Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
Printable Recipe
Makes 18 cupcakes

For the cake:
1 box lemon cake mix
1 cup buttermilk
Oil called for in the cake mix
4 eggs

For the icing:
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup pink lemonade concentrate (undiluted), at room temperature
1 T. vanilla
1 dash salt
5-6  cups powdered sugar

For the cupcakes – preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the the cake mix, oil called for on the box, buttermilk, and eggs. Line the tin and fill the cups 3/4 of the way full. My mix made 18 cupcakes. Bake for 12 minutes. I know this time sounds short, but that’s all they need! Cool the baked cupcakes in the pan for a few minutes and then remove from pan and cook on a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

For the icing:

Add the butter, room temperature pink lemonade concentrate, vanilla, and salt to the bowl of your stand mixer (Note: If you add cold or frozen pink lemonade concentrate to the butter it will cause the butter to solidify which will lead to little clumps of butter in your icing. Eww.) Mix on medium speed with the whisk attachment until combined. Increase the speed to high and mix for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy, stopping to scrape down the sides a time or two . Add half of the powdered sugar. Mix on low until combined and then increase speed to medium and whip for 1 to 2 minutes.

The constancy of the icing is important if you are going to pile it high on a cupcake. It should be a medium consistency. If you mix the batch of icing with a metal teaspoon (the kind you use for dinner) it should stand up straight in the middle of the bowl when it is in the icing. So, you should be able to stir it with a spoon by hand but it should also be sturdy enough to hold the spoon up. If the icing is too thick, add a little more lemonade concentrate. If it needs to be a little thicker add a 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and whip to combine until it’s sturdy enough.

Place in an icing bag and pipe on the cupcakes with tip M1.