Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Can you guess which ones are the cupcakes?

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Prep: 25 minutes

Cook: 20 minutes

Total: 45 minutes

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes

1 1/2cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 sticks butter, room temperature

1/2 cup buttermilk or sour cream, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the buttercream

1 1/2 sticks or 12 ounces butter, at room temperature

3 ounces cream cheese (I use the low fat, not no-fat) at room temperature

6 tablespoons pink lemonade concentrate, from frozen concentrate

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 cups powdered sugar

Milk or half and half, as needed

Directions:

For the cupcakes

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin/cupcake tins with paper or foil liners.

2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add butter, buttermilk (or sour cream), eggs, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula and mix by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.

3. Divide batter evenly among cups of prepared tin. Bake until cupcake tops are pale gold and toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from tin and transfer to wire rack; cool cupcakes to room temperature before frosting.

For the buttercream

1. Place butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice.

2. Reduce the speed to low and add the pink lemonade concentrate, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Beat on lowest speed until all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, then increase to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 3-4 more minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. If the icing is too thick add a bit of milk or half and half, if too thin add a bit more powdered sugar.

Note: For the icing in this picture, we used two different shades of pink and put them on different sides inside the piping bag to get the effect you see.

Makes enough icing for 24 or more cupcakes.

Sources:  The Café Sucré Farine, via That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Photo source: author’s own.