Raspberry Lemonade & Pink Velvet

This is my regular pink lemonade cupcake, but I decided to be a little crazy and add raspberry extract to the frosting. It was ok . . . pretty good I guess, but not nearly as spectacular as it was in my head. I think I'll try it again, a different sort of way, and see if I can make it as spectacular as I think it should be.






This is my pink velvet. I make it from scratch and it is so good! It's not at all heavy or dense like some scratch cakes are. I think I've shared the recipe before, but in case I haven't:


Pink Velvet Cupcakes:

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/8 t pink paste food coloring (I have also used regular food coloring, but now that I have some paste, I like it better)
3 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
1 cup buttermilk (I NEVER buy buttermilk for anything - shhh, don't tell - but you can quickly sour milk by putting 1 T vinegar in a 1 cup and adding enough milk to fill it. Yeah, I cheat)



In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and food coloring until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately wth the butter milk and beating well after each addition.


Fill paper lined muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 until done. (The recipe says 23 - 25 minutes, but that's just crazy. Mine are done in 15-17 minutes.)



I have frosted them with white chocolate mousse frosting as well as plain whipped cream. I believe that all cupcakes need to be sprinkled with something, so I used sugar crystals, and then white chocolate chips just to dress it up and because there must ALWAYS be chocolate somewhere.



I found a shirt at Kohls that said "Cupcakes make me smile," but unfortunately it didn't come in size fat so I had to take a pass. Bummer. But one of my aprons is all cupcaked-out - like my blog wallpaper, so I guess it's ok.