YAH: Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

This evening's Young-at-Heart craft isn't really a craft, but I still wanted to share it with you.

I encourage the kids in my class to bring in books from home so I can read them during storytime before lunch. One day last Fall, one sweetie brought in this princess cookbook:

I was excited to find this on the inside:

I love lemonade, and the thought of a cupcake tasting like lemonade made my mouth water. So I copied down the recipe to save for a summer day. Well, I couldn't wait any longer so I made them today. Some of the lemonade goes in the batter and some goes in the frosting. The batter seemed extra fluffy to me.

When it was time for the frosting, I used a new technique I learned for filling up a decorating bag. Put it in a cup!

Oh. my. goodness. How did I not know about this before?! Was I the last to know? It was so much easier! Anyway, I did not have the jumbo tip that was recommended, so my frosting swirls were a bit skinny, but I still like how they turned out. Oh, I should add that I was out of red food coloring so I used pink from my neon pack. And then I used yellow sugar cookie sprinkles and candy lemon fruit slices to decorate the cupcakes.

I tried to take a "pretty" photo for you all, but the sun was setting fast and I was losing light.

And then after that photo was taken I thought, I should have made some lemonade with the leftovers (because there was quite a bit)! So I did that quickly.

How did they taste? Well, for starters, the lemon slice was rock hard, but they were generic ones from my grocery store so I wasn't expecting much. As for the cupcake, I enjoyed the one I ate, but it wasn't "to die for" or anything. (UPDATE: So I just had another cupcake, the day after I made them. They taste much better than last night! Really, really good!) The frosting definitely made me pucker up like I do when I drink very sour lemonade. I think next time I'd rather have a pink lemonade cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Or a strawberry cupcake with pink lemonade frosting. Ooh, strawberry lemonade! Yum! My husband likes the cupcakes, and I am sending the majority of them with him to work tomorrow. (His co-workers get a lot of my "experiments" unless we both really like it and don't want to give any away!) The book has some other delicious-sounding recipes, like Strawberry Milkshake Cupcakes and Raspberry Cocoa Freeze, so I may have to try those someday. Here's the recipe for the lemonade cupcakes in case you are interested:

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
BATTER:
1 pkg white cake mix (without pudding in the mix)
1 cup water
3 egg whites
2 tbsp oil
1/3 cup thawed frozen pink lemonade concentrate
4-6 drops red food coloring

Beat everything in large bowl with mixer at medium speed for 2 minutes or until well blended. Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes.

FROSTING:
4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup thawed frozen pink lemonade concentrate
1-2 drops red food coloring

Beat everything except the food coloring in medium bowl with mixer at medium speed until well blended. Beat in food coloring until shade of pink is desired. Frost and garnish with lemon candies if desired.

**Linking up to Wow Me Wednesday and Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday!**