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Cupcake Recipe,

Lemon Raspberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream Cupcakes

by Katherine Walton on May 18, 2022 2 Comments

These cupcakes are incredibly tasty, full of lemon flavour which comes from the lemon batter, which once baked gives the fluffiest cupcakes with a fine delicate crumb. The red intense centre comes from an egg free curd made with the freshest of raspberries. These raspberries have so much natural flavour, there is no need to add any eggs. It is perfect for those looking for an egg free fruit curd. The Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream itself is a silky smooth frosting made with fresh homemade Lemon Curd and Swiss Meringue Buttercream. The perfect combination of fresh lemons and the delicate qualities of a Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

These amazing cupcakes involve making four separate recipes, two of which you will combine to make the Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream. You can easily make the cupcakes a day ahead and choose to make the frosting and curds the following day. I have listed all the ingredients and instructions below. You can also watch a video on how to make each one of the recipes.

Watch how the Lemon Raspberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream Cupcakes are assembled.

How to assemble Lemon Raspberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream Cupcakes.
Watch the how to video for the Zesty Lemon Cupcakes.

How to make Zesty Lemon Cupcakes.
Watch how the Egg Free Raspberry Curd is made.

How to make an Egg Free Raspberry Curd.
Watch the full Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream how to video below.

Ingredients

For the Lemon Cupcakes

  • 120 grams salted butter (room temperature)
  • 220 grams (1 metric cup) of caster sugar
  • 2 teaspoons lemon rind
  • 1 tablespoon (20 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 large eggs lightly whisked (room temperature)
  • 150 grams (1 metric cup) self-raising flour
  • 100 grams (3/4 metric cup) cornflour
  • 175 ml milk (3/4 metric cup) (room temperature)

 

For the Egg Free Raspberry Curd

  • 110 grams (1 metric cup) of caster sugar
  • 40 grains (1/4 metric cup) cornflour
  • 125 ml (1/2 metric cup) of tap water
  • 1 tablespoon (20 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 200 grams (approximately 1 metric cup) of fresh pureed raspberries or frozen raspberries
  • 30 grams unsalted butter at room temperature

For the Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream (2 parts):

For the Lemon Curd

  • 110 grams (1 metric cup) of caster sugar
  • 40 grains (1/4 metric cup) cornflour
  • 125 ml (1/2 metric cup) of tap water
  • 65 ml (1/4 metric cup) freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon lemon rind
  • 30 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1 egg yolk lightly whisked at room temperature

For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream

  • 185 grams of fresh egg whites at room temperature (egg whites of 4 Jumbo eggs)
  • 370 grams of caster sugar (1 2/3 Metric cups)
  • 370 grams of unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons of clear vanilla extract or any other flavour
  • Digital food thermometer

Extras

  • 12 Fresh Raspberries for garnishing

Directions

Firstly, make the Zesty Lemon Cupcakes.

Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius fan forced (300 Fahrenheit; Gas Mark 2). Line cupcake baking tray with cupcake liners. This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.
Place butter in mixing bowl of stand mixer and beat until very pale. Scrape the bowl as needed.
Add caster sugar and continue to mix until very pale and well combined.
Scrape bowl as needed.
Add lemon rind and lemon juice and continue to mix until well combined.
Add the whisked eggs in 2 batches, beating well between each addition.
Combine flours together in a separate bowl ensuring they are well combined, then add 1/2 a cup at a time in batches with the milk into the batter and mix lightly on low speed until just combined.
Scrape bowl as needed.

Secondly, make the Egg Free Raspberry Curd.

  1. Puree raspberries in food processor until completely smooth.
  2. Set pureed raspberries aside in a bowl.
  3. In a small pan add caster sugar, cornflour, water, lemon juice. Stir ingredients with a metal spoon until all well combined.
  4. Add pureed raspberries and stir until all well combined.
  5. Cook over medium heat, stirring with a metal spoon constantly. Do not let mixture stick to the bottom of the pan or burn.
  6. Mixture will begin to thicken up after a few minutes.
  7. Continue to stir until mixture thickens and becomes smooth.
  8. Remove from heat immediately.
  9. Immediately add the butter and stir until all melted.
  10. Pour into a glass or ceramic bowl and cover with cling wrap or seal with a lid and refrigerate immediately.
  11. The raspberry curd will harden once in the fridge. You may bring it to room temperature before use.
  12. This raspberry curd should be kept refrigerated and will last for up to 5 days.

