Lemon-Cream Cheese Cupcakes

photo by:kraft

These treats are all about the citrus zing: Moist lemon cupcakes are nestled under sweet cream cheese frosting with a tangy zest.

time

prep:

10 min

total:

1 hr 34 min

servings

total:

24 servings

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What You Need

pkg. (2-layer size) white cake mix

pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Lemon Flavor Instant Pudding

cup water

egg whites

Tbsp. oil

pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1/4

cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

Tbsp. lemon juice

pkg. (16 oz.) powdered sugar

Make It

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

BEAT first 5 ingredients in large bowl with mixer on low speed until moistened. (Batter will be thick.) Beat on medium speed 2 min. Spoon into 24 paper-lined muffin cups.

BAKE 21 to 24 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 min.; remove to wire racks. Cool completely.

BEAT cream cheese, butter and juice with mixer until well blended. Gradually add sugar, beating on low speed after each addition until well blended. Spread onto cupcakes.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Substitute

Prepare using PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese.

Special Extra

Blend 1 tsp. lemon zest into frosting before spreading onto cupcakes.

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BridgetGayle

posted:3/25/2008

This was absolutely delicious. The frosting recipe made about twice as much as I needed, but it tasted great.

jmnrn

posted:3/25/2008

I made this for Easter and my family loved it! Even those who "don't like lemon" liked the very subtle flavor and the smooth sweet frosting. I will definitely make these often!

littleshelly

posted:3/24/2008

I made this recently and I didn't have time for the cupcakes so I put it in a bundt pan for about 30-35 minutes, and it turned out great! The only thing I did differently was add a couple of splashes of lemon juice to the cake batter while mixing. I normally make lemon pound cake with a lemon cake mix but I took a survey at our dinner and everyone said that they liked this version better. I even made the cream cheese icing but added a few splashes of milk to make it more spreadable on the pound cake and added grated lemon peel to the icing and then on top as a garnish...needless to say, there weren't any leftovers!

Hickster8

posted:3/24/2008

These were good. They turn out very dense. One thing though, the frosting recipe makes a LOT! You could half it and easily have enough frosting for all 24 cupcakes in my opinion.

a cook

posted:3/24/2008

Used this cake for the 'bunny cut-up cake'. Enjoyed by everyone. Excellent favor. Easy to make.

xastiel

posted:3/23/2008

The texture of these cupcakes is more like angel food. The flavor was very good and the frosting was excellent. Mine only took 15 minutes to bake.

ballen77

posted:3/23/2008

I made this last night and think it's wonderful. Love the sweet/sour of the icing and the cream cheese tops it off. Great recipe. I plan to make this again very soon.

Cat2Pig2

posted:3/23/2008

Yum! These were so good. Everybody loved them and I will make them again. The frosting was great, and I also thought it would make a good fruit dip!

a cook

posted:3/22/2008

I made a couple of changes. First I added fresh blueberries and blackberries to the batter. I also used sugar free pudding mix and light cream cheese. My frosting turned out a little runny, and I had enough of it for two batches (but this was my first ever attempt at frosting). I don't make cupcakes very often, but I will definitely make these again

beckford78

posted:3/22/2008

Very Easy & Very tasty!!!