Pink Lemonade Cupcake

The first day of summer is just around the corner, which means sunshine and VACATIONS.  What better way to enjoy the sunshine and the patio than with a tall glass of lemonade...PINK lemonade to be exact!  This recipe was inspire by just that - summer sunshine and my back deck.  For this recipe you'll need...

• White Cake Mix (plus ingredients to make the cake...usually eggs, oil, and water)
• Frozen Pink Lemonade -concentrate (you'll be replacing the amount of water it calls for...and you'll want it to be thawed too)
• Red Gel Food Colouring (Optional)
• Store bought White Icing
• Butter (room temperate...around 1/2 cup....but it's up to you)
• Icing Sugar (optional)
• 1 tsp Fresh Lemon Zest (optional)
• Garnish Ideas: cut down straw, fresh lemon slice, candy lemon slice

Now for the recipe...

Step 1: First things first, thaw your Pink Lemonade.  For fun, I strained my Pink Lemonade and reserved the pulp for my icing....but you don't need to - after all, it's an awful lot of trouble.  On to the cake mixing!

Step 2: For the most part, follow the direction of your White Cake Mix - preheat your oven and add in your eggs and oil, but replace the water with your Pink Lemonade Concentrate. Mix the batter until it is smooth.  If you'd like to make your batter a little more PINK, add in a small dab of Red Gel Food Colouring and mix well. 

Step 3: Spoon the batter into your cupcake liners and bake as directed on package. Once done, cool completely before icing

Step 4: For the icing, mix together your vanilla icing and butter on high until smooth.  Taste your icing and if it's not sweet enough for you or too buttery add in some icing sugar.  Next, you can add in the reserved Pink Lemonade Pulp and/or add a tsp of Fresh Lemon Zest.  It's really up to you and how lemony you want your cupcake to be and if you want to add the zest or pulp in the icing.

Step 5: With the icing all mixed up, it's time to top your cupcake with the sweet (maybe lemony) icing.  Add as little or as much of your icing as you'd like.  You can use a piping bag or whatever icing method you prefer. To garnish your cupcake try cutting down a straw and sticking it in the icing with a fresh or candy lemon slice.

Happy Faking!