Have you ever bitten into a bakery cupcake, only to taste overly sweet frosting that sticks to the roof of your mouth? My kids and husband despise sickly sweet buttercream frosting so I was determined to create a frosting that they would swoon over.
When I was competing in recipe contests, there was nothing like the thrill of becoming a mad scientist and creating something unique in the kitchen. Bertolli Olive Oil was putting on a recipe contest for new and innovative recipes and the grand prize was a trip to Italy! I was determined to create a beautiful dessert using olive oil and as a result, this Italian Lemon Cupcake with Sweet Ricotta Cream was born.
http://www.seriouseats.com/sponsored/2015/06/an-adventure-in-tuscany-begins-with-your-fami.html
It's always a rush when I experiment with a new recipe because I never have a clue if it's going to turn out! When I pulled these lemon cupcakes out of the oven, my family waited with bated breath to frost them. The entire batch was literally devoured in 10 minutes, so I knew we had success! I had my brothers and parents over to be my taste testers and within minutes there were literally crumbs left. I was lucky to have been able to grab three lemon cupcakes just to snap a few photos! 🙂
I changed my original recipe by doubling the frosting because I quickly realized that this frosting is a game changer. The more frosting, the merrier. I literally found my husband on the couch, licking the frosting bowl so I think Operation Frosting Overhaul was a success!
This Italian Lemon Cupcake with Sweet Ricotta Cream Frosting is a light, moist cake, bursting with fresh squeezed lemon juice flavor, and topped with a sweet ricotta cream cheese frosting. You can fill it with lemon curd for that extra burst of lemon. The key to the frosting is the use of both ricotta and cream cheese (or mascarpone, which is an Italian cream cheese) to offset the overly sweet powdered sugar. When you bite into this lemon cupcake, you taste lemon instead of being bombarded with sugar.
Since lemon is the star ingredient in the cupcakes, the use of fresh lemon is essential for the success of these cupcakes. One of my favorite kitchen tools has to be my plane grater, otherwise known as a lemon zester. If you don't have one, use a grater to get that fresh lemon zest. There's nothing like fresh citrus in dishes!
- Lemon Cupcake:
- 1 cup Oil Olive Oil or Canola Oil
- 3 Eggs
- 1 1/3 cup Whole Milk
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Zest
- 2 Cups Sugar
- 2 Cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- Filling optional:
- 1 cup Lemon Curd
- Ricotta Cream Frosting:
- 1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
- 2 - 8 ounce pkgs. Cream Cheese or Mascarpone Cheese, softened
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar
- 2 teaspoon Fresh Lemon Juice
- Lemon Zest for garnish
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In large mixing bowl, add oil, eggs, whole milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Cream for 2 minutes. In large bowl, add sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir into egg mixture and fold. Spray cupcake liners with nonstick cooking spray. Place batter into cupcake lined baking pan. Bake for 18-24 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool.
- Optional: Once cupcakes cook, fill eat center with lemon curd.
- For frosting:
- In large bowl, cream together ricotta cheese and cream cheese for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping sides of bowl often. Add powdered sugar and lemon juice and cream together. Spread on top of cooled cupcakes and sprinkle lemon zest on top.
Hopefully, your family will go crazy over these lemon cupcakes just like ours did. To this day, it's one of the most requested desserts in our house. Thanks as always for your support. I have the greatest friends in the world! xoxo
Natanja says
Finally someone who isn't crazy about buttercream too! I just don't get why people like it so much, it's just way too heavy! I usually substitute buttercream frosting for mascarpone frosting but ricotta also sounds like something I want to try!
These look so pretty! I love that you grated some zest on top, a perfect contrast to the sweet frosting 🙂
Modern Honey says
Hi Natanja! You will have to let me know if you try it out! My family begs to lick the bowl because it's the perfect balance of sweetness and creaminess. Thanks for your kind words. 🙂
Pamela Shank says
Beautiful!! I love lemon and this sounds great that lemon is what you taste instead of a super sweet taste. I use mascarpone in so many recipes but had not thought of ricotta. Another wonderful post.
Modern Honey says
Thank you, sweet friend! If I remember correctly, you were a category winner with your mascarpone dessert! 🙂 I actually just googled it and saw that you had two Pillsbury dishes with it in it. I love it!! It's one of my favorites. You've got to give the ricotta a try because it just adds something so unique. Your comments always make my day! 🙂
Dawn Thomas says
I can't wait to try this recipe. Do you have a lemon curd recipe that you would share? I'm so glad that my mom told me about your site. I love new recipes that are from people I know are good cooks. Your mom was one of my best young women leaders in 18th Ward many years ago.
Modern Honey says
Hi Dawn! So fun to hear from you! These are my Mom's favorite cupcakes of all time and she's not even into sweets. Every time I make them, I use a jarred lemon curd to save on steps and have tried the one from Trader Joe's and also the Private Selection one (can be found at Fry's, Smith's, or any Kroger affiliated grocery store). I can send you my favorite lemon curd recipe as well. I may just add it to the recipe as well for those who want to make homemade....which I always support that decision! 🙂 You can leave me your email or I will just add it to the recipe in the next day or two. Thank you for reaching out. 🙂 It's great to hear from you.
