The Best Homemade Lemon Cupcakes Recipe: Tangy, Sweet, and Perfectly Fluffy
Prepare to fall in love with these utterly delightful homemade lemon cupcakes! Imagine a burst of bright, tangy lemon flavor perfectly balanced with just the right amount of sweetness, all wrapped up in a wonderfully fluffy and incredibly moist crumb. These aren’t just any lemon cupcakes; they’re a celebration of citrus, a sunny treat that promises to brighten any day, especially with their luscious lemon cream cheese frosting. Whether you’re a seasoned baker or a beginner, this easy recipe guides you to create 24 irresistible cupcakes that are perfect for sharing, parties, or simply indulging in a moment of pure bliss.
Why You’ll Adore These Easy Lemon Cupcakes
Lemon cupcakes are more than just a dessert; they’re a little ray of sunshine in edible form. This particular recipe for homemade lemon cupcakes is designed to deliver maximum fresh lemon flavor with minimal fuss, making it an absolute joy to bake and even more delightful to eat. Here’s why these zesty treats are about to become your new favorite go-to:
- Bursting with Fresh Lemon Flavor: We’re talking about real, vibrant lemon juice and fragrant zest infused directly into both the cake batter and the frosting. This ensures every single bite delivers an authentic, bright citrus punch that store-bought versions simply can’t replicate. The natural zest adds an incredible aroma and depth that is truly unforgettable.
- Effortlessly Simple to Make: Despite their impressive taste and elegant appearance, these lemon cupcakes are surprisingly straightforward to prepare. With clear, step-by-step instructions, even novice bakers can achieve bakery-quality results without any stress. It’s a rewarding baking project that doesn’t require advanced skills, perfect for a relaxing afternoon in the kitchen.
- Perfectly Fluffy and Moist Texture: Thanks to carefully selected ingredients like cake flour and buttermilk, these cupcakes boast an incredibly tender, soft, and moist crumb that practically melts in your mouth. They’re never dry or dense, always light and airy, providing that ideal cupcake experience you crave.
- Generous Yield for Sharing: This delightful recipe yields a generous batch of 24 luscious cupcakes, making them ideal for gatherings, potlucks, birthday parties, or simply as a thoughtful homemade gift for friends and neighbors. You’ll have plenty to go around, ensuring everyone gets to enjoy a taste of pure sunshine.
- A Refreshing Spring and Summer Treat: While delicious year-round, the bright, clean, and zesty taste of lemon makes these cupcakes an especially perfect dessert for spring celebrations, Easter gatherings, Mother’s Day, or light summer picnics and barbecues. They’re a refreshing alternative to heavier desserts and always a crowd-pleaser.
If you find yourself captivated by the delightful tang of lemon desserts, just as we are, you’re in for a treat! Be sure to explore some of our other beloved citrus-infused creations. Each recipe offers a unique way to enjoy the bright and zesty flavor of lemon: from our delightful lemon sandwich cookies, which are perfect for a sophisticated tea time, to the rich and satisfying lemon orange pound cake, blending two classic citrus notes for a beautiful aroma. Don’t miss the elegant Meyer lemon bundt cake for a show-stopping presentation at any special event, and for a delightful twist, try our lemon cheesecake bars with shortbread crust, offering a perfect balance of creamy and crumbly textures.
Essential Ingredients for Fluffy Lemon Cupcakes
Crafting the perfect lemon cupcake starts with understanding the role each ingredient plays in achieving that desirable light texture and vibrant flavor. Paying attention to these components will elevate your baking from good to truly exceptional. Here’s a breakdown of the key ingredients needed for the cupcake batter:
- Cake flour, baking powder, and salt – Cake flour is absolutely the secret to a supremely tender and fine crumb. Its lower protein content, compared to all-purpose flour, results in significantly less gluten development, yielding a lighter, softer, and more delicate cake texture that’s simply irresistible. Baking powder provides the necessary lift and aeration, ensuring your cupcakes rise beautifully and consistently, while a small but crucial touch of salt enhances all the other flavors, balancing the sweetness and brightening the overall lemon profile.
