Sunday, March 25, 2012

limoncello cupcakes

Don't these just look absolutely dreamy???




trust me... they are!!!




lemon cupcakes with lemon curd filling and lemon buttercream

I'll repeat: lemon love, love lemon, lemon, lemon, lemon, love, love, love :)





Limoncello Cupcakes

cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick butter
2 oz cream cheese
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoons limoncello
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup lemon juice
zest of one lemon

Beat softened butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Add the limoncello and beat until well mixed. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Alternately add flour and buttermilk to butter mixture. Mix in the lemon juice and lemon zest just until combined. Pour into prepared cupcake pans (it made 18 cupcakes for me) and bake at 325 for about 17 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

lemon curd filling:
1/2 cup lemon juice
zest of two lemons
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk


Mix lemon juice, lemon zest, and sugar of medium heat until boiling. Whisk egg and egg yolk. Whisk lemon mixture into eggs off the heat (to temper). Add all back to sauce pan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened. Cool completely.


Use a melon baller to scoop a hole into tops of cooled cupcakes. Fill with cooled lemon curd.

lemon buttercream icing:
1/2 stick butter
6 oz cream cheese
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons limoncello


Beat butter and cream cheese. Add limoncello and beat until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar until desired icing consistency is obtained. Ice filled cupcakes. Garnish with lemon slices.







They are so pretty and so yummy! Especially to someone who enjoys lemon as much as I do!
A perfect summer treat!
 (and even though it's only March, since the weather has been between 70 - 85, I'm in full summer mode)

Recipe origionally found here (I adapted the buttercream to my taste)


59 comments:

  1. Found this via Pinterest....my mouth is watering now!!!!

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  2. I'm going to make these this weekend but instead of garnishing with lemon slices, I'm going to garnish with candied violets.

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  3. I have to say....this really caught my eye and stomach! I am definitely going to try them and love your photos

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  4. wow what a beautiful blog- your photography is amazing! cupcakes look divine

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  5. I really want to make these for a baby shower, but obviously don't want to use limoncello. What would be a good substitute?

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    Replies
    1. I would substitute the limoncello with lemon juice to maintain the lemon flavor!

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  6. What is limoncello? Never heard of it.

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  7. I fell in love with Limoncello on a trip to Italy -- we were served it after lunch at a little mozzarella farm that also made the liquor. Our liquor store now is also featuring Peachcello, imported from Italy. Absolutely tastes like fresh peaches! Just be sure to keep both liquors in the freezer. Nummy!

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    Replies
    1. How do you freeze the liquors?

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    2. You don't have to do anything special, just place the bottle in the freezer and make sure the cap is securely on.

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  8. Yum! Now I need to hunt down some lemoncello.

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  9. I love lemon cake and lemon curd...these look amazing! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I plan to make these soon

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  10. Mmmm I've been looking for more ways to use a huge batch of limoncello that I made several months ago! I like the idea of making and using some candied lemon peel as the garnish instead of the fresh lemon slice. And more zest in the frosting!

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  11. I made these today and they are delicious! I garnished them with candies lemon slices :)

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    Replies
    1. I'm so glad you tried them! Candied lemon slices sounds like the perfect garnish!

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  12. could I make this into a cake instead?

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  13. I am a chocolate lover but my husband is a lemon lover so I love to cook for him those cupcakes looks amazing I will try them next weekend and see .

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  14. In the limoncello cupcake instructions there is no mention of when to add the 1 TB of limoncello. I'm guessing at the same time as the lemon juice?

    The batter tastes soooo lemony...can't wait to try them (they are in the oven now). Are they suppose to rise a bit? Mine are still at the same level as when I poured the batter....kinda flat :-(

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    1. Yes, add the limoncello with the lemon juice. They should rise, but the consistency of the cupcake is more like that of a pound cake so they will not rise a whole ton. I usually fill these a little fuller than my other cupcake recipes.

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  15. Can't wait to try these! They look totally delicious!

    Two questions though...do they need to be refrigerated? And is there something I could sub for the liquor, like add a little more lemon juice?

    Thanks so much!

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    1. Yes, I keep them in the fridge & yes, more lemon juice in place of the liquor!

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  16. I highlighted your recipe on my blog today. Thank you. http://scrapbookalphabet.blogspot.com/2012/07/tuesdays-guest-freebies-grands-9.html

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  17. I made these today to use up some leftover buttercream frosting from another cupcake recipe and they were delicious! I just wanted something simple so I didn't even add the limoncello or do the filling, but they still turned out way better than the ones I made earlier from another recipe. Just wish I had made these first for my guests!

