Original recipe by Kitchen Groovy
makes 12-18 cupcakes
3/4 C cake flour
3/4 C all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 C sugar
2 T pink lemonade powder
1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 C whole milk
4 large egg whites
Pink food coloring, if desired for extra pink cupcakes
Pink Lemonade Frosting, recipe follows
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners. Into a medium bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, pink lemonade powder and 1 C of sugar until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl, as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts - alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and set aside.
In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium low speed until just foamy. With mixer running, add remaining 1/4 C of sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in the remaining whites. At some point in this process, incorporate 3-5 drops of pink food coloring, depending on how pink you like your cupcakes :-)
Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each with a heaping 1/4 C batter. Bake until cupcakes are a golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean - about 20-22 minutes. Remove and place on wire rack to cool.
Pink Lemonade Fluffy Frosting
1 C confectioners sugar + 1 T extra
4 T unsalted butter, softened but still cool
4 oz. cream cheese, softened and cut into 4 pieces
2 T frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
Pink food coloring, 2-3 drops
With electric mixer on medium high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, aout 2 minutes. Add cream cheese, one piece at a time, beating thoroughly after each piece. Add pink lemonade concentrate and beat until combined. The frosting may be runny at this point, add in extra confectioners' sugar, 1/2 T at a time until desired consistency is achieved.