- Buttermilk – This ingredient is a true MVP for moisture, tenderness, and an added layer of tangy flavor. Buttermilk’s acidity reacts with the baking powder, producing a softer, more delicate crumb. It also contributes a subtle, pleasant tang that beautifully complements the lemon. If you find yourself without buttermilk, you can easily make a homemade substitute by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or fresh lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup, then filling the rest with regular milk (dairy or non-dairy) to equal 1 ¼ cups. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it slightly curdles before using.
- Unsalted butter – Using unsalted butter is crucial in baking as it gives you complete control over the total salt content in your recipe. Different brands of butter can have varying sodium levels, so starting with unsalted ensures a consistent and predictable outcome, allowing the pure, bright flavors of lemon and vanilla to shine through without any unwanted saltiness. Always ensure your butter is softened to room temperature before you begin, as this is essential for proper creaming and emulsification.
- Granulated sugar – Beyond just providing essential sweetness, granulated sugar contributes significantly to both the structure and moisture of these delightful cupcakes. When creamed thoroughly with butter, it creates countless tiny air pockets that are vital for a light, airy, and fluffy texture. It also plays a role in keeping the cupcakes wonderfully moist by attracting and holding onto water, preventing them from drying out.
- Egg whites – This recipe specifically uses 4 large-size egg whites at room temperature. Egg whites are absolutely essential for providing strong structure and significant lift to the cupcakes, contributing to that airy, delicate, and almost cloud-like crumb. Using only egg whites also ensures a lighter, brighter color for your lemon cupcakes, allowing the natural yellow hue from the lemon zest to truly pop. Always make sure your egg whites are at room temperature, as they emulsify better and incorporate more evenly into the batter, leading to a more consistent and smooth final product.
- Fresh lemon juice and lemon zest – For the absolute best and most authentic fresh lemon flavor, there’s no substitute for freshly squeezed lemon juice and finely grated lemon zest. The zest, in particular, contains concentrated lemon oils, which provide an intense, bright aroma and robust flavor without adding too much acidity that could potentially curdle the batter or overpower the sweetness. The fresh juice adds a lovely tangy liquid element that balances the sweetness beautifully.
- Vanilla extract and lemon extract – While fresh lemon provides the primary flavor, a touch of pure vanilla extract adds a lovely depth, warmth, and complexity, rounding out the sharp citrus notes beautifully. The pure lemon extract further boosts and intensely amplifies the lemon flavor, ensuring these cupcakes are undeniably and vibrantly lemony, striking the perfect balance between bright, tangy, and rich.
Decadent Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
No lemon cupcake is truly complete without a perfectly paired and complementary frosting. Our lemon cream cheese frosting offers a delightful tangy counterpoint to the sweet, fluffy cupcake, creating a harmonious and utterly addictive flavor profile that’s incredibly satisfying. Here’s a closer look at what you’ll need to make this luscious topping:
- Unsalted butter – Softened to room temperature, the unsalted butter forms the rich, creamy, and flavorful base of our frosting. Just like in the cupcakes, using unsalted butter allows you to control the seasoning precisely, ensuring a perfectly balanced sweetness and tang without any unexpected saltiness.
- Cream cheese – The undisputed star of this frosting, cream cheese lends its signature tangy, slightly savory flavor, which beautifully cuts through the sweetness of the powdered sugar. It also provides an incredibly smooth, luxurious, and velvety texture that makes the frosting effortlessly spreadable and utterly delightful. It’s crucial that the cream cheese is softened to room temperature to achieve a perfectly lump-free, silky consistency.
- Fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt – These ingredients are absolutely vital for infusing the frosting with an intense, bright, and vibrant lemon flavor that perfectly mirrors and enhances the cupcakes. The fresh lemon juice adds liquid and a zesty zing, while the zest contributes highly concentrated citrus oils for an incredible aroma and burst of flavor. A generous pinch of salt is crucial here; it acts as a flavor enhancer, perfectly balancing the sweetness and tangy notes, and rounding out the overall taste without making the frosting taste salty.
- Powdered sugar – Also widely known as confectioners’ sugar, this finely milled sugar is absolutely essential for achieving the smooth, velvety, and pipeable texture of cream cheese frosting. It dissolves easily and completely, preventing any grainy consistency in your frosting, and provides the necessary sweetness and volume to make a generous amount of delicious topping. Sifting the powdered sugar before adding it is highly recommended as it helps prevent any lumps and ensures a perfectly smooth finish.
How to Bake and Frost Perfect Lemon Cupcakes
Creating these delightful lemon cupcakes is a rewarding experience, and following these detailed, step-by-step instructions will ensure a perfect batch every single time. Precision and proper technique are key to achieving that wonderfully tender, moist crumb and vibrant lemon flavor that everyone will rave about.
- Prepare Your Muffin Tins: Begin by preheating your oven to the precise temperature of 350 degrees F (175°C). Next, line two standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper cupcake liners. If you opt not to use liners, ensure you thoroughly spray each well with a high-quality non-stick cooking spray, making sure to get good, even coverage to prevent any sticking whatsoever. This meticulous preparation step ensures your cupcakes release cleanly and maintain their beautiful shape.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Sifting is incredibly important here as it helps to remove any small lumps and evenly distribute the leavening agents throughout the mixture, which is crucial for creating a light, airy, and uniform crumb in your finished cupcakes. If you don’t have a sifter, you can whisk these dry ingredients thoroughly for at least 30 seconds to achieve a similar well-aerated and lump-free effect.
- Prepare Wet Ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, gently whisk together the buttermilk and egg whites until they are just combined and homogeneous. Set this mixture aside for later use. Using room temperature ingredients for this step is paramount for creating a smooth, perfectly emulsified batter later on, which contributes to the overall texture of your cupcakes.
- Infuse the Sugar with Lemon Zest: This is a truly crucial step for maximizing the intense lemon flavor! In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large mixing bowl if you’re using a hand mixer), combine the granulated sugar and the finely grated fresh lemon zest. Using your fingertips, gently rub the lemon zest into the sugar for about 1-2 minutes. You’ll visibly notice the sugar becoming moist and incredibly fragrant – this simple yet powerful process releases the aromatic essential oils from the zest directly into the sugar, infusing every single grain with an intense and vibrant lemon essence.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: Add the softened unsalted butter to the fragrant lemon sugar mixture. Beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, or until the mixture is very light, wonderfully fluffy, and pale in color. This creaming process effectively incorporates a significant amount of air, which is absolutely vital for the cupcake’s airy and tender texture, and fully dissolves the sugar, contributing significantly to a moist and delightful crumb. Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently to ensure everything is evenly mixed and no pockets of uncreamed ingredients remain.
- Alternate Wet and Dry Additions: Beat in the pure vanilla extract, pure lemon extract, and fresh lemon juice into the creamed butter mixture until just combined. Then, with the mixer still on medium speed, add one-third of the sifted flour mixture. Beat just until it is incorporated and no dry streaks are visible. Next, add half of the buttermilk-egg white mixture, beating only until combined. Repeat this pattern with another third of the dry ingredients, followed by the remaining half of the wet mixture, and finally, the last third of the dry ingredients. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl meticulously between additions to ensure a truly homogeneous and perfectly smooth batter.
- Finish Mixing the Batter: Once all ingredients have been added, give the batter a final, thorough beating for about 2 minutes on medium speed. This step further aerates the batter, contributing significantly to a light and tender crumb without the risk of developing too much gluten (which can happen with aggressive overmixing for too long). The goal is a smooth, well-mixed batter that feels light and airy.
