Also try my lemon blueberry cake!
We have lemon cupcakes with blackberry cream cheese frosting on today’s menu. These cupcakes are all sorts of flavorful with a giant dose of naturally colored (yay!) and naturally flavored (yay again!) blackberry frosting. They’re your dessert answer for everything coming up:
- Literally any springtime celebration = these cupcakes.
- Lilac/lavendar wedding color scheme? Done.
- Bridal shower? Obviously.
- Baby shower? This is your dessert, totally gender neutral.
- Mother’s Day or Father’s Day celebration? Parent approved.
- No reason at all? Do you even need a reason to make cupcakes?
In terms of flavors, they remind me of my lemon berry yogurt cake and citrus cake.
This is my basic recipe for lemon cupcakes, which I also use for raspberry lemon cupcakes. They’re soft and fluffy with bright and sunny lemon flavor. I published the recipe 4 years ago and they’ve never steered us wrong! The recipe is actually my most popular cake recipe on my blog: lemon blueberry cake… only reduced to make cupcakes. So if you’ve tried the lemon blueberry layer cake recipe, you know the cupcake version is a winner too.
There’s nothing crazy or fancy about the batter. Simply creamed butter + sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, milk, and lemon. The usual gang! The batter is creamy, silky, and has the most unbelievable fresh lemon fragrance. You’ll fall in love even before you steal the first taste.
Remember to only fill your cupcake liners 2/3 full—just like you see above.
Grab fresh blackberries, puree them in a food processor (I use my little ninja!), then push through a fine mesh strainer to rid the seeds. You’re left with thick and seedless blackberry juice, which will go directly into the frosting. I suppose a blackberry jam works just as well, though the flavor may not be as potent.
(Don’t you just want to swipe a taste with your finger???)
I don’t suggest doing this method with any other berry—though raspberries *should* be fine. Strawberries and blueberries produce a juice that’s much too thin for cream cheese frosting. You know what to do instead? Freeze-dried berries. You know I swear by freeze-dried berries for this strawberry buttercream frosting.
#1 Issue with Cream Cheese Frosting
This is a cream cheese frosting variation so make sure you’re using brick cream cheese, not cream cheese spread. That’s the #1 issue readers face when making cream cheese frosting. You want the actual brick of cream cheese, sold right next to the tubs of cream cheese spread.
The blackberry flavor in this frosting is mild, but you’ll know it’s there. The blackberry cream cheese frosting is a little thinner than we’re used to because of the added juice, but I was still able to pipe it with my #12 round tip. I actually loved how light it was, especially paired with an equally light lemon cupcake. The frosting is also super soft and just as creamy as you see in the photo above.
This is, without a doubt, my new favorite cream cheese frosting. I’m already planning on using it as an alternate filling in this strawberries and cream cake roll and urge you to try that too! Also, doesn’t looking at the purple color instantly put you in a better mood? Experience it all ASAP. ↓
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Lemon Cupcakes with Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 12 cupcakes
- Category: Cupcakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These lemon cupcakes are soft, fluffy, and exploding with lemon flavor. Topped with fresh blackberry cream cheese frosting for the ultimate treat!
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk*
- zest + fresh juice of two medium lemons*
Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup fresh blackberries, divided*
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 cups (360g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- Make the cupcakes: Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the eggs and vanilla, then beat on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients until just incorporated. With the mixer still running on low, slowly pour in the milk, lemon juice, and zest until combined. Do not overmix. You may need to whisk it all by hand to make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be slightly thick.
- Pour/spoon the batter into the liners – fill only 2/3 full to avoid spilling over the sides. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. For around 30 mini cupcakes, bake for about 11-13 minutes, same oven temperature. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
- Make the frosting: Puree 1/2 cup – 2/3 cup blackberries in a small food processor. Push through a fine mesh strainer to rid the seeds. You’ll have a couple Tablespoons of puree.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, blackberry puree, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes.
- Frost cooled cupcakes. I used Wilton #12 round tip. Garnish with remaining berries.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. Plain cupcakes can be made ahead 1 day in advance, covered, and stored at room temperature. Frosting can also be made 1 day in advance, covered, and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use. Frosted or unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-cup Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Food Processor or Blender | Wilton #12 Round Decorating Tip | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable)
- Milk: I suggest whole milk or buttermilk. Any milk is fine, but you’ll get the most wonderful moist, soft, and rich texture with either of those 2.
