Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

 

*This recipe only makes 12 cupcakes, I doubled it.

INGREDIENTS
Cupcakes
1 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/4 C vegetable oil
2 egg whites
 1/3 C thawed frozen Pink Lemonade Concentrate
1/4 C. buttermilk
2 or more drops of red food coloring

Lemonade Buttercream
3 C +3 T confectioner's sugar
1 stick of butter at room temp (calls for unsalted, I used salted)
1/8 tsp salt
2 T pink lemonade concentrate
Red food coloring

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line muffin pan with liners.
2.  In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.
3.  In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, egg whites, and lemonade concentrate.
4.  Alternately whisk in flour mixture and buttermilk, making three additions of flour mixture and two of buttermilk, beating until smooth.
5.  Add just enough food coloring to turn the batter a light shade of pink.
 6.  Scoop batter into liners (fill about 3/4 full)
7.Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched.
8.  While the cupcakes are baking make the iccign.
 9.  Add the butter, confectioner's sugar, salt lemonade concentrate, and a few drops of food coloring to the stand mixer and mix on low until combined.
10. Turn the speed to med-high until the buttercream is fluffy and uniformly pink.
11.  Let cool in pan on rack for 10 min.  Removed from pan and let cool completely on rack.  Top cooled cupcakes with frosting.

*I put my cupcakes in the freezer and pulled them out when I was ready to frost them the next day.  They are yummy chilled.  I kept the leftovers in the fridge because of the lemon slice and because I liked them cold.