I Bake: The Best Lemon Cupcakes Ever

On the norm, I’m not a boxed cake mix kind of girl; HOWEVER, these cupcakes are the exception.  My aunt made these cupcakes as one of our wedding cupcakes, and ever since then they have been known to all tasters as The Best Lemon Cupcakes Ever.   I even pondered the notion of creating a “from scratch” recipe, but it’s so not even worth it when they are basically perfection.  They are like eating a lemon old fashioned donut, but with a dollop of lemon buttercream. Yum.

If you love lemon, these will save your soul.  Just sayin’.

The Best Lemon Cupcakes, Ever
Recipe adapted from here and here

Cupcake Ingredients:
1 box of yellow cake mix (18.5 oz)
1 box of instant lemon pudding mix (3.4 oz)
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Cupcake Glaze:
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons water
Zest of 1 lemon

Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup butter, softened
3-3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 lemon, juice and zest of
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray 2 muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray.  In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, and oil with an electric mixer until smooth – about 1 to 2 minutes.  Fill each muffin tin half way (no more than that, trust me) with batter.  Bake for 18-22 minutes and turn on to tea towel.

To make the glaze, sift the confectioners’ sugar into a medium sized bowl.  Whisk in lemon juice and zest, vegetable oil, and water. Stir until smooth.

While the cupcakes are still a bit warm, use your fingers and dip each one into the glaze and cover fully.  Place on wire racks with wax paper underneath to catch the excess glaze drips.  Let dry on racks for about an hour.

While the cupcakes are drying, make the frosting.  In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugar and salt and beat until combined.  Add the the lemon juice, zest, and vanilla and beat on med-high speed until creamy, about 3-5 minutes.

Frost the cupcakes with just a small amount of the buttercream (as shown in the photo) and store in an airtight container.