Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

 

We survived—the birthday weekend that is! It was a fun-filled weekend with family, friends, and lots of laughter. The kids made out like bandits with a family birthday party one night and a friends party another day. In an attempt to keep stress levels down, we went super low-key this year—no theme…no crazy decorations…heck…we didn’t even have games! We lived on the wild side—and wild it was! I may actually be traumatized by the whole event.

All of the girls were so sweet, asking to be excused from the table after eating and saying that lunch looked “delightful” (yes—a 7 year old girl said it looked delightful—she was delightful—I could have put her in my pocket, but well, you know—I’m sure her mom would have been a bit upset come pick up time). The boys…well…the boys. Trauma. That’s all I can say about that.

To help celebrate and keep with the low keyness, I opted out of making crazy individual cakes, but I’m no animal…we had cupcakes instead! There’s something so satisfying about swirling the scrumptious frosting on top of the springy, moist cupcakes and then sprinkling some sparkly colored sugar on top.

Since I’ve had lemon on my mind lately, and we were in party mode, I opted for some pink lemonade cupcakes with pink lemonade frosting. Even though they were all pink, no one seemed to mind…

The cupcakes are moist and the frosting is just sweet enough…with a teeny bit of tang. It may have been the two glasses of wine, but my mom was pretty adamant that these cupcakes are her new favorite!  (Insert picture of mom with a glass of wine and a BIIIIIG smile on her face 🙂 –opted for you to use your imagination–didn’t think she’d appreciate that much!)

While it may have been the wine talking with my mom, these cupcakes really were good! The cupcakes themselves were actually made from a recipe I adapted from a cake recipe and they were moist, springy, and can definitely support the weight of that frosting swirl. In the cupcake I used lemonade concentrate, while I used pink lemonade concentrate in the frosting. Next time I might try using the pink lemonade in both, but I had both concentrates defrosted, so I thought, “What the heck?”

• Servings: 24
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Cupcake Ingredients

• 1 cup Earth Balance vegan butter
• 1 cup applesauce
• 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sugar
• Red food coloring—I only wanted a pink color so I just put a small bit in
• 1 1/3 cups almond milk
• 1/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
• 1/4 teaspoon pure lemon extract

Pink Lemonade Buttercream

• 3 sticks Earth Balance vegan butter, at room temperature
• 4 ounces vegan cream cheese at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons pink lemonade concentrate, from frozen concentrate
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 cups powdered sugar
• Almond milk, as needed

For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin tins with muffin/cupcake liners.
2. In medium bowl stir together 3-1/3 cups flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. In an extra-large mixing bowl beat butter with mixer on medium to high for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, beating on medium until well combined. Scrape sides of bowl; beat 2 minutes more. Add a few drops of red food coloring; beat to combine. Add applesauce ¼ cup at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. In another bowl stir together almond milk, lemonade concentrate, and extract (mixture will look curdled). Alternately add flour mixture and almond milk mixture to butter mixture, beating on low after each addition just until combined.
5. Bake about 20-25 minutes, until tops spring back when lightly touched. Allow to cool in the pans for 5 minutes and then remove to a wire rack. Cool completely, and while cooling, prepare Pink Lemonade Butter Frosting.

For 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 almond milk, if too thin add a bit more powdered sugar

So, really, if you’re in the mood for something not too sweet, with the perfect amount of tang, these cupcakes are your thing. You could totally leave out the red food coloring in order to “man them up” a bit if you needed, but we’re all secure around here! 😉

Now, I’m working on the finishing touches on what just may be my new favorite cake that we’ll be making for mother’s day! If I get done in time, I’ll be sure to post it well before so you can make it too…or do you have your own favorite cake to share for the upcoming holiday?