- Fill and Bake: Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each approximately two-thirds full. This critical step allows ample room for the cupcakes to rise gracefully during baking without overflowing, resulting in a beautiful, perfectly domed shape and preventing any sticky messes in your muffin tin. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the cupcakes are beautifully risen, lightly golden around the edges, and springy to the touch when gently pressed. A thin knife or toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake should come out clean, indicating they are fully baked through.
- Cool Completely: As soon as the cupcakes come out of the oven, immediately transfer them from the hot muffin tins to a wire rack. Allow them to cool completely and thoroughly before attempting to frost them. Attempting to frost warm cupcakes will inevitably result in melted, messy, and unappealing frosting, so patience is key for this step.
How to Make the Creamy Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
- Combine Wet Frosting Ingredients: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, thoroughly mix together the softened room temperature unsalted butter and cream cheese until smooth, creamy, and completely combined. This forms the rich and luxurious foundation of your silky frosting.
- Add Flavorings: Incorporate the fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, and a generous pinch of salt into the butter and cream cheese mixture. Mix on low speed until all these flavorings are just combined. The lemon zest will provide delightful speckles of color and bursts of intense flavor, while the salt perfectly balances the sweetness and tangy notes.
- Gradually Add Powdered Sugar: On low speed, begin adding the sifted powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Mix slowly and thoroughly until each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next. Continue this process until all the powdered sugar is added and the frosting reaches your desired smooth, spreadable consistency. If the frosting appears too thick, you can add a tiny bit more lemon juice or milk, one teaspoon at a time; if it’s too thin, add a bit more sifted powdered sugar. Finally, beat on medium-high speed for another minute or two until the frosting is light, airy, and wonderfully fluffy.
- Frost and Serve: Once your cupcakes are completely cooled to room temperature, it’s time for the delicious finale! You can easily apply the frosting using an offset spatula for a charmingly rustic look, or for a more elegant and professional finish, transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with your favorite nozzle and pipe decorative swirls onto each cupcake. For an extra touch of visual appeal and flavor, garnish with a thin slice of fresh lemon, a delicate curl of lemon zest, or a tiny sprig of fresh mint just before serving. Serve immediately and savor the delightful burst of fresh lemon flavor!
Expert Tips for Baking the Best Lemon Cupcakes
Achieving bakery-quality lemon cupcakes is simpler than you might think, especially with these insider tips and tricks to guide you through every step of the baking process. These pointers will help you consistently create perfect, flavorful, and beautifully textured treats:
- Always Use Room Temperature Ingredients: This is a golden rule in baking, particularly for cakes and cupcakes, and cannot be stressed enough. Ensuring your butter, eggs, and buttermilk are all at room temperature (ideally around 68-72°F or 20-22°C) allows them to emulsify properly and seamlessly, creating a smooth, homogeneous, and stable batter. This, in turn, results in a lighter, more even-textured cake crumb that rises beautifully and uniformly during baking. Cold ingredients will lead to a lumpy, curdled batter and a denser, less tender cupcake.
- Prioritize Fresh Lemon Juice and Zest: The true essence of a truly outstanding lemon cupcake lies unequivocally in the quality and vibrancy of its lemon flavor. Always, always opt for fresh lemon juice and, more importantly, fresh, finely grated lemon zest. The zest, specifically, contains highly concentrated essential oils that deliver an intense, aromatic, and pure lemon punch without adding excess liquid or acidity that could potentially compromise the batter or overpower the delicate sweetness. Bottled lemon juice often contains preservatives and lacks the bright, nuanced, and authentic flavor of fresh lemons, so it’s best completely avoided for this recipe.
- Measure Flour Properly (The Spoon and Level Method): Accurate flour measurement is absolutely critical for preventing dry, crumbly, or overly dense cupcakes. Instead of scooping flour directly from the bag (which can compact it, leading to a significant amount of excess flour), use the “spoon and level” method. Gently spoon the cake flour into your dry measuring cup until it overflows, then use the back of a straight knife or a flat edge to level off the excess, ensuring a precise and consistent measurement every time.
