Primrose Bakery's lemon buttercream recipe

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This classic lemon buttercream recipe gives your cakes a real zingy finish. Use this icing from the Primrose Bakery on the lemon cupcakes or to ice a lemon layer cake

Lemon buttercream
(Image credit: TI Media Limited)
Makes
SkillEasy
Total Time10 mins
Cost RangeCheap

This lemon buttercream recipe gives your cakes a real zingy finish. Use this icing from the Primrose Bakery on lemon cupcakes or to ice the middle and top of a lemon cake.

This lemon buttercream will top around 12 cupcakes or 1 regular cake. It's so simple to make and takes around 10 mins in total.

If you have any leftover store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Stir thoroughly before popping back into a piping bag or smoothing onto your cupcakes. Leftover buttercream can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Make sure you beat thoroughly before using to pipe and decorate cupcakes again. Like most buttercream recipes, it's best served fresh. It's so easy to make this lemon buttercream, once you've mastered this recipe you'll be making it over and over again. It's the perfect alternative to classic buttercream.

So if you want to create something at home that looks and tastes as good as shop bought icing, try this buttercream recipe and you’ll not be disappointed.

Now you know how to make the perfect icing, why not follow our simple guide on how to make a piping bag to really let your creative icing decorations flourish.

Ingredients

  • 115g unsalted butter, at room temp
  • 30ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 tsp grated lemon rind from an unwaxed lemon
  • 500g icing sugar, sifted

WEIGHT CONVERTER

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Method

  1. To make this cupcake recipe, in a large bowl, beat the butter, milk, lemon juice, lemon rind and half the icing sugar until smooth. Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar and beat until thick and creamy. This can take several minutes.
Top Tip for making Primrose Bakery's lemon buttercream

Store any unused icing in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Make sure to beat well before re-using.

The founders of Primrose Bakery, Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas originally started off baking their unique cakes for children’s parties, before realising it wasn’t just the kids who loved their deliciously sweet treats. Primrose Bakery was founded in 2004 and started off with just one shop on the famous north London road, Primrose Hill. Fourteen years later, the now sole owner of the brand, Martha, has two other stores - one in Covent Garden and another in Kensington. If you fancy having a go at baking one of their famous cakes yourself, check out the recipe pages for their famous carrot cake or the delicious chocolate cupcakes. You’re sure to find the sweet treat you’re looking for with one of these recipes. As well as the successful Primrose Bakery stores, Martha (and Lisa) have released five best-selling recipe books that are full of simple, foolproof recipes. Once you’ve got the baking down to a tee, why not try one of their signature decorating classes? It’s here that you can learn the Primrose Bakery signature swirl, palette knife techniques and how to create a masterpiece with piping. All of the classes are taught at one of their famous shops by their head chefs. It’s a great day out for the family or a lovely gift for someone special. And the best thing about it…you can take everything home with you to eat!