Semi Homemade Lemon Cupakes

My friends and family all know that I to LOVE to bake so I am often being asked to bring cupcakes to events. But as a busy mom of 4 boys I don't always have the time or energy to bake from scratch. Over the next few weeks I am going to share my favorite semi homemade dessert tips, for the DIY mom, that are sure to impress your guests. 


First up are my two favorite semi homemade lemon cupcakes that I PROMISE you and your guests will love!

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

For the cupcakes you will need I box of Vanilla cake mix, a jar of lemon curd and 1 whole lemon.

Mix the batter according to the box direction then add the zest of your lemon and stir it in. Now, take a little taste of the batter. {I told you it was good.} To keep my cupcakes fairly uniform I use a 1/3 cup measuring cup, that a fill a little less than full, to fill my cupcake liners. The key to delicious cupcakes is making sure you don't over bake them. There is nothing worse than a dry cupcake! I only bake one tray of cupcakes at a time and I bake them for about 16 minutes. I have a convection oven so it cooks a little faster, but I would recommend checking them at around 16 minutes. Then I let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes before I remove them.

Once they are completely cooled, you are ready for step 2. The filling. I have a handy little corer tool that I picked up at Target for a couple of bucks and I highly recommend that you get one because you are going to want to make these again. :) However, if you don't have the tool, you can just use a knife to cut a circle and pop out the middle.

Once you have made your hole in your cupcake, fill it with a little scoop of lemon curd. Now what I do next is eat the pile of cores I pulled out, but that step is optional.

The final step is the meringue. You will need 4 egg whites and 1 cup of sugar. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the sugar a little at a time and beat until the sugar is dissolved. I like to add a little lemon zest for some extra lemony goodness. Spoon the meringue into a gallon size Ziploc bag, cut off the corner, pipe onto the cupcakes, place them on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes or until lightly browned.  

Not enough time to make these? I have an even easier recipe for delicious lemon cupcakes that happens to be my personal favorite. 

Lemon Cupcakes with White Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

Follow the steps above but omit the lemon curd filling. Then, instead of the meringue topping I make a white chocolate sour cream frosting. IT IS TO DIE FOR!!!! It is hands down my favorite frosting EVER!!!

For the frosting you will need 1 stick of butter, 1 bag of white chocolate melting chips {2 cups}, 8 oz sour cream and 4 cups powdered sugar.


Melt the butter and the chocolate in a pan over low heat then let cool for 5 minutes and stir in the sour cream. {It is going to look separated and kind of like you did something wrong but don't panic.} Poor the mixture into a mixing bowl and gradually mix in the powdered sugar. Now take a taste. AMAZING right? Now spoon the frosting into a Ziploc bag, cut off the corner and pipe onto your cupcakes. The best thing about this frosting is that you can use the colored melting chocolates to create colored frosting.

There you have it two semi homemade lemon cupcake recipes that are sure to be party pleasers.