Lemon cupcakes are topped with a light pomegranate frosting and fresh pomegranate seeds in these light and refreshing Lemon Pomegranate Cupcakes.
Yum
It’s amazing how different two children can actually be.
My daughter – who is the oldest – was practically born talking. She was speaking in full sentences by the time she was 18 months. My next born, a son, is not a talker at all. In fact, I started to worry when he hit two years old and wasn’t fully communicating like my daughter did. The doctor smiled and told me that he was, in fact, quite normal, and that my daughter was just a talker. Even now, at 5 years old, she pretty much doesn’t stop talking, every minute she is awake, while my son is still a boy of few words.
My daughter is the most outgoing little girl that I think I’ve ever seen. During the course of a trip to the grocery store, she will become best friends with the girl in the other cart and she’ll chat up the checker all about every detail of her birthday. My son, on the other hand, is more of a loner. He’ll definitely stick by my side, but he’s more content to play by himself than he is in a group of kids.
If you offer my daughter a cupcake, she’ll ask for one without the frosting, while my son will just lick the frosting off the top of his, leaving the cupcake behind. They kind of remind me of that old nursery rhyme:
Jack Sprat could eat no fat. His wife could eat no lean. And so between them both, they licked the platter clean.
But at least I can say that with these Lemon Pomegranate Cupcakes, Abbi did love the cupcakes and Easton did love the frosting!!
I know that the only thing about these that is the least bit Valentine-y is the color, but I had been dying to try this flavor combination. I was watching an episode of Cupcake Wars one night, and one of the contestants made a blood orange cupcake with a pomegranate frosting. I’m sure there was a filling in there, too, but I don’t remember. And while I thought the idea of the blood oranges was intriguing, I know that for me, at least, those babies are hard to find. So I wanted to go with something a little bit more accessible.
And since lemons are in season right now, I decided to go that route. And what a beautiful combination the lemon and pomegranate are!!
For the frosting, I wanted to make sure that it actually tasted like pomegranate, and I knew that pomegranate juice was the only solution. But I wanted to make sure that the taste wasn’t too subtle, so I reduced it down, concentrating the flavor a bit. It was perfection!!
One note – while you are making this frosting, it may look a bit curdled as it starts to come together. Keep beating until it is smooth and light – it will take several minutes. I think you’ll love these Lemon Pomegranate Cupcakes as much as we do!
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Lemon Pomegranate Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- zest of 2 lemons
- juice from 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla or lemon extract
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
For the frosting:
- 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
- 1 cup 2 sticks butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- Pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- Beat together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Stir in the lemon zest, juice and vanilla extract.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add one third of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Add half of the milk and combine, followed by another third of the flour mixture. Add in the remaining milk then the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until combined.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins and bake in the preheated oven until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Cool completely.
- While the cupcakes are cooling, start the frosting. Place the pomegranate juice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil until it has reduced by half. Cool completely.
- Beat the butter until light and creamy. Add the powdered sugar and beat on low until combined. Add in the cooled, reduced pomegranate juice and beat until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and top with fresh pomegranate seeds.
More Favorite Cupcakes:
Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Frosting
Chocolate Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
Around the Web:
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Creme Brulee Cupcakes from Cooking Classy
One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes from Crumbs and Chaos
Shannon says
Do you have to refrigerate these? Our pomegranate juice is refrigerated although we usually do not put buttercream in the frdige. My 11 year old is making these now for a function tomorrow and don’t want to make anyone sick! Thanks so much! So pretty!
Deborah says
I’m so sorry I just saw your comment! I hope it all went well for you. I typically refrigerate my frosted cupcakes if I’m not serving them right away, and then let them come to room temperature before serving.
Kira says
I made these cupcakes for Valentine’s Day and quite honestly I was very disappointed. They tasted fine enough, but I was underwhelmed by the flavours. Starting with the cake, it turned out thick and difficult to work with. I triple checked the recipe to make sure I had done everything right because the consistency wasn’t as it probably should have been. Then, when they finished baking, I excitedly took a bite and was barely able to tell that they were lemon! The frosting tasted quite good. I’ll admit I didn’t have the pomegranate seeds, so it’s more of a personal problem when I say that the frosting didn’t taste much like pomegranate, but having added the pomegranate juice, it should have had some of the flavour. In addition, the consistency of the frosting was grainy, and the ingredients really didn’t stay together well. Overall, the recipe wasn’t horrible, but I wasn’t totally content with the result. I love the idea of mixing lemon and pomegranate, but I’d recommend making some modifications to the recipe.