- Lemons: About 1 and 1/2 Tbsp zest and 1/4 – 1/3 cup lemon juice.
- Blackberries: I don’t suggest using frozen blackberries, nor do I suggest any other berry. Raspberries *might* work, but strawberry and blueberry puree will be much too thin. Instead, use freeze-dried strawberries or blueberries like we do in strawberry buttercream frosting.
Keywords: lemon blackberry cupcakes
Hi there, I’m looking for advice on converting these from cupcakes to a layer cake. I know you said the cupcake recipe is based on your Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake recipe, but I noticed some differences between the recipes (other than just doubling the 1 dozen cupcake recipe to yield one 8-inch layer cake, and excluding the blueberries of course). Specifically, the cupcakes have more baking powder, salt, lemon juice, and zest. They also have only white sugar, instead of a combination of white and brown. Can you help me figure out which recipe to use? Also what do you recommend as far as adjusting the frosting (1.5x?)? Thanks!
The recipes are indeed different– the cupcakes definitely have more lemon flavor. I like to use brown sugar in the cake because a cake that large can easily dry out (and it helps keep it a little moist). You can double this recipe to make a layer cake, however, you would likely have to adjust the baking powder and add some baking soda because 4 teaspoons of baking powder may leave an aftertaste. I recommend making the lemon blueberry layer cake instead. For this frosting, 1.5x the amount would be enough.
I made these recently, took the to the hospital where I work, and was told they were fabulous!!! I do have a question about the flour. I’ve made several variations now of Sally’s vanilla cupcake made with cake flour, so I was surprised this lemon one is made with all purpose flour. They definitely were a little denser, but still the flavor was fabulous. Just curious if cake flour would work?? Thanks!
★★★★★
I was thinking the same thing about cake flour! I may try them with cake flour then.
Hi Sally,
I totally love your recipes, thank you!
I would like to make these lemon cupcakes with buttermilk rather than the whole milk but there is no mention of baking soda.
Is this needed and how much would I use?
Thank you so much.
Hi Simone, You can use the same amount of buttermilk with no other changes to the recipe.
Hi Stephanie,
Thank you so much for letting me know…can’t wait to bake them:)
Made these cupcakes with the strawberry buttercream elsewhere on this site. Put a strawberry compote in it as well. The cupcake was light and fluffy and delicious.
★★★★★
Good evening!
Firet of all Love your site and receipes. 🙂
In the receipe its: 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
I want to make these cupcakes but when i scoop and level the flour in the cups and weigh it after on the scale its way more than 188grams.. 1 cup already weighs 180
Are u sure its 188 in grams?
Hi Desiree! Yes, the gram measurements are correct. One cup all purpose flour weights 125g. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this blog post!
Thanks a lot!!
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These cupcakes were SO GOOD!! Although they took a little bit of time to make, everything was perfect in the end. The texture and flavor were both spot-on. I felt like a chef making them!
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I’m in the middle of making these right now. Cupcakes came out beautifully and I was about to star on the frosting. Curious if you’ve ever tried cooking the blackberry purée down to make it more concentrated before adding it to the frosting?
Hi Bonnie, we haven’t but a few readers have and reported success. Let us know if you give it a try!
Hi Sally, thanks for the recipe. It turned out great except that it’s too sweet for me. Is it possible to reduce sugar in the cupcake batter without affecting the texture?
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Hi Milica! Sugar does play a large role beyond taste, and reducing it will impact the taste and texture of it as well. We’re unsure how much you could reduce before you’d start to notice a change. If you do decide to try, we’d love to know how it goes for you.
Great Recipe! Moist cupcake with a Rich Blackberry Frosting. Sally, You are one of my favorite bakers. I always make my own slight adjustments to my husbands tastes. Your recipes are uncomplicated with easy to follow.
★★★★★
Sally: [clearly states] “strawberry purée produces a juice much too thin for this dressing”.
Me: “Nah!” [produces a frosting that looks like soup].
Next time, I will follow your instructions! But the cupcakes are delicious. : )
Haha
Stars are for the cupcake.
At first I had the same issues with frosting–on the runny side and more subtle flavor than I hoped for, but I had only used one Tablespoon of the strained blackberries to mitigate runniness. So I added a little more sugar to stiffen. I had some lemon curd on hand and added about one T, which kicked up the flavor a lot and brought out the blackberry flavor more. Then I noticed that there was still soft pulp in my strainer, so I restrained that in a less fine mesh. I got only soft pulp through (almost a T), no seeds, and I added that to icing–more flavor without thinning it. I felt like it was a lot of tinkering, but it was tasty and a nice complement to the cupcake.
