Lemon Drop Cupcakes
Adorable and delicious Lemon Drop cupcakes with a tiny cocktail (in a cute pipette) on top!
Servings: 24 cupcakes
Calories: 505kcal
Equipment
- 2 Cupcake pans (24 cups total)
- 1 large cookie scoop (optional; to transfer cupcake batter to pans)
- 24 plastic pipettes (I used these martini glass-shaped pipettes)
- Small paring knife
Ingredients
Lemon Drop Cupcakes:
- 1 cup unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 1 Tablespoon lemon extract
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest I recommend fresh (about 1 small lemon), but you can also buy it dried
- 1 small package (3.4 oz) instant lemon pudding mix (just the mix; ignore the package instructions!)
- 1 cup milk (I used whole milk)
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup vodka
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese (one package, softened)
- 1 cup butter (16 tablespoons or two sticks, softened)
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 Tablespoons vodka
- 1 Tablespoon lemon extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter
Lemon Drop pipette filling
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 ounces vodka (2 jiggers/1/3 cup)
- 3 ounces simple syrup (this can be purchased online, or made by adding 1 cup sugar to 1 cup boiling water, stirring to dissolve / cool)
- 24 lemon wedges I used 3 fresh lemons
- White Sugar sprinkles – I used this Wilton brand
Instructions
Lemon Drop Cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (180C), and prepare 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- (Melt and cool butter; you don’t want it to cook your eggs!)
- Combine all dry ingredients except pudding mix in a large bowl, then combine cooled butter, eggs, lemon extract & zest, pudding mix, milk, sour cream, and vodka in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients and stir to combine.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling them about 2/3 full. (Thick batter is normal! Using a large cookie scoop makes this an easy process.)
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until set in the centers and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before decorating. (This is a great time to make your frosting and pipette filling!)
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with vodka and lemon extract until frosting reaches a pipeable consistency. (I recommend making the frosting on the thick side, so that the swirls hold their shape and the pipettes stay put.) Add salt if needed and beat until well combined.
‘Shot Top’ pipette filling
- Combine 2 Tablespoons lemon juice with 3 ounces vodka and 3 ounces of simple syrup in a small glass, and stir to mix well.
Noooow – onto the fun part!! Decorating!
- Transfer frosting to a large piping bag fitted with a star tip (I used a closed star similar to the wilton jumbo 1B). Pipe frosting in large swirls onto your cupcakes, and add a dusting of white sugar sprinkles.
- Squeeze the air out of your pipettes, then submerge the open end into the pipette mix and allow them to fill. Press a pipette into the frosting on each cupcake.
- Slice 24 lemon wedges and press a lemon wedge into the frosting on top of each cupcake.
- Step back, give yourself a high-five, and admire your amazing cupcakes! When they’re ready to be eaten, squeeze the pipette to infuse the cupcake with your Lemon drop mix!
Video
Notes
Please note nutrition information is an estimate and may not be exactly accurate.
Note - a bit of recipe credit! I've modified significantly, but Two Sugar Bugs’ ‘Simply Vanilla Cupcakes’ was the inspiration for this cupcake base! Do yourself a favor and check out Tasia’s site; she is an amazing lady with a beautiful blog!
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 505kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 24g