Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes

I am finally almost caught up on my posts from finals week! I had so much stress baking to do and not enough time to blog! I had a brief lapse in judgement when I made these cupcakes. I dropped Marissa off at the airport at 5:30 in the morning, but didn't want to fall back asleep because I had review sessions I wanted to wake up for. Getting up at 4:30 isn't necessarily conducive to waking up early for a less than exciting physics final review session. So instead of going back to sleep, I decided to bake cupcakes. At 6:00 AM. With an electric mixer. In an apartment with paper thin walls. Sorry to all of my neighbors for this. I can't be responsible for my actions at 6:00 AM after only one cup of coffee. In my defense, I made it to my review and these cupcakes were delightful. These cupcakes traveled 12 hours by bus and train with me to Spokane and they actually arrived relatively in tact! Amtrak Plug: The train is so cool. It takes years to get where you are trying to go but the ride is beautiful, and the train is so comfortable. There is so much leg room! 

Stunning right?

Ben and his buddies with their cupcakes! It was such a fun weekend!

LEMONADE CAKE:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

Splash of vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

Zest and juice of 1 large lemon

1/2 cup milk

Beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest until light and fluffy Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk and lemon juice. Beat until combined. Divide among lined muffin tins and bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

RASPBERRY FROSTING:

1 1/2 sticks butter

3 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cup frozen raspberries (thawed)

Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar and blend until combined. Using a hand blender, or a regular blender, mash the raspberries to a messy pulp. Run the raspberries through a sieve or cheesecloth to get rid of the seeds. (Some people like the seeds, but I don't like how they get stuck in my teeth) Add the raspberries to the mixture. This is to taste so add how ever much you want. I ran out of raspberries and 6:30 wasn't really an optimal time to go get more. Instead, I used about 2 tablespoons of strawberry jelly (because I didn't have raspberry jelly either). Whip the mixture until smooth and thick. Spoon or pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes!

Delicious. These were so light and summery and I will definitely make them again but with different fruits. Blueberry lemonade or peach lemonade cupcakes also sound totally divine. One of my favorite restaurants in Eugene features a lavender lemonade that is simply to die for. Maybe when I'm feeling extra adventurous I'll try my hand at lavender lemonade cupcakes. 

Until next time!

xoxo,

KG