Description
Celebrating citrus season with blood orange lemon cupcakes filled with tangy lemon curd and topped with blood orange frosting!
Ingredients
Lemon Curd
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 6 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup sugar
- pinch of salt
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Cupcakes
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 Tbsp blood orange zest
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt, at room temperature
Blood Orange Frosting
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup blood orange juice, strained
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- For the curd, whisk together lemon zest, juice, sugar, salt, and eggs in a heavy saucepan. Cook over moderately low heat, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened. Add butter a few pieces at a time, whisking constantly until melted, before adding more butter. Continue until curd is smooth and thickened, and coats the back of a spoon (about 5 minutes total).
- Strain curd through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Press a piece of plastic directly on the surface, and chill until cold – at least one hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line two 12-cup standard muffin pans with baking cups.
- Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in a large mixer bowl at medium speed until light and fluffy; beat in Blood orange zest, lemon zest, and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined. Combine buttermilk and Greek yogurt in a small bowl. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk mixture (begin and end with flour mixture).
- Use a medium cookie scoop coated with nonstick spray to fill each baking cup 2/3 full of batter.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until cupcakes spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool in pans on wire racks for 2 minutes before removing from pans to cool completely.
- For the frosting, beat butter and salt in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Mix in powdered sugar on low speed 1 cup at a time until incorporated, scraping down bowl as needed. Add Blood orange juice and lemon juice and mix in on low speed until smooth. Increase speed to medium-high and beat frosting for 1 minute, until light and airy.
- To fill the cupcakes, use a small paring knife to cut a small cone out of the center of each cupcake. Fill each cupcake with a spoonful of lemon curd.
- Transfer frosting to a large piping bag fitted with a large star tip and decorate cupcakes. Chill 20 minutes before serving.
- Store leftover cupcakes covered in the refrigerator up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Notes
Cake Flour Substitute: For every cup of flour called for in a recipe, place 2 tablespoons cornstarch in an empty 1-cup measure, then top up with flour. Sift the mixture several times to evenly distribute the cornstarch and use as a substitute for 1 cup cake flour.
Make Ahead: Lemon curd can be made 1-2 days ahead and chilled before using.