Easy Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes Recipe

These delicious Lemon Drizzle cupcakes are so easy to make. They have a soft light sponge bursting with gorgeous zesty lemon flavour, both sweet and sour at the same time. Treat yourself!.

If you love the flavour of lemon, you’ll love this Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes recipe. They are a wonderful variation of the classic Lemon Drizzle Cake. These elegant little citrus-flavoured cupcakes are a perfect treat.

They may look unassuming, but don’t let that fool you. These are sweet, sour, and full of lemon flavour. If you need to dress them up a little bit, you can make them pretty by adding a little icing.

Ingredients for Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes

The ingredients for these cupcakes are probably already in your food cupboard.

• softened butter – I use butter for baking because I love the depth of flavour it gives the finished item. But margarine works just as well, just check that it can be used for baking. ( It should say this on the packaging)
• Caster sugar – this provides sweetness to the cakes. I use caster sugar to ensure a lovely lightness in texture.
• Eggs – incorporate air, give a bit of a lift to the cake and bring everything together.
• Lemon – this recipe uses two lemons. The zest goes into the cake mixture, and the remaining lemon juice is used to make a lemon syrup – the drizzle.
• Plain flour – also known as all-purpose flour in some parts of the world. This is for structure.
• Baking powder – gives ‘lift’ to the mixture as it bakes to give a delicious light cupcake.
• Lemon juice + caster sugar – the lemon juice is mixed with the caster sugar to make a gorgeous drizzle for the cupcakes. A sugary lemon syrup.

Equipment needed to make Cupcakes

You don’t need any special equipment for this cupcake recipe.

You will need;

• a cupcake baking tin – these come with either 6 or 12 cavities. These are generally non-stick these days, but I still use cupcake cases so that they leave the pan safely with no little pieces left behind. Plus, you can find all kinds of pretty designs of cupcake liners which really make the little cakes look special.
  • if you have a silicone baking pan then you probably don’t need the cupcake cases.
  • you can also just grease a standard pan. But cupcake cases make cleaning up easier after your baking session and can look gorgeous.
• Bowls – this goes without saying but you’ll need a mixing bowl to mix the cupcake ingredients in. You’ll also need a bowl to make the drizzle in.
• Measuring equipment – a measuring scale of some kind and a few spoons for measuring out ingredients and mixing.
• grater or zester – you need to be able to zest the lemon, which you can do with a zester or a box grater.
• cooling rack – a place to sit the cupcakes whilst they cool down. They allow a nice flow of air around the little cakes and keep anything too hot off your kitchen work surfaces.
• fork or toothpick -this is for poking small holes in the surface of the cupcakes to allow the lemon glaze to soak down into the cake. A piece of uncooked spaghetti works too.

Making the Cupcakes

This Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes recipe is really simple to make, and the end results are really exciting. Sweet and fresh tasting these are just heavenly little cupcakes. They’re moist and have that sugary top which is so important to a drizzle cake. Wonderful to bite into.

What makes these cupcakes so easy to make is the all-in-one method of making the sponge cake. This means that you’re really just weighing the ingredients into a bowl, mixing them all together, spooning the cake mixture into cupcake tins and baking them. It’s such an easy, stress-free recipe that it’s great to make with children.

Creating the Lemon Drizzle Glaze

While the cupcakes are cooking, prepare the lemon drizzle glaze. Mix fresh lemon juice and caster sugar until the sugar is fully dissolved. This glaze is a simple lemon syrup, which adds an extra layer of zesty sweetness to your cupcakes and makes them wonderfully moist.

Adding the Lemon Drizzle Glaze

Once the cupcakes have cooled slightly, use a fork or toothpick to poke holes into the top of each cupcake. (The cakes will still be in the baking tray at this point.) The holes need to go right to the bottom of the baked cupcake so that the glaze can penetrate through the cake. Drizzle the lemon glaze over the cupcakes, allowing it to seep into the holes and infuse them with lemony goodness.

Not sure you want to poke holes in your freshly baked cakes? Then you can brush the lemon syrup over the top of the cakes with a pastry brush. Whichever method you use, they’ll be gorgeous.

Allow them to sit on the baking tray to cool a little more (ten minutes or so) before removing them from the baking tray and leaving them on the cooling rack to fully cool.

Presenting these understated little cupcakes

Arrange your lemon drizzle cupcakes on a pretty plate, and garnish them with additional lemon zest (optional) for a pop of colour and flavour.

Possible Variations to this Recipe

• For an added twist, why not add a few poppy seeds to the cupcake batter Or you could try our Lemon and Poppyseed muffins recipe
• Experiment with different citrus fruits like oranges or limes for unique flavour variations. You would follow this recipe as it is written and substitute the alternative fruit for the lemon.
• What, no icing! I think these little cupcakes are wonderful enough just as they but I know that folk do love a little icing on their cakes. These are gorgeous, decorated with a simple icing glaze. Mix the icing sugar with a little lemon juice just to add a little more lemon loveliness.

Storing these Cupcakes

Store the cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature. Enjoy them within a few days to experience them at their best.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Do I have to use fresh lemons for these cupcakes?

Fresh lemon juice gives the best flavour, but bottled lemon juice can be used as a substitute. However, you won’t have any lemon zest to add to the cake batter, so although these cupcakes will be lemony, they’ll be less lemony than if you’d used a fresh lemon.

Can I freeze the cupcakes for later?

These cupcakes freeze well. Freeze them in a suitable container and defrost thoroughly before eating. I usually freeze them on a tray and store them in a container so they stay separate and protected from breaking up in the freezer if folks go rummaging around. (Hopefully, your family doesn’t do that)

Why do I need to poke holes in the cupcakes before adding the drizzle glaze?

Poking holes into the cupcakes allows the lemon glaze to penetrate the baked cupcakes, infusing them with moisture and flavour. If you prefer, you could brush the lemon glaze over the cakes instead.

How do I prevent the cupcakes from becoming soggy after adding the glaze?

Add the glaze as the cupcakes come out of the oven. The drizzle glaze will be absorbed without making the cupcakes overly soggy. They’re just moist lemon-soaked sponge cakes.

Want a little more baking inspiration? Take a look at these.

• Easy Vegan Blueberry muffins
• Blueberry Orange Muffins
• Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins
• Cinnamon Apple Muffins with Streusel Topping

Other Lemon Recipes:

• Lemon Chia Pudding
• Lemon Cookies
• Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

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