Lemonade Cupcakes

These babies are GOOD. Personally I think the best cupcakes I have ever made.

I like lemon. I love lemonade. It’s pretty standard that I order it wherever I go.

I saw these cute little mini cakes on Kristan’s [hilarious] blog Confessions of a Cookbook Queen. I knew lemonade was going to be somewhere in my near future.

I decided to go regular lemonade on this, because it’s my favorite. And sometimes you don’t want to mess with a good thing.

Lemonade Cupcakes – adapted from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

1 box vanilla or white cake mix (I like to use Betty Crocker. She’s my gal.)

1 can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

3 eggs

1/3 cup water

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1. Mix 1 cup of the lemonade concentrate with the rest of the ingredients. 30 seconds on slow, scrape the bowl, then 2 minutes on medium.

2. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 the way.

3. Let batter sit in cupcake liners for about 10 minutes undisturbed. I always do this now when I make cupcakes. The tops bake more evenly (instead of looking like giant nipples when they come out of the oven.)

4. Bake at 350* for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

5. Let cool completely before frosting.

Lemonade Frosting – adapted from my own buttercream recipe

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened or cut up into small pieces

1 lb powdered sugar

1 tbsp meringue powder

2 tbsp lemonade concentrate (you have plenty leftover from above)

5 tsp milk

1. Mix all ingredients together. It will be thick and weird at first, but trust me just keep mixing. Once all the powdered sugar is incorporated (we don’t want a snowstorm here) turn the mixer up to medium/high. It will get smooth.

2. Pipe on, or spread it on – it doesn’t matter. Whatever is faster for you so that you can pop one in your mouth as soon as possible.

Don’t forget to share!!!

The cupcakes below are the same recipe, but I colored the frostings for my cake decorating class.