Our Lemon-Elderflower Cupcakes Deliver All The Royal Wedding Feels (But None Of The Fuss)

Peanut butter and jelly. Bacon and eggs. Strawberry and rhubarb. It's no surprise that these dynamic food duos taste so much better together — but now there's a new flavour team in town.  Unless you’ve been living in royal wedding isolation, you know that lemon and elderflower recently exploded high into the ranks of these classic flavour pairings by way of the royal wedding cake.

What is elderflower?

Elderflower isn’t a new ingredient (it’s a quintessential British flower that’s been used in cooking for centuries) but Meghan and Harry’s dessert of choice has recently given Canada a glimpse of the flower's popularity. According to a tweet from Kensington Palace, its fresh, delicate notes are meant to "incorporate the bright flavours of spring."

Why our Elderflower Cupcake recipe is the perfect royal wedding dessert

Since baker Claire Ptak's cake for Harry and Meghan has been shrouded in secrecy, we've developed our own lemon-elderflower creation for you to indulge in at your breakfast viewing party, no wedding invitation required. (For suggestions on a full menu — including these cupcakes — check out our picks here.)

3 reasons we love this dessert recipe

• Our lemon and elderflower creation is designed as cupcakes for easy transporting, sharing and eating.
• We pumped up the Elderflower flavour. We used Belberry's Elderflower Syrup is the recipe (but you could also look for Monin or the Ikea brand, as the Belberry was sold out in Canada last time we checked) in both our cake batter and icing, and found that adding lemon zest to the batter and a bit of lemon juice to the icing was just enough to highlight the elderflower flavour without overpowering it.
• We've made decorating them super-simple but extremely eye-catching. A rustic dollop of icing (we used an ice cream scoop for ease) and edible flower decoration on top creates a timeless, elegant finish. (Look for edible flowers at your local gourmet food store, or some larger grocers also carry them.)

Save time by making these easy cupcakes in advance

You can plan ahead and make both the icing and cupcakes up to two days advance — store the icing in the fridge (bring to room temperature before using) and store the cupcakes in a covered container at room temperature.

If you're transporting the cupcakes, save the floral decorating until you arrive. Keep your flowers looking fresh by wrapping them in cool, damp paper towels. Top the cupcakes right before serving. If you can't find edible flowers, you can also decorate each cupcake with an icing rosette using our easy piping technique.

We may never be royal (thanks, Lorde), but that doesn’t mean we can’t party like one at 4 a.m. EST. Breakfast cake has never been so dignified.

Watch: How to decorate cupcakes