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Thanks so much for the yummy recipe. I made these and while they were delicious, I was not happy with the icing which was gluey and heavy. Don’t know what I did, but I think I’ll leave the vpcfeam cheese out next time and go with a whipping cream type. Again, thanks!
Amazing flavor. But the frosting is too thin. doesn’t stay even if i added 1 cup of icing sugar. I live in Canada, probably the reason but any suggestion what can be used to make it thicker.
Hi Chantal, we’re you able to use a full-fat cream cheese block? Cream cheese spread or a lower fat block can result in much thinner frosting. As you mention, a little extra confectioners’ sugar can help thicken it up a bit, but the full fat cream cheese will be key here. Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try!
This is amazing
★★★★★
Hi! I love your website and it’s my go-to for a lot of my baking 🙂 I want to make these for my mom’s birthday tomorrow and I have a few questions.
1) I want to be able to pipe decorations without making the frosting too sweet. Will cornstarch thicken it (and if so how much)? or is there something else (and amount of it) I should use instead?
2) Do I need to make any adjustments to the batter for mini cupcakes?
Thank you!
Hi Preksha, For around 30 mini cupcakes, you do not need to make any adjustments to the recipe. Bake for about 11-13 minutes, same oven temperature. Because of the both the cream cheese and the blackberry juice, this frosting won’t hold an intricate shape when piped. We were able to use a round tip as shown in the photos above, but even after refrigerating it’s not likely to hold piped decorations. We don’t recommend adding corn starch. If you can find freeze dried raspberries you can grind them to a powder and use them the same way we use strawberries in this strawberry frosting.
Hi there Sally! Was just curious if you think this frosting recipe would work if I switched the blackberries for Raspberries? Thank you so much! I’m such a huge fan!
Hi Dayna, raspberries *might* work, but instead, you can use freeze-dried raspberries similar to what we do in this frosting. Let us know what you try!
I was so excited to make these but they didn’t come out that well. The bottoms were ultra brown because I had to keep them in longer because the top was not finished. They broke apart when I took the muffin cups off. I followed the directions and even watched the videos on measuring. I did let the butter sit out to room temperature ( overnight) but was wondering if my room temp is too cold. That is the only thing I can think. I will try again. I didn’t frost them and I know my husband will still eat them but I’m really disappointed. I will try again. Any suggestions? BTW, I did use whole milk and my baking powder is brand new. New muffin pans, an oven thermometer, too. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.
Hi Lauren, If you left your butter out overnight I wonder if it was actually too warm. Room temperature butter should still feel cool to the touch, which is usually after it sits out for about 1-2 hours. Here is more information on Room Temperature Butter that I think you will find helpful. Also make sure your oven rack is in the center of the oven – if the bottoms are baking before the top move your oven rack up a bit, or you can even place a cookie sheet under the cupcake pan to help the bottoms not burn. I hope this helps!
This our family’s new favorite. Even my non-dessert eating husband at a whole cupcake and commented on how delicious they were. The slightly dense cupcake with the tangy lemon was everything I love about cupcakes. I found the icing consistency just fine, although initially I was concerned that it might be too thin. I even just used a baggie to “pipe” on the frosting and it turned out beautifully. I used large cupcake liners, so that may have helped the icing stay put. Thanks for another great recipe!
★★★★★
Hi Sally!!
So, my plan is to make a 4” round 3-layer cake. It would be lemon cake, and I was hoping to use this blackberry frosting. Would I need to double this frosting recipe in order to do a full crumb coat plus a nice coat?
Thank you!
Hi Lauren, we recommend doubling the frosting just to make sure you’ll have enough. Happy baking!
Hi there! I have made this recipe like 3 or 4 times and I’ve only just started baking this often! I love all of your recipes! They are the BEST and EASIEST to follow for a brand new baker! I was wanting to make this for my girlfriend’s mom for her birthday and wanted to know if this recipe can be made into a 6-inch tiered cake? Please let me know! I would LOVE to try baking a cake (seeing as my go to right know is cupcakes and I love doing those!) just want to try my hand at a cake!
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Hi Sally, I have got great results with your cake recipes and was so glad you had a recipe for lemon cake. However, my cake became a little dense, it shrunk considerably from the sides of the tin and the top was a little sticky although the toothpick inserted inside came out clean. (BTW, I used this recipe for 2 small cakes – didn’t want a layer cake).
