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Pink Lemonade Cupcakes are moist and sweet cupcakes that are tangy thanks to the yummy lemon cupcake and sweet buttercream frosting! What better symbol of Summer is there than lemonade?

Pink Lemonade Cupcake with white frosting

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

With summer in winding down, I wanted to make something that would add a sweet touch to our afternoon pool play time or help us celebrate our family picnics at the park.

This cupcake recipe is an easy way to have a delicious treat while you enjoy the warm days and relaxed evenings with your family. You should already have the ingredients needed to make these cupcakes in your pantry and fridge!

Before you get started on this easy recipe to make Pink Lemonade Cupcakes from scratch, here are a few helpful hints:

Ingredients Needed:

Sugar
butter
eggs
vanilla
flour
baking powder
milk
lemon extract
red food coloring
unsalted butter
powdered sugar
salt
heavy cream

What Does Creaming Butter Mean?

For some reason, creaming butter is one of my favorite steps. I always get a little excited when it's time to set out the sticks in preparation for my next sweet adventure.

Creaming butter and sugar together is one of the most important steps in baking. The texture and temperature of your butter can make or break your baked good. You want to make sure it's soft, but never melting. Once you add your sugar into the butter, you want blend it together until it's fluffy and doesn't stick to the sides of your mixing bowl.

Also, when adding flour (or other powdered ingredients to your butter) always start on the lowest setting so you don't find yourself cleaning the 'dust' from your mixer and counter top.

Creaming butter and sugar together making cupcakes

How Do I Make Sure that I Don't Add Too Much Food Coloring?

There is no 'right' amount of red food coloring for this recipe - the drops are up to you. I wanted a more defined, obvious color difference in my layers. But, you may want something more subtle. Add half the drops then mix well to judge your color. If you want more vibrancy - add more. Remember: you're going to split your batter so go with the lightest color first.

Layering pink cupcake batter into paper liners

I used a spoon to place my layers because I wasn't concentrating on a perfect layer. If you desire something more symmetrical you can use an icing bag or other tool that is more precise. My biggest challenge was keeping the family from running (read: stomping) through the kitchen while I filled the cups. I'm sure my two year old's antics led to the more....creative...layers. But, if your color layers blend or shift - don't worry! An abstract flow of the two colors can create a beautiful cupcake; they don't need to be perfect.

What Type of Frosting Do You Use?

With this batch I used a classic butter cream frosting. But, if you're crunched for time, a marshmallow fluff works just as well. Wanting to really capture the summer feel, I decorated with butterfly gummies and colored sugar. Ironically - the gummies are sugar free.

Looking for more pretty pink food ideas? Check out these yummy ideas! Our Pink Pinwheel sugar cookies will look great on a tray for a tea party in the Spring! Our yummy homemade Strawberry butter is a great way to use up your fresh strawberries! If you are looking for a yummy twist on breakfast, then our sweet and tangy muffins full of Lemon and Strawberry flavors will quickly become a favorite!

This recipe was originally published on Remaking June Cleaver; aka now Momskoop.com.

📖 Recipe

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes Recipe

Kenda

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes are moist and sweet cupcakes that are tangy thanks to the yummy lemon cupcake and sweet buttercream frosting!

5 from 9 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Total Time 50

Course Desserts and Sweet Baked Goods

Cuisine American

Servings

Calories 791 kcal

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
½ cup butter softened
2 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 ¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ c milk
1 ½ tablespoons lemon extract
5 - 8 drops red food coloring

Buttercream Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter softened
3 - 4 cups powdered sugar sifted
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
up to 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
line cupcake pan with cupcake papers
Cream together butter and sugar, then beat in eggs one at a time
Add vanilla and stir
Combine flour and baking powder. Add to creamed mixture and mix well
Stir in milk until batter is smooth
Add lemon extract while keeping mixer on medium
Continue to mix until fully blended
Add red food coloring and mix until blended to a light pink
Place half of batter in a separate bowl and set aside
Add additional food coloring drops to one bowl and mix until blended to a dark pink
Fill each cupcake paper ⅓ with light mixture
Repeat second third with dark mixture
Continue until cups are filled
Bake 20 - 25 minutes until tops spring back when touched
FROSTINGCream butter on medium speed until smooth
Turn mixer to low and add 3 cups of powdered sugar
Blend well
Increase mixer to medium and add vanilla, salt and 2 tablespoons of milk or cream. Beat for 3 minutes.
If frosting is too soft, add remaining sugar. If frosting is too stiff, add remaining milk/cream 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 791kcalCarbohydrates: 140gProtein: 4gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 15gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 96mgSodium: 206mgSugar: 125g

Keyword How to make Pink Lemonade Cupcakes, Lemonade Cupcakes, Momskoop, Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

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