Lemon Magic Cake Cupcakes – custard 1 batter 3-layer cake turned into cupcakes with nice lemon aroma and not too sweet.
Well, you asked for it! “Has anyone ever tried this recipe as cupcakes?” “Is there any way to make this into a lemon cake?” “Would this work for cupcakes?” “Could you make this with lemon juice & zest for a lemon flavored magic cake?” “Anyone know if you can make in cupcake size?” you asked.
Yes, you can!
Adding lemon juice and zest definitely works. Cupcakes have a nice lemon aroma and they are not too sweet. I would not suggest adding more sugar because sugar is heavy and it would prevent the dough from rising. If you like it very sweet, you could add a few drops of sweetener (like stevia).
If you fill cupcake pan right to rim, cupcakes will form nicely shaped domes. But the moment you take them out from the oven, they fall a little flat (I guess it is because there is very little flour in the dough). Layers are not as distinct as with the large Magic Cake but you can still see them.
Even though Magic Cake is usually served just sprinkled with powdered sugar, I added some whipped cream to make cupcakes look prettier.

- 4 eggs separated, at room temperature
- 1 Tbsp water
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons (5.3 oz 150 g) sugar
- 1 stick + 2 tsp butter melted, (125 g)
- 3/4 cup (4 oz 115 g) flour
- 1 1/2 cups + 3 Tbsp milk lukewarm, 420 ml
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 lemons, juice (about 1/3 cup; 80 ml) and zest
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In a bowl, mix egg whites with 1 tsp lemon juice until stiff.
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In another bowl, beat the egg yolks with water, sugar and vanilla until light. Add melted butter and beat for another minute. Add the flour and mix it in.
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Then add the lukewarm milk (if it is not lukewarm, the butter will harden), lemon juice and zest and beat until well incorporated.
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Using a spatula, gently fold in beaten egg whites.
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Pour the batter in paper-lined cupcake pan (standard size pan for 12 cupcakes), filling right to rim. Bake in preheated 325 F oven for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden.
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Cool for at least 3 hours before serving. Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar.
For basic large Magic Cake recipe:
Click here!

For Banana Magic Cake recipe:
Click here!
For Pumpkin Magic Cake recipe:
Click here!
I just love all your magic variations! Cupcakes would be so good for portion control :-). Thank you for the recipe and have a sweet weekend 🙂
You are welcome! Thank you for your kind comments. Have a sweet magic weekend, too 🙂
Hi could you let me know want flour do you use is it plain or self raising flour
Kind regards
I used plain flour.
how do you store them?
I keep them in the fridge.
what is the frosting you used on your cupcakes..? thank you
Just whipped cream.
Mine fell. I think that the 1 cup + 2 T sugar is wrong. Is it 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons, similar to the original recipe? This was disappointing.
It is 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar. These cupcakes are flat and they even fall a little when they cool down. That is why I decorated them with whipped cream. There is just not enough flour to keep them high. On the other hand, that is exactly the reason why they separate into 3 layers.