Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

A golden lemon blueberry cupcake with a creamy swirl of lavender blueberry frosting and lemon glaze drizzle.

5 from 3 votes

These Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes are soft and fluffy clouds that are the perfect marriage of sweet and tart. The cake of these beauties contains both lemon juice and zest, the middles are filled with a luscious blueberry curd and the frosting is a stunning blueberry buttercream. If that wasn't enough, these eggless cupcakes are then drizzled with a beautiful lemon glaze. Best yet, they're also gluten free, nut free and can easily be vegan!

Prep Time45

Cook Time24

Assembly Time20

Total Time1 29

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings: cupcakes

Calories: 409kcal

Author: Lee

Ingredients

For the Blueberry Curd

½ cup granulated sugar
2 rounded tablespoons cornstarch
1 pinch kosher salt
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons orange juice, no pulp (store bought is fine)
1 ½ cups frozen wild blueberries
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or vegan baking stick
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Lemon Cupcakes

1 ¼ cups multipurpose gluten free flour (I use Cup4Cup gluten free multipurpose flour which contains xanthan gum)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
4 rounded tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 6 tablespoons water
½ cup sour cream , full fat
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice (from about 1 medium lemon)
1 tablespoon lemon zest (from about 2 medium lemons)
½ cup milk

For the Blueberry Frosting

½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, room temperature
4 cups confectioners' sugar
4 tablespoons blueberry curd
2 tablespoons water , room temperature

For the Lemon Drizzle

½ cup confectioners' sugar
½ tablespoon lemon juice (from about ½ a medium lemon)
½ tablespoon water , room temperature
½ teaspoon lemon zest (from about 1 medium lemon)
2 pinches turmeric (optional for color)

Instructions

Zest and Juice the Lemons

Wash and dry all 3 lemons. Take a zester and zest 2 lemons. You should have 1.5 tablespoons lemon zest. If not, zest another lemon.
Put the zest in a little bowl and cover with plastic wrap so it doesn't get crunchy. Set aside.
Take 2 lemons, cut them in half and juice 1.5 of them. There should be about 2.5 tablespoons of juice. If there isn't enough, juice the remaining half of lemon.
Make sure to remove any seeds if they get in the juice. Set aside.

Make the Blueberry Curd

In a medium saucepan whisk together the ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 rounded tablespoons cornstarch and the 1 pinch kosher salt.
Add in the 1 cup milk and 3 tablespoons orange juice. Whisk until everything is combined. It may take a minute for the cornstarch to be blended in.
Add in the 1.5 cups frozen wild blueberries and cook everything over medium heat, stirring frequently and mashing the blueberries with the whisk. Cook until the mixture begins to bubble and becomes thick like pudding. About 4-6 minutes. It may start to appear curdled. Keep whisking.
Once bubbling, cook for one more minute.
Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the 2 tablespoons butter and ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract. It should no longer appear curdled.
Place a mesh colander over a heat proof bowl and pour the curd through the colander to strain it, pushing down on the blueberry chunks. The curd will now be silky smooth but liquidy.
Let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes then chill in fridge for at least 30 additional minutes to an hour or until thick like pudding.

Make the Lemon Cupcakes

In a large bowl, whisk together the 1 ¼ cups multipurpose gluten free flour and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Once combined, whisk in the 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, using a spoon, mix together the 4 rounded tablespoons of cornstarch (52 grams) with 6 tablespoons of water until thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first.
In a large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the ½ cup unsalted butter and 1 cup granulated sugar until it is soft and creamy. About 1-2 minutes.
Slowly beat the cornstarch water mixture into the creamed butter and sugar.
With the mixer still on low speed, mix in the ½ cup sour cream, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 1 tablespoon lemon zest. The mixture will look pale yellow chunky. That's normal.
Slowly mix in the gluten free flour mixture a little at a time until all combined.
Slowly pour the ½ cup milk into the batter while the mixture is on low speed. Mix until just combined.
Once it is combined, turn off the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl. You don’t want to over mix this. Just make sure everything is fully combined. The batter will be thin at first but it will thicken.
Use an ice cream scoop to fill the cupcake tins ¾ way to the top. Smooth the tops with a small knife. There should be enough batter for 16 cupcakes.
You do not want to overfill the cupcakes. This will result in them spill out of the top and not baking evenly inside.
Bake the cupcakes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 24 minutes or until the tops of the cupcakes are golden brown, spring back at you when carefully touched or when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let the cupcakes cool almost completely in the pan before trying to remove them.

Make the Blueberry Frosting

While the cupcakes are baking, make the frosting:
In the large bowl of an electric mixer or using a hand held mixer, beat the ½ cup unsalted butter until smooth and creamy. About 2 minutes.
With the mixer on very low speed, slowly add in the 4 cups confectioners' sugar and 4 tablespoons blueberry curd. Beat until combined.
While the mixer is on, slowly add in the 2 tablespoons water a little at a time until you get the desired consistency. You may not need to use all the water. You want the frosting to be soft enough to pipe yet still be able to hold its shape.

Assemble the Cupcakes

Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, we are going to make the holes for the curd filling.
If you have piping bags with tips, you can use that to make the holes.
If not, using a clean thumb, simply push down in the center of the cupcakes but not all the way to the bottom.
Fill the hole with the blueberry curd, all the way to the top.
Easiest way to do this is to fill a piping bag with a tip with curd and pipe it in. If you don’t have a piping bag, fill a zip top bag with pudding and snip a small piece of the corner off.
After they’re filled with curd, pop the cupcakes uncovered in the fridge for at least 15 min.
This is to make the curd a bit more solid. You don’t want it oozing everywhere as you try to frost.
Take the cupcakes out of the fridge. If you have piping bags, pipe the blueberry frosting on top of each cupcake.
If you don’t have piping bags, put a thin layer of frosting on top of each cupcake.
If you frosted the cupcakes by hand, pop the cupcakes in the fridge for 15 minutes to let that thin layer harden.

Make the Lemon Drizzle

Combine all the glaze ingredients (½ cup confectioners' sugar, ½ tablespoon water, ½ tablespoon lemon juice, ½ teaspoon lemon zest and 2 pinches of turmeric) in a small bowl and whisk until combined and smooth.
The turmeric is to make the drizzle yellow. Feel free to omit it.
Drizzle the lemon glaze on top of the blueberry buttercream frosting. Let the glaze harden prior to serving. Top with lemon zest or even drizzle some extra blueberry curd on top if desired!

Video

Notes

Vegan: Use a dairy-free gluten free flour, vegan sugar, vegan baking sticks, non-dairy milk and vegan sour cream.

Gluten Free Flour- If you also have nut allergies, make sure to use a brand that’s made in a nut free facility. I really love to use Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour because it’s free of the top 9 allergens. It also contains xanthan gum which really helps give baked goods their bounce and prevents them from falling apart. Since all multipurpose gf flours are not the same, if you use a different gluten free flour, please understand the results will most likely be different.

All Purpose Flour: I cannot test this due to celiac disease, but use 1 ¼ cups packed AP flour (210 grams).

Storing: Store extra cupcakes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. When ready to eat, let the cupcake sit on the counter until room temperature and soft.

Freezing: Once the lemon drizzle on the cupcakes has hardened a little (you may need to pop them in the fridge), individually wrap each cupcake in aluminum foil.
Pop them in a zip top bag and freeze the cupcakes for up to 30 days.

To defrost, put the cupcakes in the fridge the night before or leave them out on the counter for 2 hours prior to eating or until the cupcakes are room temperature and soft.

Nutrition: The info below is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.

Nutrition