Today, I’ve got a bright and citrusy easy lemon buttercream frosting. Super quick to make and full of yummy tart lemon flavour. This frosting is summer in a bite and easily made in under 10 minutes!
Lemon is one of my all time favourite flavours, especially in the summer. I find it just immediately brightens your day and makes it feel like summer, even when the weather doesn’t agree. My lemon buttercream frosting died just that and pairs well with so many cupcake or cake flavours!
This recipe I’ve actually created for my upcoming wedding. I’ll have a few more recipes coming soon that I’ll also be using in my wedding so stay tuned. For my wedding, I’ll be pairing this with a coconut cupcake but I haven’t quite finished that recipe yet.
For some more lemony flavours, try my vanilla cupcakes with lemon marshmallow frosting or my iced lemon poppy seed cookies. If you’d like a lemon icing with less sugar, try my lemon marshmallow frosting. It’s created from Italian meringue so it’s actually much lower in sugar compared to an American buttercream.
What to Pair this Frosting With
This lemon buttercream frosting pairs with tons of flavours but the obvious choices would be vanilla cupcakes. I actually love lemon with chocolate as well and love it on my chocolate cupcakes.
You can also use it to make cookie sandwiches with my soft ginger molasses cookies or my double chocolate cookies.
How Much Frosting Does This Make?
This recipe makes about 2.5 cups of frosting which is enough to generously frost 12-14 cupcakes, like I have in the pictures or lightly frost 20-24 cupcakes.
For other sizes or layer amounts, I highly recommend checking out Chelsweets buttercream calculator. It’s a great easy tool and she has everything you can think of in this post!
Tips & Tricks To Avoid Grainy Frosting
- Beat butter until creamy, about 3 minutes.
- Sift your icing sugar.
- Add sugar in parts, so it can fully incorporate before adding more.
- Add enough liquid to get desired consistency and to dissolve sugar molecules. In this frosting, I typically add 2 tbsp of milk. This can change based on your climate and the amount of water in your butter.
- Beat for an additional 1-2 minutes at the end once all ingredients are in. Helps create light and fluffy frosting and reduce graininess.
- Allow the frosting to sit in the fridge for a couple hours if still grainy. Allows the liquid to dissolve the sugar molecules.
How to Get the Fluffiest Frosting
Follow the above steps, only number 6 if necessary. Then, using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir the frosting by hand for 1-2 minutes. This helps pop all the air pockets allowing for a smooth piping process.
Baking Tips
- Ensure you properly mix everything together and you beat the frosting for an additional 1-2 minutes at the end to ensure a smooth, fluffy frosting.
- Having room temperature ingredients helps create a smoother frosting.
- I recommend using fresh lemon juice in this recipe for best flavour.
- I create my recipes based off weights so I recommend measuring by weights if you own a scale. It’s actually so much easier and makes for much less cleanup. I wish I had baked by weight from the beginning, I could never go back now.
More Frosting Recipes
Today’s song is by one of the most iconic female rockstars. Here’s I Hate Myself for Loving You by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. Happy baking!! **Disclaimer: Liv’s Little Muffins owns no rights to this song.
Don’t forget to leave a STAR REVIEW if you try my recipe! Follow me on Facebook or tag me on instagram @livslittlemuffins. Find more ideas on my Pinterest or Whisk.
Easy Lemon Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter room temperature
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 cups (420g) icing sugar
- 2 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Sift in half the amount of icing sugar and mix at low speed until starting to incorporate. Then beat at high speed for additional 30 seconds. Add in the rest of the sugar and lemon juice. Again mix at low speed until incorporated. Add in the milk.
- Beat on high speed for additional 1-2 minutes or until light and fluffy. If your frosting is a bit too thick to pipe, add in milk, 1 tbsp at a time until you reach the desired consistency.
