LEMON, ROSEMARY & THYME CUPCAKES WITH LEMON-MASCARPONE CREAM

Bright, herb-forward cupcakes — the lemon does the heavy lifting and a little rosemary and thyme make people pause and ask what's in them. The frosting skips buttercream; mascarpone whipped with lemon curd stays light, tangy, and summer-proof.

Prep:
15
minutes
Cook:
20
minutes
TOtal:
35
minutes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 3½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp fine salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to cool room temp
  • 2¼ cups granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs + 1 egg white, at room temperature
  • 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Juice of 2 lemons (about ¼ cup)
  • 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary (leaves only)
  • 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme (leaves only)

Lemon-Mascarpone Frosting

  • 2½ cups (about 20 oz) mascarpone, cold
  • 1 cup lemon curd (homemade or a good jarred one)
  • 4 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
  • 2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme

Instructions

Cupcakes

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.
  2. Dry mix. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  3. Bloom the herbs in the milk. Stir together the milk, vanilla, lemon zest, rosemary, and thyme. Letting these sit while you cream the butter draws the herb oils into the milk for a more even flavor.
  4. Cream the fats. Beat the butter and sugar on medium-high for 3–4 minutes, until visibly pale and fluffy. Don't shortcut this — it's where the lift comes from.
  5. Eggs. Add the eggs one at a time, then the egg white, beating just until each disappears. Scrape the bowl.
  6. Alternate dry and wet. On low, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the herbed milk in two (⅓ flour, ½ milk, ⅓ flour, ½ milk, ⅓ flour). Stop as soon as the last of the flour disappears.
  7. Lemon juice last. Stir in the lemon juice by hand. The batter may look slightly broken or speckled; that's fine.
  8. Fill liners ¾ full. A #20 disher (about 3 Tbsp) is right.
  9. Bake 18–22 minutes, rotating the pans front-to-back at the 12-minute mark. They're done when the tops spring back lightly and a toothpick comes out with a few dry crumbs.
  10. Cool completely in the tins for 5 minutes, then on a rack. Frost only when fully cool — mascarpone melts.

Frosting

  1. Beat the mascarpone on medium just until smooth — 20–30 seconds. Stop as soon as it loosens; mascarpone breaks if you whip it too long.
  2. Add the lemon curd, rosemary, and thyme. Beat on medium-low another 15–20 seconds, just until streak-free.
  3. Chill 15 minutes if it's at all soft, then pipe (a large round or open-star tip is nicest) or swirl on with an offset spatula.