Monday Magic: Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake Cupcakes

Yay for recurring blog features!  I’ve decided to devote Mondays to something magical that discovered over the weekend. It could be anything — a favorite song, a great quote, a delicious recipe, a fantastic book — as long as that thing gives us a little break from the monotony of Mondays. 

This week’s Monday Magic is Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake Cupcakes.  Today is my friend Stacy’s birthday and she loves lemony things, so I gave these a shot.  And they are springy and light and wonderful!  If you’re interested in trying them for yourself, the recipe is below:



Lemon Cupcakes
1 box white cake mix
4 Egg Whites
1/3 c. oil
3/4 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 T and 1 tsp. lemon zest

Cheesecake Filling
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1 T. lemon juice

Raspberry Buttercream
1/2 c. Butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese
3-4 T. raspberry puree
4-5 c. powdered sugar
Fresh raspberries for decoration

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pans with cupcake liners
2. Sift cake mix into a small bowl, set aside
3. In a large bowl, combine egg whites, oil, buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
4. Add cake mix, stir until smooth
5. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full
6. For Cheesecake filling: Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and lemon juice; beat until smooth. Place a 1-1/2 tsp dollop in the center of each mound of batter. Use a toothpick to push the filling a little bit into the batter.
7. Bake for 17-22 minutes (mine took 18) or until a knife inserted toward the side comes out clean. (The filling at the center may still be gooey).
8. For Raspberry buttercream: Beat butter and cream cheese. Add 2 T. raspberry puree (process fresh raspberries in a blender; press through sieve to remove seeds). Slowly add powdered sugar until the buttercream reaches desired consistency. If the buttercream gets too thick, add a little raspberry puree.
9. Pipe buttercream onto cooled cupcakes and top with fresh raspberries.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

The original version of this recipe is from Your Cup of Cake by Lizzy Early, but I always make adjustments as I bake.  So I added lemon juice to the filling, which was fantastic and I ate enough to fill like ten cupcakes.  I also didn’t press the puree through a sieve because I didn’t have one and it still turned out awesome!

If you can’t bake your own cupcakes, I hope you find something else that will make your Monday magnificent!