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  18. These were so good!

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  19. lemon buttercream, I am speechless! This looks so perfect and so adorable with that piece of lemon on top!

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  20. Made these today and was very disappointed! The frosting was the only fairly good thing about this whole recipe!

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  21. I made these today and they are amazing!! The cupcakes had a different texture than the usual cupcake (probably something I did wrong), but the taste was divine! The lemon curd was superb, very tart, but it complemented the cupcake and icing well. I added a couple of extra tablespoons of homemade :-) limoncello to my icing, and what was left of my lemon curd was added into the icing also! These were awesome! My icing skills were below par (first timer here!), but it was the perfect amount of lemon! Thanks so much! Oh! And the lemon slice was the perfect finishing touch!

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  22. How many cupcakes does this recipe make?

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  23. These look REALLY good. I will have to give them a try.
    I love all things lemon

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  24. http://m.facebook.com/pages/Babycakes/210396379097599?id=210396379097599&_rdr#!/photo.php?fbid=211581652312405&id=210396379097599&set=a.211581628979074.56636.210396379097599&%24MURI__user=0

    Recommend you take a look. I'm all for sharing recipes, but draw a line at someone using other peoples pics on there site and claiming they made them.

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  25. I made this frosting for birthday cupcakes for a child so didn't want to add the lemoncello. I just substituted 1 1/2 tsp vanilla and the frosting was the best buttercream frosting I've ever made... The consistency was perfect for piping... Would have been wonderful on a cake as well. Frosted 24 cupcakes

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  26. when you state 1/2 a stick of room temperature butter and NOT 1/2 cup of butter, correct?

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  27. sorry, I meant to say.." you mean 4 TBSP and not 1/2 cup, right? And it is rm temp?

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  28. Hi Abby! I was wondering if you have any tricks for keeping your lemon/limoncello buttercream from curdling?

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  29. Fell in love with these when I saw them. Finally made them today and was somewhat disappointed.....the cupcakes didn't rise (even used fresh baking powder). There was nothing to scoop out because they were so flat, so I skipped that step and didn't make the lemon curd filling. The cupcake itself has a wonderful taste, but I wish the batter wasn't so heavy. May have to find a different lemon cupcake recipe, but the frosting's a keeper.

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  30. I loooooove lemon desserts! This looks dreamy. Pinning it now!

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  31. i baked at 325 as directd they did not brown on top or sides but are cooked is that ok

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  32. just put it all together, lemon curd made with home grown meyer lemons from my sister greenhouse
    limoncello also home made.
    All is good except color of baked cup cake , I cooked 15 min longer to brown a bit but was afraid of drying out cup cake

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  33. Oh my!
    I cannot wait to make these!!!!

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  34. Can you use something else besides the limoncello . I don't buy liquor

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    Replies
    1. Yes! Just use lemon juice instead. Use the same about as it says for the limoncello.

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  35. Easter is on the way, this would make a perfect dessert displayed on a cupcake tower in the middle of the table. Especially for all my girls, we all LOVE lemon a lot. I plan to try this with other fruit liquors, like peach,grapefruit,pomegrannet, red plumb and maybe strawberry. with homemade and store bought cellos. Candied fruit as a garnish would be perfect Thank you.

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  36. If I wanted to use this recipe as a cake instead of cupcake, would I do anything different? baking time?

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  37. So, a bit disappointed in the texture of the cupcakes, kinda dense like a pound cake maybe. The curd was furious tart and was a predominant taste, even with the sweet buttercream it was overpowering. That said, they looked exactly as the photo and are beautiful. I enjoyed the buttercream very much. I would not make these again as written. A less tart curd for sure and I prefer a more cake like texture. Perhaps it's just me. :/ Nancy

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    1. Hi Nancy, yes these were very dense but we liked that because it seemed to cut the sweetness of the frosting which was very rich. A hit for us!

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  38. We were served Limoncello after a meal in Greece. Now we own a bottle, LOL. These cupcakes would be a great way to use a teeny bit up. They sure look great.

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  39. Oh my goodness....these are AMAZING! A dear friend surprised me last night with these for my birthday celebration. She was very clever, looked at my board and chose these gems. Everyone loved them!!!

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  40. Could someone please tell me the weight of the butter. We do not have 'sticks' in Australia and I am dying to make these.

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  41. Could someone please tell me the weight of the butter. We do not have 'sticks' in Australia and I am dying to make these.

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  42. Could someone please tell me the weight of the butter. We do not have 'sticks' in Australia and I am dying to make these.

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    1. Im in Brisbane and had to find this answer too. Google is te best. 1 stick of butter is 1/2 cup.

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