Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

So I have been happily Pinning away on Pinterest! If you are not on board, come on! I pinned these cupcakes awhile back, and when I decided Bunco was the perfect time to make them, I decided to find the original source.  You see, there is very little original stuff out there, and I like to try to find the origins of a recipe.  After all, someone started the trend, they deserve the credit.  Sure enough, there was a trail of 3 blogs.  However, the last one had no index.  I will never understand how a food blogger can justify not organizing their recipes or offering a search option.  I feel bad, but the last stop for me on my search was here, Cast Sugar.  So I followed her recipe, sort of.  I always like to read comments, in case there were issues with others making them, and wow, what an eyeful.  The spam content was over the top, but hidden among the spam were a few constructive comments.  The one thing I did see was that her recipe only made 8 or 9 cupcakes, so I thought about doubling it, but decided I would try a single recipe to make mini cupcakes. I'm glad I didn't double it!  I also changed a few things in the frosting, and think my version was just perfect!

They are pretty straight forward as cupcakes go, and I opted to use a little Pink Americolor gel paste to tint them.  I also used the same on the buttercream.  Finding frozen pink lemonade concentrate is no easy task.  Kroger had none, and what they did have in regular lemonade was slimy, sticky and disgusting, nothing pink however.  Aldi and Fresh Market had none, and I was forced to go to Walmart.  I think I am the only person to ever go in and buy just a can of frozen lemonade concentrate.  But they have it, under the house brand, and it worked just fine.  I actually bought 2, just in case they were that good!  They are fresh and bright, and perfect for a rainy spring day!  Here's the recipe:

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

1 Cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 egg whites
1/3 cups, thawed, frozen pink lemonade concentrate
1/4 cup buttermilk
pink gel color

Preheat oven to 350 F.  I used paper liners for mini cupcakes.  You can also make large and jumbo cupcakes. This recipe made about 40 minis.  But let me warn you, the papers I used were cute as could be, but were soooo small.  They certainly were just a bite!

Combine dry ingredients and whisk to combine.  This includes flour, baking powder and soda and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk sugar, egg whites, oil and lemonade concentrate.  Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately without overmixing.  Then tint the batter the perfect shade of pink.  Fill the cups half full and bake.  They recommend 20-25 for regular sized cupcakes.  And I was more like 12 minutes for mini cupcakes.

Cool completely before icing.

Lemonade Buttercream Frosting

3-31/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 stick butter, softened
3 Tablespoons Crisco
pinch of salt
3T thawed, frozen pink lemonade concentrate
pink gel coloring

Cream all ingredients together, adding powdered sugar as needed.  You want it to be smooth and easy to pipe.  Tint to the perfect spring pink!
So, what are you waiting for?  Get in there and bake!