Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Curd

I made these cupcakes for my sister’s birthday and they were the BOMB.  The lemon curd absolutely made them.  That is some good stuff.  I had never tried it before but recently ordered it, along with some other goodies, from .  I’m in love.
 
These were super easy to make because I went for the quick and dirty version.  Boxed lemon cake mix, lemon icing, and prepared lemon curd.  Obviously, making everything from scratch would make it that much better.
I made the cake mix according to directions on the box, except I added the zest of one lemon.  Once the cupcakes were done, I used a melon ball scoop, and scooped out some of the cupcake (which I ate), and added a dollop of  lemon curd.  We topped the cupcakes with canned lemon icing (I say we b/c my 11 y/o helped with the icing, in case you were checking out the first pic and wondering.  Not that my frosting skills are all that.)  The icing is the thing I would change for next time.  I wasn’t a huge fan of the artificial lemon flavor of the canned icing, but I was worried the homemade icing would melt so quickly in the heat, and I was traveling with them. Other than that, they were awesome!  My mother declared them divine…and that is saying something as my mom is more of a chocoholic than I am!  I know, it’s not even possible, right?!
 
I am thinking about making these again soon, and instead of frosting, just add some cool whipped topping and fresh blueberries.  Lemon and blueberry is always a winning combo.  I could even make these “skinny” cupcakes by just adding a can of diet lemon/lime soda to the box of mix.  If you haven’t tried this…it works! I posted it here if interested.  So…..maybe I’m just gonna go now and make these before I attack the lemon curd with a spoon! 
And if you are craving a salty snack….go enter my giveaway HERE.
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