When a baby shower gives you lemons, you make lemonade...and lots of other tasty treats too!
This past weekend I hosted a yellow and white baby shower for my best friend April and used lemons as part of the decor (if you missed it, you can find the details here. It turned out beautifully!) I found that it was much cheaper to buy a bunch of bags of real lemons than to buy fake ones (I'm talking a bag of 8 fake lemons at Michael's was $12.99!)
What was I to do with all these extra lemons? I wasn't going to throw them in the trash! So I decided to bake up a bunch of yummy desserts and make a big ol' pitcher of freshly squeezed lemonade! I will be posting the recipes one at a time, so be sure to check back in the next week or so for more!
Today I'm sharing these beautiful and delicious strawberry lemonade cupcakes. The lemon cupcakes are oh so easy to make and the strawberry buttercream frosting is whippy (is that a word?) and the perfect amount of sweet. The cupcakes are adapted from a box of white cake mix, but the other ingredients are different from what's on the back of the box (don't bake as directed on the box! Follow the instructions below.)
I like these cupcakes because they don't have a bam-hit-you-in-the-face lemon flavor. I LOVE lemons (I could cut them up and eat it by the slice), but for some reason when it comes to lemon desserts I prefer a more mild flavor.
I hope that you enjoy these cupcakes! They're even better with a glass of fresh strawberry lemonade!
Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
Ingredients
Lemon cupcakes
- 1 box white cake mix
- 1/3 cup oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- zest from 3 small lemons
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 small lemons)
Strawberry buttercream frosting
- 2 cups chopped strawberries
- 2 cups unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1.5 tbsp milk
Instructions
Lemon cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Sift cake mix into large bowl
3. Add oil, sour cream and milk to cake mix and mix until smooth in a stand mixer with whisk attachment or with hand mixer
4. Add lemon zest and lemon juice and mix until just combined (be sure to strain the seeds and lemon chunks out of the freshly squeezed juice before adding to cake mix.)
5. Add eggs one at a time and mix well between each
6. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full (about 1/4 cup - these cupcakes do not rise much)
7. Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted
8. Remove from oven and let sit for 2 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan and let them cool completely before frosting
Strawberry Buttercream
1. Puree strawberries in blender or food processor
2. Heat pureed strawberries in saucepan on low-medium heat until boiling. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Remove from heat and let sit until completely cooled
4. Once strawberry sauce is cooled, strain into a separate bowl to remove chunks and seeds.
5. In stand mixer beat butter until smooth and fluffy
6. Add 1 cup powdered sugar to butter and mix well
7. Mix in half of pureed strawberries
8. Add another cup powdered sugar, then remaining strawberries, then final cup of powdered sugar, mixing well between each addition
9. Add milk and continue to mix until frosting is the consistency that you want (the frosting will be whippy)
10. Add frosting to piping bag with desired piping tip and pipe in circular motion onto completely cooled cupcakes (I used a 16 inch piping bag and a Wilton 1M Open Star piping tip)
Yeild: 24 cupcakes
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Labels: dessert, recipes
