Lemon Curd Cupcakes
Mar 09, 2015, Updated May 07, 2023
Welcome spring with these Lemon Curd Cupcakes topped with Chocolate Ganache.
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With the clock moving forward by an hour yesterday, spring is almost here, even though I hate losing an hour. But seriously it has been so sunny here that I feel like it’s summers already with temperatures in mid 60s. I love summers [in US of course, they are not fun in India with 115 F degrees!] because other than the amazing weather and lots of sunshine, I love all the delicious fruits and veggies that we get during this time of the year. Yum!
Summers to me mean more of lemons and lemon desserts are one of my favorites. I love the little tartness that lemon imparts to baked goods. Few days back I got hold of some meyer lemons, these lemons taste like lemon of course but they are little sweeter compared to the regular lemons. So while I was thinking of what to do with them, my hubby told me that it was his 7th work anniversary and because last year I made Oreo Cupcakes [which are still the most popular recipe on the blog!] for his special day I thought of doing cupcakes again but this time around with lemons. Actually I just need a reason to bake cupcakes because they are definitely one of my favorite things to bake and decorate. It’s surprising that I haven’t shared a cupcake recipe on my blog for a while but that is going to change with these lemon curd cupcakes and topped with chocolate ganache.
These are basically vanilla cupcakes filled with lemon curd so there’s 3 parts to this recipe – the vanilla cupcakes, lemon curd and chocolate ganache.
Vanilla Cupcakes: these vanilla cupcakes are really super easy to make with the basic ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. If I was not filling these cupcakes with anything, I would have made them more sweeter. So if you are simply making vanilla cupcakes increase the sugar to 3/4 or even 1 cup. But since I was filling these with lemon curd and then topping with chocolate ganache I made the cupcakes less sweet. I thought the overall sweetness of the cupcakes was just perfect.
Lemon Curd: I have used the easiest way to make lemon curd here where you just have to whisk everything together and then cook the mixture till it becomes thick and coats the back of your spoon. Lemon curd thickens around 165 F degrees so if you have a kitchen thermometer you can use that here. I also added some cornstarch to make the lemon curd extra thick since I was going to fill it inside the cupcakes, the thicker the better.
Chocolate Ganache: Since little chocolate never hurts, I topped these cupcakes with some chocolate ganache. There’s a reason why chocolate ganache is my favorite frosting and it is because 1) it is chocolate of course! 2) it is so simple to make! The only thing which you have to be careful about is the ratio of cream to chocolate. Different ratios are suitable for different purposes. For example here, I wanted a thicker ganache to frost on the cupcakes and so I used a chocolate to cream ratio of 2:1. For a spreading consistency ganache, I would have used a 1:1 ratio. Also I would highly suggest using baking chocolate here in place of chocolate chips, it does make a difference.
If you notice, I did use very little chocolate ganache to top these cupcakes. The reason was I really wanted the lemon curd to shine through these cupcakes and so I only added little chocolate. You can definitely double or triple the recipe for ganache to make those really nice swirls on these cupcakes.
Now aren’t you feeling all summery looking at these lemon curd cupcakes? I sure am! 😀
Method
*Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line a 12 count muffin pan with cupcake liners or spray with nonstick spray and set aside.
In a bowl sift together all purpose flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.
In the steel bowl of your stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or using your hand mixer, beat together melted butter and granulated sugar till well combined.
Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and beat for 3-4 minutes till mixture if smooth and well combined.
Start adding flour mix to the wet ingredients alternating with buttermilk starting and ending with flour.
Mix till everything is well combined but do not overmix.
Fill the cupcake liners with the batter till 2/3rd full. Bake at 350 F degrees for 17-20 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
While the cupcakes are baking, start making the lemon curd. In a bowl whisk together lemon zest, lemon juice, cornstarch and granulated sugar.
Add the eggs and whisk till combined.
Transfer the pan to a gas on medium heat.
Add unsalted butter to the pan and keep whisking till butter melts and mixture becomes totally smooth.
After around 10 minutes, the mixture will become really thick and coat the back of your spoon. This happens around 165 F degrees so you can check if you have a kitchen thermometer.
Remove from heat, strain the lemon curd into a bowl and cover with a cling sheet with the sheet touching the surface of the lemon curd so that it doesn’t form a film on top. Refrigerate for few hours.
Once the cupcakes have baked, take them out of the oven and let them cool down completely.
Once cooled, use a cupcake corer if you have one or like me use a sharp knife to core the cupcake from the center.
Fill the cupcakes with lemon curd. Repeat with all the cupcakes.