- Do Not Overmix the Batter: Once you’ve added the flour, it is paramount to mix the batter only until the ingredients are just combined and no dry streaks of flour remain. Overmixing vigorously or for too long develops too much gluten in the cake flour, which can lead to tough, chewy, and rubbery cupcakes instead of the desired light, delicate, and tender crumb. A final minute or two of gentle beating is usually sufficient to ensure aeration without over-developing the gluten.
- Avoid Overfilling Cupcake Liners: For perfectly domed cupcakes that rise beautifully and don’t spill over, consistently fill each cupcake liner about two-thirds full with batter. This provides just enough space for the cupcakes to rise gracefully and achieve their ideal shape during baking, resulting in a beautiful presentation and preventing any sticky, burnt messes in your muffin tin.
- Cool Cupcakes Completely Before Frosting: Patience is truly a virtue when it comes to frosting! Ensure your baked cupcakes are entirely cool to the touch – not just warm, but completely cold – before applying the luscious lemon cream cheese frosting. Frosting warm cupcakes will inevitably cause the frosting to melt, slide off, and create a runny, unappetizing mess. Transferring them promptly to a wire rack helps them cool faster and prevents the bottoms from becoming soggy due to trapped steam.
- Garnish for a Professional Touch: A simple yet elegant garnish can significantly elevate the presentation of your homemade lemon cupcakes, making them look professionally baked. Consider adding a delicate, thin slice of fresh lemon, a beautiful curl of fresh lemon zest, or a tiny sprig of fresh mint on top of each frosted cupcake just before serving. Edible flowers or a light dusting of powdered sugar can also add a charming and sophisticated touch.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lemon Cupcakes
Here are answers to some common questions about making, storing, and enjoying these delicious lemon cupcakes, ensuring you have all the information you need for baking success:
Frosted lemon cupcakes, especially those adorned with a delicious cream cheese frosting, should always be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator to maintain their freshness and prevent spoilage. When stored correctly, they will remain wonderfully fresh and absolutely delicious for up to 4 days. For the best possible flavor and texture experience, we highly recommend allowing them to come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving. This softens the cream cheese frosting to its ideal consistency and significantly enhances all the intricate flavors.
Yes, you can absolutely freeze the cupcakes to extend their shelf life, but it’s highly recommended to do so unfrosted. Cream cheese frosting doesn’t typically freeze and thaw particularly well, as it can sometimes separate, become grainy, or lose its smooth texture. To effectively freeze unfrosted cupcakes, first ensure they are completely cooled to room temperature. Then, wrap each individual cupcake tightly in plastic wrap, ensuring no air is exposed, and place them in a freezer-safe bag or an airtight container. They can be safely frozen for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to enjoy them, thaw the unfrosted cupcakes overnight in the refrigerator, then bring them to room temperature before preparing and applying the fresh lemon cream cheese frosting as instructed in the recipe.
Absolutely! These lemon cupcakes are a fantastic make-ahead dessert, which is perfect for entertaining or meal prep. In fact, many people find that the vibrant lemon flavors deepen and meld beautifully overnight, making them even more delicious and enjoyable the next day. You can easily bake the cupcakes one day, store them unfrosted at room temperature in an airtight container, and then prepare and apply the luscious lemon cream cheese frosting the following day, just before you plan to serve them. This convenient approach also makes entertaining much easier and less stressful!
