low until smooth. You may need to add more milk if frosting is too thick. Spoon into a frosting bag with a 1MM tip.


Assembly

After the curd and cupcakes are completely cooled, spoon about 1 tsp of curd into each cupcake and then another 1 tsp of curd on TOP of the cupcake. Pipe the buttercream onto the curd-topped cupcake into any design you would like. Garnish with lemon zest if desired.