Karen says
Hi, Natanja!
I was browsing on Pinterest and came across your pin. These cupcakes look amazing and I can't wait to try them! 3 questions, please:
1. Do you usually use olive oil when you make them? If so, can you taste it? (okay, technically an extra question - sorry!)
2. Would you please share your lemon curd recipe?
3. Have you ever subbed orange for the lemon? I think a plate of both would make a wonderful sensation for the eyes AND tummy!
Thanks!
Karen
Modern Honey says
Hi Karen!
1. I was surprised how you can't taste the olive oil at all. It worked like a charm.
2. I will post a lemon curd recipe and one of my favorite ones is Ina Garten's lemon curd.
3. I haven't done that before but I bet orange would be absolutely wonderful in these cupcakes.
Let me know how they turn out!:)
Beth R says
I am making these for work birthday celebration tomorrow. The icing tastes delicious just like you say not too sweet; however it is pretty runny. I'm afraid even fully cooled it is going to slide right off the cupcakes. I added more icing sugar thinking that would help and it didn't. Any ideas? Thanks.
Modern Honey says
Hi Beth! Let me see if I can help you with it. Have you tried chilling it? If so, how long? I would chill it all night long, if you can and frost them in the morning. It should firm up overnight. If it is still running, add 1/4 cup of powdered sugar at a time. I hope that helps! You can reach out to me at melissa@modernhoney.com if you want to send a pic so I can see it. Good luck! - Melissa
Cindy Stevens says
These cupcakes are beautiful and delicious! I prefer to serve them chilled. I will use this frosting again and again! Thank you again for a wonderful recipe!!
Heliane says
Hi Melissa, I made this frosting and it came out a bit runny like it didn’t hold it’s shape (like in your picture). Could it be missing just a little butter? Thank you so much!
Brittany Robinson says
The icing is deceiving because it is light, however it is so loose that it slides right off the cupcakes. I let the frosting sit overnight and added an additional bag of powdered sugar and nothing helped. The cake itself is good, but I wouldn’t suggest using the icing recipe.
Alysia says
I plan on making these for my daughters birthday and love the way the recipe looks. There are a few runny icing complaints. My guess is marscapone and ricotta (un-drained) are the culprits. Did you use cream cheese and ricotta for these photos? That is my plan even if you don’t respond. I’ll add the lemon juice towards the very end or just zest for flavor. This sounds like a perfect summer birthday treat. *I know this thread is from 2016 so fingers crossed!*
N says
Made these cupcakes today! They were a huge hit. Made slight modifications by increasing the lemon juice content in both the batter and frosting and halved the sugar for the frosting. Didn't really run into the issue of a runny frosting, but I used cream cheese with ricotta. I have to agree with Alysia. It's likely that the water content from using marscwpone and undrained ricotta made the frosting too runny. I would say for those who are running into an issue of runny frosting, try to make sure the ricotta is not too runny. Otherwise, if you use cream cheese, the only source of liquid is the lemon and that is very minimal. My frosting was a little soft (as are most cream cheese frostings) but once I put it in the fridge for an hour, it set up really nicely. Love the flavor of this frosting. I much prefer ricotta over butter. Thank you for this recipe!
Modern Honey says
I am so happy to hear it! These are such great tips. Thank you so much for sharing! I couldn't agree more. Have a great day!
Linda says
This sounds great have you tried it as a layer cake. Do you think it would work with two 8 inch pans
Modern Honey says
Hi Linda! I have a wonderful Italian lemon cake recipe that works beautifully as a layered cake -- https://www.modernhoney.com/italian-lemon-olive-oil-cake/
Mary Harris says
These are amazing!!! I substituted avacodo oil for the olive oil and they turned out great. I'll definitely make these again!
Linda says
This sounds like a good recipe for me to bring to our Italian club luncheon. How long can they be left out of fridge before serving?
I would like to make them in August and I don’t know if there will be a way to keep them cool They might be out about an hour and a half.
Thanks for sharing this great sounding recipe.
Pauline says
Hi Linda, I made your recipe for lemon cupcakes and ricotta, mascarpone lemon frosting. Instead of cupcakes I made it into a square cake and added a little more lemon. Everyone loved it. I didn’t have any issues with runny frosting as I also added a little copra that I melted before then added it to my frosting. Regards from Pauline in South Australia. 💕
Nancy says
I made these marvelous cupcakes years ago, but without the lemon curd. How do you add it? Slice them in half? Scoop out the middles? Your Italian Olive Oil Lemon Cake with the curd was a big favorite with friends and relatives, so I want to try adding the curd to these.
Modern Honey says
Hi Nancy! You could just spread a thin layer on top of the cupcake before adding the frosting. You could also scoop out a small amount of the cupcake and place lemon curd inside the cupcake. Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Elizabeth Mary Tien says
This is the easiest and most foolproof cupcake recipe I've ever made! I made these for friends and family and they all LOVED IT. The olive oil makes it super moist and fluffy, and the cupcake itself is so light. I added a lot more lemon juice to my frosting just because I wanted it to be more lemon-y and tart. Next time I'll be adding lemon curd.