Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Light, summery and sweet, these cupcakes are a hit with girls! Makes 21-24 cupcakes.

Ingredients for cupcakes
1 box white cake mix
3/4 cup frozen pink lemonade concentrate
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 egg whites

Ingredients for two-toned icing
3 cups icing sugar
1 stick unsalted butter (room temp.)
3 tbsp frozen pink lemonade concentrate
red and yellow food colouring
1 large ziplock bag

Instructions for cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease 24 muffin tins with butter (or use liners, I just didn't happen to have any when I made these).

2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix on low-speed for 30 seconds then increase the speed to medium for another minute.

3. Divide batter evenly, filling the liners about 2/3 full. When I followed this recipe, it only made 21 cupcakes, perhaps I didn't fill the tins evenly.

4. Bake cupcakes for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked into the middle of a cupcake.

5. Allow cupcakes to cool before frosting.

Instructions for icing
1. Combine butter, sugar, and lemonade in the bowl of a stand mixer or use a hand mixer.

2. Begin mixing on low speed to keep the icing sugar from flying out of the bowl. Gradually increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light.

3. Separate frosting evenly into 2 bowls and add food colour. Add a few drops of colour and mix thoroughly. Continue to add food colouring until you are happy with the colours.

4. Here's the tricky part. I didn't have a piping bag for the icing, so I used a ziploc bag. I cut a small corner of the bag off for the icing to come out (start small because you can always cut a larger hole, but you can't go back) and then put the icing in. I scooped all of one colour in first, trying to keep it to one side of the bag, then the other on the other side. Finally, I pushed the icing towards the hole I cut and twisted the open end of the bag in order to give myself something to hold on to while squeezing the bag.

5. Decorate to your heart's content, this is the fun part!


*Recipe credit http://www.ericasweettooth.com/2010/04/pink-lemonade-cupcakes.html