Thirdly, make the Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream which involves two parts.

 

Ensuring you do not over mix. Once the flour disappears in the mixture you can stop the mixer.
Finish mixing the batter by hand with a silicone spatula. Do not over mix.
Fill the cupcake liners with batter in equal measurements. This recipe serves 12 cupcakes with 1/4 cup of batter for each. Otherwise fill 3/4 of the cupcake liner, depending on the size of your cupcake liner.
Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes. But remember that all ovens vary. Check if cooked by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out clean it’s ready. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before moving onto a cooling rack to cool completely before icing.

First, make the Lemon Curd.

  1. Add caster sugar, cornflour, water and lemon juice to small pan. Stir ingredients with a metal spoon until all well combined.
  2. Cook over medium heat, stirring with a metal spoon constantly. Do not let mixture stick to the bottom of the pan or burn.
  3. Mixture will begin to thicken up after a few minutes.
  4. Continue to stir until mixture thickens and becomes smooth.
  5. Add the butter and whisked egg yolk and cook for three minutes until all well combined.
  6. Do not let the curd stick to the pan or burn. Continue to stir through.
  7. Add the lemon rind and stir through until smooth and well combined.
  8. Set aside and refrigerate immediately. The lemon curd will harden in the fridge, therefore will need to bring to room temperature to soften it and be able to mix it with the Swiss Meringue Buttercream at the final stage of this recipe.

Second, make the Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

  1. Fill a medium sized saucepan with about 2 centimeters of water. Bring to a boil then reduce to medium heat.
  2. Place egg whites and caster sugar in a clean heat proof  stand mixer bowl. Make sure bowl is completely free of grease. If in doubt wipe with white vinegar or lemon juice. Whisk together until all incorporated, then place bowl on top of sauce pan. Make sure the bowl does not touch the water.
  3. Whisk and mix ingredients until sugar dissolves completely. Scrape the bowl on the sides with a silicone spatula so that all the sugar dissolves with the egg whites.
  4. Temperature should reach 70 degrees Celsius (158 Fahrenheit). If you do not have a food thermometer you can rub the mixture between your fingers and you should not feel any sugar granules. The mixture will also change and become runny and foamy. (You can watch how it changes on my Step by Step video above).
  5. Transfer bowl to stand mixer and mix at medium-high speed until the meringue starts to come together. It should become thick and glossy and increase in volume. The meringue should not be runny or fall from an upside down spoon.
  6. Transfer meringue into another large bowl. Set aside until it has completely cooled to room temperature.
  7. Wash mixer bowl and add unsalted butter and mix at high speed until butter changes colour to a very pale cream and it increases in volume. It can take up to 10 minutes or more. You must scrape the sides off the bowl to ensure all butter is beaten.
  8. Once butter reaches a very pale consistency, mix in the meringue and mix together from medium to highest speed for 5 minutes.
  9. Scrape the bowl and set aside.

Third, and last step is to combine the completely cooled Lemon curd and Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

  1. Once the Swiss Meringue Buttercream is complete and the Lemon Curd has completely cooled down to room temperature. You will add the lemon curd into the mixer bowl that has the finished Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
  2. Combine and mix both the Lemon Curd and Swiss Meringue Buttercream in the mixer bowl.
  3. Scrape the bowl once or as necessary to ensure both are well combined.
  4. At this stage you may choose to add food colouring of your choice. I have opted to add yellow gel food colouring as shown in the how to video above. You may also leave the frosting in its natural pale ivory colour.

Notes

How are the ingredients measured in this recipe?

