Lemon Cupcakes with Strawberry Icing
I have eaten more than my fair share of cupcakes over the years and consider myself to be quite the expert.
Full disclosure: I primarily eat cupcakes for the icing and have been known to cut the top off the cupcake and just eat the icing. This is usually because the cupcake has a delicious creamy icing, but the muffin is dry and flavourless. As luck would have it, on the rare occasion that the muffin is moist and delicious, the icing is usually too sweet or buttery.
These Paleo Lemon Cupcakes are ridiculously good. The muffin is melt in your mouth moist with lots of zesty lemon flavour which perfectly contrasts with the creamy strawberry icing. I had a glass of beet juice ready in case the icing was lacking in colour but was excited to discover that the icing was naturally a vibrant pink and didn’t need the help of food colouring or beet juice. When preparing the icing, make sure that you only use the thick cream. If you can’t find cans of coconut cream, full fat coconut milk also works, just be sure to store it in the fridge for a few hours prior to using so that the cream hardens and separates from the water. I recommend storing the strawberry icing in the fridge separately and topping the muffins right before serving.
This is a great dessert to bring to a birthday party. The Paleo Lemon Cupcakes will quickly be devoured by adults and kids alike and no one will ever guess that they are grain, gluten, dairy and refined sugar free.
If you make this recipe let me know in the
Here are a few other sweet treats you will enjoy:
- Lemon & Mixed Berry Cupcakes
- Coconut & Lime Cupcakes
- Orange, Pistachio & Almond Cake
- Pecan & Caramel Shortbread Bars
- Lemon Cheesecake with Blueberry Sauce
- Salted Caramel Cheesecake Cups
If you make this recipe let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear what you think or take a photo and tag me (@everylastbite_) on Instagram, I love seeing your photos!
Lemon Cupcakes with Strawberry Icing
Ingredients
Lemon Cupcakes
- 1/2 cup Almond Flour
- 1/4 cup Coconut Flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/4 cup melted butter or coconut oil
- 1/4 cup honey or other sweetener
Strawberry Icing
- 2 cups chopped strawberries
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp honey or other sweetener
- 3/4 cup coconut cream refrigerated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) and line a muffin tray with liners
- In a mixing bowl combine the flours, baking soda. Add in the eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and zest, butter (or coconut oil) and honey and stir well.
- Fill each muffin cup with batter and place the tray in the oven to bake for 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don't burn on the top. After 20 minutes remove from the oven and insert a toothpick in the middle to ensure they are cooked through. Allow to cool
Icing
- Wash and chop the strawberries into thirds. Place in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth
- Place the strawberries, honey and vanilla extract in a saucepan on medium heat and allow to gently boil for 15-20 minutes until it has reduced by half. Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and place in the fridge to cool.
- Once the strawberry mixture has completely cooled, add in the coconut cream and stir with a spoon until well combined.
- Place the icing in a piping bag (or ziploc bag fitted with a decorating tip) and ice each cupcake moving in circles from the center outwards. Top with a strawberry slice. Store in a container in the fridge.
Nutrition
In your recipes that call for honey, can I substitute Monk fruit sweetener?
How is the texture of the cupcakes? Do they have a light n fluffy texture? I notice lots of paleo bakes are quite dense. Really would love to try baking these, thx
Because of the number of eggs used in this recipe they are quite light in texture. As with a lot of grain free baking they are also rather moist.
Do you whip the cream or how does it work? Sorry, I struggle with reading comprehension and I’m trying to figure out how to make the icing. I also have regular cream (from cows), as I go mainly for the no wheat in the cupcakes.
Hi! I was thinking of making this recipe but I have an allergy to almond. Do you know what the measurements would be if I was to make it with all coconut flour?(every time I substitute coconut for almond it becomes very dry) Thanks!
It wouldn’t work to sub out the almond flour with coconut flour. Coconut flour is absorbent and dense while almond flour is the opposite. But you could use another nut or seed flour.
Hi! I was thinking of making this recipe but I wanted to ask what the measurements would be if I replaced the almond flour with more coconut flour?(I have an allergy) Thanks!
These look delicious! Do they freeze well?
Yes definitely, I would freeze the cupcakes and icing separately and then frost the cupcakes once the strawberry icing has softened.
These were SO delicious!! The best SCD cupcakes!! I did divide the batter into 11 cupcakes, and they were only half full – which resulted in very short cupcakes. BUT unlike some SCD cupcakes or muffins, they were nicley done in the middle. LIke very standard cupcake texture!!!
The frosting is ingenious! So AMAZING. Thanks for this wonderful creation! Oh, and I didn’t have lemon zest, and they were still good!
I’m so happy you liked them!! This is one of the most under appreciated recipes on my site, I wish more people would make it because they really do taste like normal cupcakes! 🙂
Would this recipe work just as well if I made it into a cake? Have you tried that? Thanks!
I haven’t tried turning this into a cake but I don’t think there would be any problems, you may just need to bake it for a bit longer.
Great photography
Dying to make these! My 2 fave flavors!
Me too! Such a good flavour combo.