Once all the cupcakes are filled, set them aside and make the chocolate ganache. Add heavy cream in pan on medium heat. Let the cream heat up a bit but do not boil it. Remove it from heat when you see little bubbles popping up.
Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate. [I used chocolate and not chocolate chips for this recipe, this picture is from another recipe where I had used chocolate chips]. Also add 1/4 teaspoon butter. Butter is optional but it makes the ganache shiny.
Set aside the mixture for 2-3 minutes and then take a spoon and whisk the mixture till chocolate and cream are mixed together completely. Let the ganache cool down, it will become thick as it cools down.
Frost the cupcakes with cooled ganache and enjoy!
* You can make the lemon curd a day in advance. This way you can save a step on the day of making the cupcakes.
* Keep an eye on your cupcakes after 15 minutes, you don’t want to over bake them. Mine were done around 17 minutes.
* You can make your own buttermilk at home by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar/lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and letting it sit for 5-10 minutes. Once you see the milk curdling a bit, it is ready to be used in the recipe.
Lemon Curd Cupcakes
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- 1.5 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted [1 stick]
- ⅔ cup granulated white sugar
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract [use pure vanilla extract]
Lemon curd
- 1.5 teaspoons lemon zest
- ⅔ cup granulated white sugar
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Chocolate ganache
- 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chopped
- 2 oz heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon unsalted butter
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line a 12 count muffin pan with cupcake liners or spray with nonstick spray and set aside.
- In a bowl sift together all purpose flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.
- In the steel bowl of your stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or using your hand mixer, beat together melted butter and granulated sugar till well combined.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and beat for 3-4 minutes till mixture if smooth and well combined.
- Start adding flour mix to the wet ingredients alternating with buttermilk starting and ending with flour.
- Mix till everything is well combined but do not overmix.
- Fill the cupcake liners with the batter till 2/3rd full.
- Bake at 350 F degrees for 17-20 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Lemon curd
- While the cupcakes are baking, start making the lemon curd.
- In a bowl whisk together lemon zest, lemon juice, cornstarch and granulated sugar.
- Add the eggs and whisk till combined.
- Transfer the pan to a gas on medium heat and add unsalted butter to the pan.
- Keep whisking till butter melts and mixture becomes totally smooth.
- After around 10 minutes, the mixture will become really thick and coat the back of your spoon. This happens around 165 F degrees so you can check if you have a kitchen thermometer.
- Remove from heat, strain the lemon curd into a bowl and cover with a cling sheet with the sheet touching the surface of the lemon curd so that it doesn't form a film on top.
- Refrigerate for few hours.
Fill the cupcakes
- Once the cupcakes have baked, take them out of the oven and let them cool down completely.
- Once cooled, use a cupcake corer if you have one or like me use a sharp knife to core the cupcake from the center.
- Fill the cupcakes with lemon curd. Repeat with all the cupcakes.
Frost with chocolate ganache
- Once all the cupcakes are filled, set them aside and make the chocolate ganache.
- Add heavy cream in pan on medium heat. Let the cream heat up a bit but do not boil it. Remove it from heat when you see little bubble popping up.
- Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate. Also add 1/4 teaspoon butter [optional]
- Set aside the mixture for 2-3 minutes and then take a spoon and whisk the mixture till chocolate and cream are mixed together completely.
- Let the ganache cool down, it will become thick as it cools down.
- Frost the cupcakes with cooled ganache and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Lemon Curd Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache
These cupcakes are lovely. Must try them out sometime.
Let me know if you try these! Thank you! 🙂
thanks so much for this recipe. It’s reminiscent of the cupcakes my mother made. I have a little question as I purchased the same baking cups this morning. Do I need to spray them? Do they peel easily?
Hello Janice! You are so very welcome, I am happy to know that the cupcakes remind you of your mom, that’s so sweet 🙂 Did you purchase the cupcakes from here http://www.simplybaked.us/ because my cupcakes liners are from this website and yes you don’t need to spray them. They are fabulous and nothing sticks to them! Hope that helps 🙂
Thanks Rachelle! 🙂 Aren’t the liners super cute?!
Yay for the weather warming up! 🙂 Thanks Mira!
Oh wow I bet all those curd tasted wonderful! I can’t wait to try! Thanks Sarah!
Thank you Sarah! Lemon curd surprise was the best part about these cupcakes! 🙂
I look forward to your cupcakes Stacey 🙂 Thank you!
Thanks Annie! Chocolate ganache is so good!
Thanks Medha! I adore these cupcake liners, so pretty!
Thanks Kelly! Yes, bring on the sunshine! 😀
Thank you Savita! 🙂
Thanks Jen! 🙂 Lemons are wonderful, isn’t it?
You can have all 12 🙂