Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of a stand-mixer, combine the sugar and lemon zest, using your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar, until the mixture is moist and fragrant. Add the butter. Cream together the butter and sugar/zest for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 1 minute per egg. Scape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Beat in the lemon extract. Whisk together the buttermilk and lemon juice in a small bowl. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk and lemon juice, and beating until just combined after each. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin tins, they should each be about 3/4 of the way full. If you have extra batter, prepare more muffin tins to fill. Do not overfill muffin tins! Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out with very few crumbs attached. Remove from the oven, and let the cupcakes cool in the tins for 10-15 min. Remove cupcakes from pan, and let them fully cool on a wire rack. You could also put the cupcakes in the freezer or refrigerator to speed up this process.