Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
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Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting are so full of bright sunny flavors! Whip up this easy recipe to add a little sunshine to your day. Deliciously tender vanilla cupcakes pair perfectly with the lemon cream cheese frosting.
Vanilla Cupcakes
One thing is for sure, I love fruity desserts. I will always choose the fruit-laden treat over the double chocolate one. Don’t get me wrong, I do love all sweets but I can never pass up sweet ripened fruit-filled desserts.
One of my most adored is the lemon. It’s already made an appearance on the blog this winter in this pull-apart bread. I am making sunshine filled treats to entice spring to hurry up!
These cupcakes were an offering to the weather gods. The cupcake itself is soft and full of vanilla flavor. I topped them with a sweet lemon cream cheese frosting. The vanilla and lemon complement each other perfectly.
The vanilla cupcake recipe is incredibly easy. It contains simple ingredients that you should already have on hand. Butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, buttermilk, flour, baking powder, and salt.
I always use butter in my cupcake recipes because I love the buttery flavor. I think all cake should be buttery!
How to make vanilla cupcake with lemon cream cheese frosting
The process is simple. Mix the wet ingredients, then mix the dry ingredients, and combine the two. You really can’t mess this up. Bake them for about 20 minutes and that’s it. Easy-peasy.
The frosting is just as simple. And it tastes amazing! Cream cheese, butter, lemon curd, and powdered sugar are all blended together to make a light, lemony, and creamy frosting. It’s good enough to eat with a spoon. Or as a dip for fruit. Trust me, it’s amazing.
Frost the cupcakes after they have cooled completely. You can choose your own method for frosting. I used a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. This allowed me to pipe large swirls of frosting onto the cupcakes.
The cupcakes and frosting take around an hour to make and I’m certain it will take you less than that to eat them all. They are wonderful.
Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ⅓ cups (173 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk
For the frosting
- 8 ounces (226 g) cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup (56 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups (360 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- ¼ cup (56 g) lemon curd, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Make the cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Then, beat in the vanilla.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternating with the buttermilk. Begin and end with flour mixture. Mix until well blended.
- Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with a handheld electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy.
- Add the sugar, lemon curd, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low until just incorporated then turn the mixer to high speed and beat for 2 minutes.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided is for convenience and as a courtesy only. It is not guaranteed to be accurate because nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator and input the exact ingredients and brands you used in the recipe.
Lemon stuff totally makes me think spring. It’s just so bright! These cupcakes are beautiful Jen, I love the candied lemon peel on top. So pretty!
Thank you for the compliments, Stacey!
Love vanilla cupcakes and these look super cute! Can’t wait to try the frosting and the candied lemon peel is such a great idea!
The frosting is the best. It can sub a dip for fruit also. I ate it with some sliced apples. AMAZING!
That lemon cream cheese frosting sounds unreal! Love how fresh and summery these look, it’s making me excited to spring.
Thanks, Rachel!
Lemon is so fantastic on these cupcakes! I love fruity desserts too.
Fruity desserts are the best! Thank you so much, Jocelyn.
These cupcakes are gorgeous,, Jen! Fruity desserts are my favorite and I could sure use lots of sunshine over here where it’s been freezing and snowing non-stop haha 🙂 . I love the vanilla and lemon cream cheese combo, they sound delicious and the candied lemon peel is adorable!
I feel you, Kelly. We are supposed to get more snow today also. It’s been a loooong time since I’ve seen a good snow so I sort of appreciate all that we are getting. I just don’t get along with the cold so well.
Holy moly, these cupcakes are just stunning, Jen! These would definitely bring a bit of sunshine into my life,with all the cloudy gloomy days we’ve been having lately…Love the sound of that frosting!
Thank you for the sweet compliments, Sarah!
You can never go wrong with vanilla cupcakes! Love the lemon cream cheese frosting on these cuties. Looks delicious!
Agreed! Thanks so much, Gayle!
I’m with you Jen. I prefer fruity flavored deserts over chocolate any day and lemon is one of my favorites. The frosting on these cupcakes looks so creamy. And that candied lemon peel! How cute is that?
Isn’t fruit so much better! Thanks, Lynn!
I definitely agree that all cakes should be buttery! I’ve been loving lemon desserts lately, they definitely help to forget about the cold weather and snow. Your cupcakes look so incredible, and that candy peel on top is such a great touch. Pinned 🙂
Love vanilla cupcakes and these look super cute! Can’t wait to try the frosting and the candied lemon peel is such a great idea!