I can think of the below as the probable “problem causers”. What do you think?
1. I kept the butter out too long. It’s pretty hot in India now and the butter was too soft?
2. I creamed the sugar and butter for more than 2 minutes (read about this in your problem solving post). The sugar crystals i used are pretty big.
3. Was a little doubtful but I added the milk and lemon juice after adding the dry ingregients? Used the mixer just until combined both times. Was wondering if I should have added the milk and juice before adding the flour (used cale flour) and just folding in the flour.
Baking relaxes me but when things don’t work out despite keen attention, it’s very depressing.
Your suggestions are much appreciated.
Hi Amoolya, What size pans were you using for your cakes? This recipe (actually, any cupcake recipe yielding 12-16 cupcakes) converts beautifully into 3 6-inch cake pans. We recommend you follow the baking instructions for these 6 inch cake recipes. If you used 6 inch pans but only divided the batter into 2 parts instead of 3, it may have been too heavy to rise properly. You can also see all of our tips on how to prevent a dense cake for more troubleshooting help.
Your blog is my go-to for everything and this has been my favorite recipe of yours I’ve ever made!! So flavorful, can’t wait to make again!!!
★★★★★
Do you think you could make these into lemon lavender cupcakes? Maybe add lavender to the milk? I’m looking for a lemon lavender cupcake recipe.
Hi Patricia, Yes infusing the milk with dried culinary lavender would be so delicious! You can see which lavender Sally uses and how she infuses the milk in this Blackberry Lavender Cake. Let us know if you try it!
Thought this would be an amazing recipe and the flavour of the cupcakes are amazing; however they were big and fluffy in the oven only to shrink as they cooled and the icing was supper runny and it made far more than one batch of cupcakes could ever use – and I love icing! Sadly this is not a recipe I will make again. 🙁
Hi JM, Thank you for trying this recipe. Are your baking soda and baking powder fresh? I always replace mine after 3 months because they begin to lose strength quickly after that. The cupcakes will rise then quickly sink if there is a problem with the leaveners. For the frosting, be sure you are using full fat block cream cheese (not the spreadable kind sold in a tub) and you can add less of the berry puree (or even reduce it down on the stove if it’s very thin) if you wish to try it again.
Very nice cupcakes! Frosting worked out great, taste was amazing! Thanks so much for the awesome recipe!
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Can I use heavy cream instead of milk in the recipe for the cupcakes?
Hi Bobby, I don’t recommend it. Heavy cream is too thick for the cupcake batter.
I was really excited about this recipe because it’s blackberry season and I had just picked a bunch of fresh blackberries!! But I had very mixed feelings about this one. The lemon cupcakes themselves turned out great-the icing was the issue. I should have listened to the comments-it was really runny, and on top of that I couldn’t taste the blackberry flavor (just cream cheese). I made sure to only add 2 TBSP after reading the comments, but it was still too runny, and I added an extra 300g confectioners sugar to try and stiffen it up. It might be my cream cheese (living in Europe) but I think either way, I will go with a buttercream next time so that I don’t lose all my yummy blackberry flavor. To enhance the flavor on these, I added a bit more of the purée that I had left over and marbled it with the icing, and then I added an extra blackberry on top. I would make the lemon cakes again, but would not recommend the icing.
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Hi Sally! If you were using the blackberry frosting for eclair filling would you add more blackberry flavor?
Hi Andrew, This is delicious in eclairs! You can start with 2/3 cups of blackberries and taste your frosting. If you would like more flavor feel free to add more, just keep in mind the more liquid you add the thinner the frosting becomes.
Hi Sally!
First time making one of your recipes and it turned out amazing. The lemon cake was outstanding. When I strained the blackberries they made sooo much juice – but I only used a couple tablespoons as you mentioned. I had no problems with consistency of the frosting at room temperature. If I had added all of the juice, it would have made it runny. Saving this one! Thank you 🙂
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I made these for a small Fourth of July picnic we hosted. Thank goodness I doubled the recipe! These are AMAZING!!! They were such a hit and a new favorite. You instructions were so easy to follow. Thank you for posting these cupcakes.
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Hi Sally! Just made them this morning and it ties choc/choc for my favorite cupcake ever! However, I’m having the same thinness issue, but we decided to just glaze them and skip piping. I hope you’re having a lovely Mother’s Day and not seeing this until another day! Thank you as always for the blog we LOVE to visit and share!