It's The First Day of Summer!

And what better way to mark the occasion then by baking some Pink Lemonade Cupcakes.

Okay so that is two fold...my real purpose was to try out the new recipe as a sample at the Rochester Public Market this weekend.

I found the recipe over at http://www.cupcakefun.com/ and have been meaning to try it for quite some time. At any rate I finally had all the ingredients so I thought let's celebrate Summer! (And coincidentally my 4th Wedding Anniversary).

At any rate, I really love these cupcakes. So incredibly moist and so "lemony" without being overpowering and mouth-puckering. I have tweaked the recipe somewhat to make it easier and more accurate. My biggest complaint is I was expecting a more "pink" cupcake! But when you pour the pink colored sugar into the wrappers and then the batter over that, it bakes looking like a layer. You get a thin pink layer (of sugar crystals) then the yellow batter. Next time, I won't bother tinting the icing pink and just do all yellow (I like the way the yellow ones look better than the pink.)

I thought the frosting upon initially tasting it was a little too sweet so even though my icing was not dry I added about 2 teaspoons more of lemon juice and it came out MUCH better!

In the grocery store last night the only really cute candy center I could find were these Pink Grapefruit Sour Jelly Candies and they were PERFECT on top!

The only other bad thing I could say about these cupcakes is the icing was WAY too soft to pipe a Tip 1M Rosette. So I just scraped it off and frosted them normally. Then when I was cleaning out my tip I noticed a little lemon rind clogging, so that might have been another reason why my rosettes were not looking well. But typically a medium consistency should be used for rosettes and this was definetly thin!

The recipe calls to put 1 teaspoon of the pink sugar in the bottom of the pan sprayed with cooking spray...I had no idea what they were talking about. When I looked at the pictures these were defintely made in a wrapper, with nothing heart about the pan..so I just spritzed a little, and I do mean a little of the wrappers with PAM and then just lightly coated the wrapper with the sugar. I think 1 teaspoon in each wrapper would be way too much!

It also says it makes 18 cupcakes...I got 24 and probably could have gotten another 2 or 3 additional.

Other than that, look for these at the Rochester Public Market soon! Because they are definetly a HIT!

Enjoy!

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Icing

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes:

Ingredients
12 teaspoons pink colored sugar
1 package white cake mix
Water (amount based on cake mix instructions)
3/4 cup thawed frozen pink lemonade mix (undiluted)
1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon peel

Yield: Makes about 18 standard cupcakes.

Directions
Preheat oven 350°F.
Spray pan with vegetable pan spray; sprinkle 1 teaspoon colored sugar into each heart shape in the pan.
Add water to pink lemonade mix to total amount of water called for on cake mix package directions.
Follow cake mix package directions to prepare cake, adding chopped lemon peel.
Pour into prepared pan.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool 10 minutes in pan on rack; remove and cool completely before decorating.

Lemon Buttercream Icing

Ingredients
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approx. 1 lb.)
Additional lemon juice or milk

Yield: Makes about 3 cups icing.

Directions
In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Add Lemon juice and zest; beat well.
Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often.
When all sugar has been mixed in, if icing is dry, add additional juice or milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.
Keep icing covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Re-whip before using.