I used to totally hate the color pink! Like, I would cry and beg and plead my mother not to make me wear it, kind of hate.
Well, that and dresses. And tights…
That was how I was totally convinced my first daughter was going to be a girl – I suddenly wanted pink everything! Pink clothes, pink towels, cute little baby dresses covered in bows and lace…
I’m pretty sure my husband just thought that I had totally lost my mind! (Still might actually…)
I like to tease that it was a mother’s intuition, although I don’t actually believe that for like 2 seconds.
Two daughters later, I am still madly in love with anything pink. And seriously, how cute are these? Pink frosting, pink sugar pearls, well, you get the idea.
Since I’m totally jonesing for summer right about now, I thought I’d make something that will help me at least pretend it’s summer for Kristen’s monthly Improv Challenge.
The Meyer lemon gives these cupcakes THE perfect balance of sweet and tart and reminds me of those seemingly far away days of summer.
Ingredients
6 oz. butter, melted
1 c. + 2 tbs. cake flour
½ c. + 2 tbs. sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
Zest of 2 Meyer lemons (about 1 rounded teaspoon)
¼ c. sour cream
1 tbs. Meyer lemon juice
2 large eggs
4 tbs. unsalted butter
2 c. confectioners’ sugar
1 ½ tsp. Meyer lemon juice
1-2 tbs. milk
A few drops of red food coloring
Light Pink Sugar Pearls
Pink and Yellow bendable straws (12 total), trimmed slightly
Directions
Melt the butter and set aside until it starts to solidify again. You want it still pourable but not totally melted.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine cake flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. With the mixer on low, gradually add the butter and sour cream.
Add lemon juice and eggs, one at a time. Mix only until combined to make sure that the cupcakes stay light and fluffy.
Fill prepared muffin cups two-thirds full of batter. Bake 18-21 minutes until light and fluffy or a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool in pan 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
Cream together the butter and confectioners’ sugar. Add lemon juice and then the milk 1 tablespoon at a time until smooth and creamy, should be around 1 ½ tablespoons.
Once cupcakes are cooled, spread cupcakes with frosting or frost using a #12 piping tip. Sprinkle with sugar pearls, garnish with a trimmed bendable straw and serve.
Check out these other amazing lemon and sour cream creations!
Your cupcakes are adorable, so much fun for a little girl’s party! I love pink, and dresses, but then I had 3 boys, so I had latent pink tendencies. That is until I had a granddaughter, Pink was fine with her when she was little, but now, she can’t stand the color, now that she is older, either. funny how that goes!
Not only do they sound delicious, your cupcakes are adorable! Love the bendy straws on top – too cute! Great improv pick!
Congratulations on Top 9!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I love your Pink Lemonade cupcakes. They are perfect for Valentines Day. You did an excellent job on their presentation.
Thanks Geraldine! I was pretty happy with the way that they came out.
You made Top 9!!!!
Congrats!!!
Thank you!!!
These are so darn cute!! With the recent snowfall and subzero temperatures we’ve been having, these cupcakes remind me that summer will be here before we know it.
These are truly fabulous!!! I need a piping lesson from you!!! This has to be one of my favorite challenge posts….mmmmmmmm.
Thanks Liz, but I am NOT a piping expert at all. I can manage cupcakes, but that’s about my limit!
Great way to use meyer lemons! I’m so happy you’re a pink girl now
These are adorable!
We had Pink Lemonade Cupcakes last summer for my daughter’s 12th birthday and they were a huge hit, now I only wish I had thought to put straws in ours too. Adorable!
My daughter was born loving pink… then a few years ago she decided she hated pink so we repainted her room. One year later and she loves pink again! Go figure… we are painting again this summer….
Girls are SO weird like that! Mine are both into purple now, but they sure didn’t turn these down!
Adorable! Congratulations!
Thanks Claire!
Jen, those look sooo pretty! I too am jonesing about summer … and the colour pink … and Ryan Reynolds — but that’s neither here nor there.
I adore the taste and smell of fresh lemons! I just made a lemon zucchini loaf today actually and you will always find at least 2-4 lemons in my fridge. They just smell so fresh!
Those cupcakes look like a little bite of summer so I’m going to print out this cupcake recipe and make a batch when we’re knee high in snow to get me in a summer kind of mood.
I LOVE these, Jen! I love anything pink! Congrats on Top 9! I’ve been traveling and am so behind!
Hope you had an awesome trip Stephanie! Glad you’re back!
These look amazing!
Oh wow, these are SO PRETTY & look so so yummy!
I’m totally pinning to make these later!
Thanks Heather!
These are so cute and sound so yummy!
OMG I LOVE pink too! These are truly adorable. I know what my 7 yr old and I will be making this weekend!
thx
Ceecee
I hope you love them!!
These cupcakes are amazing!! I can not wait to make them for my next Mary Kay meeting and military spouse get togethers!!
These look intriguing, but I can’t see anything in the recipe that would make the icing pink. What am I missing?
Oops! A few drops of red food coloring should do the trick! Thanks for pointing out the slip…
I will be making these for my daughter’s Pinkalicious Party this weekend!! Thank you for sharing!
Hope they are a huge hit!!