Cupcakes are little bundles of happiness.
And lemon cream cheese frosting is quite literally the icing on the cake.
My best friends (my bridesmaids) (my old, lovely college roommates) were turning the big 2-5 this past weekend. As is my tradition (and duty) as best friend/food blogger/lover of cake and cupcakes, I volunteered to host the party and provide the treats.
Lemon desserts are a favorite of one of my friends, so I had the idea of pairing lemon with chocolate. After taking a survey of my fridge and cabinets, I found 1 lemon, 1 package of cream cheese, lots of sugar, and 1 package of cake mix.
And, as I often say on this blog, magic happened.
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (Adapted from Real Simple)
Frosts 12 cupcakes
>> Click here for printable recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- zest of 1 lemon
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
Directions:
- Beat the cream cheese in an electric mixer until the cream cheese is soft.
- Slowly add the sugar, zest, and juice and beat until creamy, about 3 minutes.
My Two Cents: Look at those sparkles of lemon zest in the frosting 
That’s real lemon flavor right there.
Everyone at the party was raving about these cupcakes. The lemon in the frosting wasn’t overpowering, and wasn’t too subtle. It was pure perfection.
I used a box chocolate cake mix for this recipe, and there’s no shame in that — especially if you have a killer frosting to go on top. This frosting would also be perfect with vanilla cupcakes or lemon cupcakes.
If your cream cheese is not at room temp when you want to make this, you can defrost it in the microwave for 15 second intervals until it is soft enough to beat.
Beware, though. The frosting only makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes. So double it if you have 24 or if you’re planning on frosting a cake.
Might I also suggest investing in silicone cupcake wrappers? They’re cute, reusable, green, and you’ll never have to buy cupcake wrappers ever again.
Enjoy! 
are those wrappers easy to clean? i’ve had some silicone cake pans and i there was always some residue that took forever to get off. just couldn’t get them clean
It’s not too difficult to clean them. I turn them inside out and soak them to make it easier. They’re also dishwasher safe — !
Looks lovely! I’m not a huge fan of frosting, unless it is cream cheese frosting! I haven’t been able to get my head around lemon/chocolate as a combo but may have to try it.
I’ve seen the silicone cupcake wrappers but have passed because I haven’t been too impressed with silicone for baking. Do you find the cupcake wrappers brown light cupcakes well?
Hi Candy!
The chocolate/lemon combo was a hit! Definitely give it a try.
As for the silicone wrappers, I have noticed no difference in how my cupcakes and muffins turn out when using them. Light cakes brown just as well as with the paper liners
They look……mmmm yummy!
The frosting looks so tasty and refreshing!
I’ve been thinking about the lemon/nutella combo lately for some reason (okay, when am I NOT thinking about nutella) and lemon/chocolate is so similar that I’m thinking it might just work! That frosting sounds divine. Most of it wouldn’t have even made it onto the cupcakes in my kitchen, making a pitstop in my belly.
Oh man, lemon/nutella would be fabulous! I expect to see some sort of amazing treat whipped up on your blog with those flavors sometime soon
These look delicious and perfect! I also love lemon desserts
Definitely no shame in using box mix! The lemon frosting looks fab.