These Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes start with a moist, light and fluffy lemon cupcake that’s filled with homemade strawberry sauce and topped with fresh lemon and strawberry frosting. They’re decorated with fresh strawberries, lemon slices and cute little paper straws. These cupcakes are sure to be a hit all summer long!

I’m obsessed with strawberries! They’ve always been my favourite fruit. I’m also one of the few beings on earth that’s a fan of eating lemons, on their own. I know it sounds weird, but I just love sour things so I sometimes find myself eating lemons. 

These two fruits put together make for such an incredible flavour combo! The sweet and juicy strawberries really compliment the sour lemons to create the perfect blend of sweet and sour (but not too sour).  

In the past week, I’ve been sharing base recipes like my Homemade Strawberry Sauce, Strawberry Buttercream and Lemon Buttercream. All of those recipes have now come together to form one deliciously perfect dessert!

These cupcakes are very simple to make, but they do take time. There are four parts to this cupcake — the lemon cupcake, strawberry sauce filling and finally the strawberry and lemon frosting. Every one of these things are very easy and quick to make. 

I recommend making the strawberry sauce and cupcakes a day ahead so the sauce can chill and the cupcakes can be ready to frost the day you plan to serve. 

These cupcakes start with a light, fluffy and moist lemon cupcake. These cupcakes are just my simple Vanilla Cupcake recipe with a load of fresh lemon flavour. We use fresh lemons to add the lemon flavouring instead of lemon extract. Lemon extract just doesn’t give the same lemon aroma and taste as real lemons do. The zest and juice of 2 lemons gives these cupcakes a great burst of lemon flavour! 

There’s no fancy creaming methods or electric mixers needed. Simply combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ingredients in another, then mix them together. It’s really as simple as 1-2-3! 

Next up is the homemade strawberry sauce. I actually recommend making this part first since it needs to chill in the refrigerator overnight. This is super crucial because if the sauce is even a little bit warm, it’ll change the texture of the strawberry frosting and cause it to separate. 

To make the sauce, I added the chopped strawberries, sugar, water and lemon juice to a medium saucepan and let it cook, while stirring once a while, for about 8-10 minutes. Once it’s cooked you’ll need to strain the sauce through a fine mesh sieve and discard of the strawberry chunks. You want the sauce to be nice and smooth because we’ll be using it in our frosting. 

To fill the cupcakes, I used the bottom of a large piping tip (you can also use an apple corer) and I pressed it down into my cupcake to create a hole in the centre. I then used a small spoon to fill the centres of the cupcakes with the sauce. The sauce is still pretty thin so I recommend eating these cupcakes on a plate with a fork so you don’t make a mess. 

I frosted the cupcakes with my Strawberry and Lemon frostings. Both of these frostings are super fluffy, creamy, smooth with the most incredible authentic strawberry and lemon flavours! 

If you want the colours of the frostings to pop, you can dye them with a few drops of pink and yellow gel food colouring. To get the two-toned swirl, I simply laid my piping bag on its side and spooned one of the frostings on one side of the bag. I then scooped the second frosting on the other side of the bag. You may need to squeeze out some frosting into a bowl until you see both colours, then pipe a generous swirl onto each cupcake. 

The tops of the cupcakes are decorated with fresh juicy strawberries, lemon slices and yellow paper straws for a lovely summery look. 

With the strawberry sauce filling, the strawberry frosting, the lemon cupcake and the lemon frosting, these cupcakes are a great combination of sweet and tangy. It’s the perfect cupcake for the summer! 

Enjoy. 

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Here are some of the tools I used to create today’s recipe: 

Cupcake Pan | Cupcake Liners | Cupcake Scoop | Apple Corer | Wilton 1M Tip | Pastry Bag | Rubber Spatula | Yellow Paper Straws | 

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Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes

Yield: 16 - 18 Cupcakes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 18 minutes

These Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes start with a moist, light and fluffy lemon cupcake that’s filled with homemade strawberry sauce and topped with fresh lemon and strawberry frosting.

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Ingredients

• 1 recipe of my Homemade Strawberry Sauce

Lemon Cupcakes:

• 1 and ½ cups All purpose flour
• 1 and ½ cups granulated Sugar
• 1 and ½ teaspoons Baking powder
• ½ teaspoon Baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 large Eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• ⅓ cup Vegetable oil
• ½ cup buttermilk, room temperature
• ½ cup sour cream, room temperature
• Zest and Juice of 2 lemons
• 1 recipe of my Dreamy Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
• 1 recipe of my Dreamy Lemon Buttercream Frosting

For Garnish:

• Yellow paper straws, cut in half (optional)
• Small strawberries
• Lemons, cut into quarters

Instructions

Prepare one recipe of my homemade strawberry sauce and allow it to chill completely in the refrigerator, preferably overnight.

For the Lemon Cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C), and line a standard cupcake pan with paper liners. Line a second pan with 4-6 liners. This recipe makes about 16-18 cupcakes.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine.
3. In a measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, vegetable oil, buttermilk, sour cream and lemon zest and juice. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Fill each liner a little over halfway full.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 14-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out with a few moist crumbs. Allow cupcakes to cool in pan for 5 minutes.
5. Remove the cupcakes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
6. Meanwhile make one recipe of my strawberry buttercream and lemon buttercream.

Assembly:

1. Core the centre of each cupcake using the bottom of a large piping tip, or an apple corer.
2. Using a spoon or piping bag, fill the cupcakes with the strawberry sauce.
3. Fit a piping bag with a large star tip. To get the two-toned swirl, I simply laid my piping bag on its side and spooned one of the frostings on one side of the bag. I then scooped the second frosting on the other side of the bag. You may need to squeeze out some frosting into a bowl until you see both colours, then pipe a generous swirl onto each cupcake.
4. Garnish with a strawberry, lemon slices, and a paper straw, if desired. Enjoy!

Notes

-These cupcakes are best on day one but can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

- The cupcakes can be made a day or 2 ahead of time and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

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BON APPÉTIT!

Love, Dedra

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