Lemon Buttercream Frosting

A simple lemon flavoured buttercream frosting. Made with only 4 ingredients, this recipe not only takes less than 5 minutes to make, but it’s also the perfect finishing touch to pile on top of your next bake.

To make this, start to make a basic buttercream frosting. Mix the unsalted butter in an electric mixer until creamy. Next, add the icing sugar in two batches. I always recommend stirring the icing sugar with a spoon before using an electric mixer. This helps to prevent an icing sugar cloud explosion! Add the fresh lemon juice with the second addition of icing sugar. After everything is fully mixed together, stir through the lemon zest. Give everything a mix until fully combined. With buttercream you can’t overmix, so blend on high until you have a nice smooth texture.

Traditionally, a buttercream frosting is made with milk as the liquid, but to give this recipe the perfect lemon kick, it’s been substituted with fresh lemon juice. It also had the added lemon zest to help amplify the lemon in this recipe.

I love piping this on top of my lemon poppy seed cupcakes, but this really goes with so many flavours. Larger batches can be made for the centre of a larger, layered cake, or it can also be piped on top.

This buttercream is thick enough to be piped, but if you prefer then you can add a tablespoon of icing to each cake and using a palette knife or butter knife, ‘smear’ it to the top of the cake. I chose to pipe this on top of my cake using a Wilton 2D piping nozzle. I’ve also added a sprinkle of fresh orange zest for the perfect finishing touch and final touch of flavour.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Serves: 5 Cupcakes Prep Time: >5 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

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Ingredients

• 3 oz / 85 g Unsalted Butter
• 6 oz / 170 g Icing Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Fresh Lemon Juice
• Zest of 1/2 Lemon

Instructions

• Bring the unsalted butter to room temperature
• Add the butter to a mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, blend until creamy
• Add half of the sieved icing sugar to the bowl and using a spoon, gently stir together until just combined (this helps to prevent an icing sugar explosion!), before mixing with the electric mixer
• Add the remaining icing sugar and lemon juice and follow the steps above, do not be afraid to overmix, you want this to be nice and smooth
• Stir through the fresh lemon zest
• When everything is blended and smooth, apply to your cooled cake. This icing is thick enough to pipe if desired or can be placed on top of the cake in your chosen design

Notes

This is best piped onto a cake straight away. Any leftover icing can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Once piped onto cakes, it can be stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 3 days. However, this is best eaten on the same day or as close to the same day as possible.

Looking for more baking ideas? Have a look in the recipe section:

Cupful of Sprinkles – Recipes

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