Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes with a Crackly Lemon-Sugar Crust

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Everything people love about a British lemon drizzle cake, scaled down into twelve individual cakes. The crumb is buttery and tender from buttermilk, then still-warm cupcakes get spooned with a raw lemon-sugar drizzle that soaks in while leaving a sandy, crackly crust on top. A thin lemon glaze and a scatter of zest finish them off — no frosting, no piping bag, just three layers of lemon.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (180 g), spooned and leveled
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar (200 g)
• 3 tbsp finely grated lemon zest (from about 3 large lemons)
• 10 tbsp unsalted butter, softened (140 g)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar (or demerara for extra crunch)
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice, plus more as needed
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest, for topping
• 1 pinch flaky sea salt (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a 12-cup standard muffin pan with paper liners. Zest and juice your lemons now — you need 3 tablespoons zest for the batter, 1 teaspoon for the top, and about 1/3 cup juice total.
2. Put the 1 cup granulated sugar and 3 tablespoons lemon zest in a large bowl and rub them together with your fingertips for 30 seconds, until the sugar is damp, pale yellow and smells strongly of lemon. This is what makes the cupcakes taste like lemon rather than just lemon-scented.
3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a separate bowl.
4. Add the softened butter to the lemon sugar and beat with a hand mixer on medium-high for 3 to 4 minutes, until pale and fluffy, scraping the bowl once. Beat in the eggs one at a time, 30 seconds each, then the vanilla. If it looks slightly curdled, keep going — it will come together with the flour.
5. Add half the flour mixture and mix on low just until streaky. Add the buttermilk and 1 tablespoon lemon juice, mix briefly, then add the remaining flour and mix on low only until no dry patches remain. Finish with 4 or 5 strokes of a spatula from the bottom of the bowl.
6. Divide the batter among the 12 liners, about 1/4 cup each (they should be just under three-quarters full). Bake on the middle rack for 18 to 21 minutes, until the tops spring back when pressed and a toothpick comes out with no wet batter.
7. While the cupcakes bake, stir the 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice together in a small bowl. Do not heat it — you want the sugar mostly undissolved and grainy so it sets up crunchy.
8. As soon as the pan comes out, poke each cupcake 6 to 8 times with a wooden skewer, going about three-quarters of the way down. Stir the drizzle again to re-suspend the sugar and spoon about 2 teaspoons over each hot cupcake, letting the liquid sink in and the sugar settle on top. Leave them in the pan 10 minutes, then move to a rack to cool completely, about 45 minutes.
9. Whisk the powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon lemon juice until thick but pourable, adding juice 1/4 teaspoon at a time if needed — it should fall from the whisk in a ribbon that disappears in about 5 seconds. Spoon about 1 teaspoon over each cooled cupcake, letting it run partway down the sides.
10. Scatter the remaining lemon zest and a few flakes of sea salt over the wet glaze and let it set for 20 minutes before serving. The crunchy sugar layer under the glaze is the point — they are best the day they're made, and still very good on day two.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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