In this recipe and in all of my recipes I provide all ingredients in grams and in mL where applicable. I also provide the ingredient quantities in METRIC cup measurements. However, be aware that cup measurements and spoon measurements vary in different countries. Therefore, I highly recommended the use of scales where applicable to measure ingredients to achieve exactly what the recipe intends.

What is caster sugar and can I substitute it in any of these recipes?

Caster Sugar is also known as super fine granulated sugar. Not to be confused or replaced with icing sugar also known as powdered sugar. It is recommended that the caster sugar in the Zesty Lemon Cupcakes recipe is not replaced or substituted. The sugar will be creamed with the butter and not dissolved, therefore it is recommend to use fine granulated sugar instead of standard white sugar. However, you may replace the caster sugar with standard granulated white sugar in the raspberry curd, lemon curd and Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipes as the sugar is dissolved in liquid.

This recipe says to use self raising flour for the Zesty Lemon Cupcakes. Can I replace it or substitute it?

Yes you may substitute the self raising flour in this recipe. You may replace it by using 1 metric cup (150 grams) of plain flour plus 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

What can I do if my cupcakes are not baking as intended and burning or browning?

All ovens vary. If you find that your cupcakes are burning or browning before they are completely baked, you may need to adjust the temperature of your oven by lowering it by 10-20 degrees Celsius. The position of the baking tray in the oven can sometimes also affect baked goods. In some ovens placing your tray in the bottom may brown or burn your cakes from the bottom. The same can occur by placing your tray in the top rack if your oven’s heating element is located on the roof of the oven. Always check and learn how your oven works.

How do I make sure the Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe is successful?

The most important step in this recipe is to ensure the lemon curd completely cools to room temperature before adding it to the Swiss Meringue Buttercream. If the lemon curd is still warm, the frosting will curdle and separate and you will have to start the recipe from scratch. At the same time you must make sure that the meringue has cooled to room temperature as well before adding it to the beaten butter when making the Swiss Meringue Buttercream stage.

How much frosting does the Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe make?

This recipe yields 5 metric cups of frosting. Depending on the piping tip used and style, this amount is for 12 to 24 standard cupcakes. This frosting is also enough to layer an 8″ by 6″ round cake including a crumb coat.

How to separate egg whites from egg yolks?

It is best to separate the egg whites from the egg yolk when the eggs are cold. Then leave the egg whites in a bowl covered to bring to room temperature.

Do you need to use a food thermometer?

I recommend the use of a digital food thermometer in order to know if the temperature of the egg whites has reached 70 degrees Celsius (158 Fahrenheit) to destroy bacteria which can be found in raw eggs.

How to store and what is the shelf life of the Raspberry Curd and Lemon curd?

Both Raspberry Curd and Lemon curd can be kept refrigerated for up to 5 days. They will harden in the fridge, therefore you may bring to room temperature before use.

How to store and what is the shelf life of this Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream?

This Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting can be kept refrigerated for up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature before use. You can re whip with a metal spoon.

How to store these Lemon Raspberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream Cupcakes and what is their shelf life?

These cupcakes should be kept refrigerated for up to 5 days due to the nature of the Lemon and Raspberry curd in them. Bring them to room temperature before serving. This will make the cupcakes soft and tender again.

2 Comments

  1. When I combined the cool Swiss meringue buttercream and lemon curd my mixture thinned out and began to split, and WOULD not thicken back up. I tried to continue whipping and even put my mixture into the fridge for a few minutes and whipped it again, BUT I could not get it to come together. So sad!

    1. Hi Natalie,
      Oh dear. OK we can try to work out what could have caused the two to not come together and thin instead. There are a few things that can sometimes occur. You can let me know if any of these apply. 1) the most common one is that the lemon curd has not cooled completely. The lemon curd can take a few hours 3-4 at times to cool completely in the fridge. 2) the Swiss meringue buttercream hasn’t come together or it hasn’t been whipped enough for it to be stable. 3) the frosting was made in a warm room. 4) the bowl it was mixed in was warm. Do any of these apply? Hope this helps. Katherine.

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