While cake flour is highly recommended for its delicate, tender crumb that gives these cupcakes their signature light texture, you can certainly create a perfectly acceptable substitute for this recipe using all-purpose flour and cornstarch. For every cup of cake flour called for in a recipe, you can use 7/8 cup of all-purpose flour and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Be sure to sift them together multiple times (at least 3-4 times) to ensure the cornstarch is perfectly distributed and creates a fine, cohesive mixture. So, for the 2 1/4 cups of cake flour required here, you would use approximately 2 cups of all-purpose flour and 4.5 tablespoons of cornstarch, sifted together. This homemade cake flour substitute will still provide a much lighter and more tender texture than using plain all-purpose flour alone.
Several crucial factors contribute to achieving beautifully domed cupcake tops, giving them that appealing, professional bakery look. Firstly, ensuring your leavening agents (baking powder in this case) are fresh and active is paramount – check the expiration date! Secondly, accurate measurement of all ingredients, especially flour, is key, as too much or too little can dramatically affect the batter’s consistency and rise. Thirdly, filling the cupcake liners consistently about two-thirds full provides the optimal amount of batter for proper expansion without overflowing. Lastly, baking at the correct oven temperature (350°F or 175°C) ensures a good initial burst of heat that encourages a strong rise before the cupcake crust sets. Avoiding opening the oven door too often during the baking process also helps maintain a consistent internal oven temperature, preventing sinking or uneven domes.
More Delightful Cupcake Recipes to Explore
If you’ve thoroughly enjoyed baking and devouring these refreshing lemon cupcakes, you might be looking for even more ways to satisfy your sweet tooth with other equally delicious and exciting cupcake creations. Expand your baking repertoire with these fantastic recipes, perfect for any occasion, season, or craving you might have:
Coconut Cupcakes
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Lemon Cupcakes Recipe
Print
Pin
Rate
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- lemon zest of two lemons
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice about 2 lemons
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 8 tablespoons, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon pure lemon extract
For the icing:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- Juice and zest from 2 lemons
- Generous pinch of salt
- 4 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
Instructions
Cupcakes
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175°C). Line two standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper cupcake liners, or generously spray each well with non-stick cooking spray.
-
In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. This ensures a light, even crumb.2 1/4 cups cake flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt
-
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg whites until just combined. Set aside.1 1/4 cups buttermilk, 4 large egg whites
-
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or large mixing bowl), combine granulated sugar and lemon zest. Rub them together with your fingers for 1-2 minutes until the sugar is moist and fragrant, infusing it with lemon flavor. Add the softened unsalted butter and beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the mixture is very light, fluffy, and pale. Scrape down the bowl as needed.1 1/2 cups sugar, lemon zest of two lemons, 1/2 cup unsalted butter
-
Beat in the pure vanilla extract, pure lemon extract, and fresh lemon juice. Then, add one-third of the sifted flour mixture, beating on medium speed just until incorporated. Next, beat in half of the buttermilk-egg white mixture until combined.1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon pure lemon extract, 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
-
Add the remaining half of the dry ingredients, beating until just incorporated. Then add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous. Finally, add the last of the dry ingredients, mixing until no dry streaks remain. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed throughout this process.
-
Give the batter a final beating for about 2 minutes on medium speed to ensure it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. This helps achieve a light and tender crumb. Divide the batter equally into the prepared cupcake tins, filling each about two-thirds full.
-
Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the cupcakes are well risen, lightly golden, and springy to the touch. A thin knife or toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack immediately to cool completely before frosting.
Icing
-
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, thoroughly mix together the softened butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add the fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, and a generous pinch of salt; mix on low speed until combined. Gradually add the sifted confectioner’s sugar, one cup at a time, on low speed until fully incorporated and the frosting reaches your desired smooth, spreadable consistency. Beat on medium-high for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy. To finish, frost the completely cooled cupcakes using an offset spatula or a piping bag, and serve immediately.4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 4 oz cream cheese, Juice and zest from 2 lemons, Generous pinch of salt, 4 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
Nutrition
This fantastic lemon cupcake recipe was beautifully adapted from trialsinfood, and we’ve enhanced it with our own insights and detailed tips to bring you the ultimate, most irresistible lemon cupcake experience!