Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Want to hear a good love story?  After losing his wife to cancer, a gentleman attended a wedding.  A friend made sure to sit him next to a fascinating woman, hoping her conversational skills would help him through the night.  Dinner and one dance later, he was smitten.  He proposed six weeks later, and they married a mere four months after that first night!

The fun part?  They met at my SIL's wedding, I know both the bride and groom, they're grandparents to teenagers, and their love has taken 10+ years off of them.  I have honestly never seen two people so in love!  I was touched to be invited to their wedding last weekend :)

My husband's family hosted a dinner for 50 the night before the wedding, and they asked me to do the desserts!  Over the next few days, I'll share what I made.

First up, raspberry lemonade cupcakes!

I know you won't believe it, but these were actually pretty darn easy.  I'm not a great baker, so I like to start with a box mix and get creative from there.  My scratch cakes tend to be disasters!

Ingredients:

• 1 box lemon cake mix
• Eggs (do what it says on the box)
• Oil (do what it says on the box)
• Water (do what it says on the box)
• 1 T lemon extract
• 1 c unsalted butter (2 sticks)
• 3 c confectioners sugar
• 2 T milk
• 1 T raspberry extract
• 4 drops red food coloring
• 1 small box fresh raspberries
• Icing bag
• 1M star tip

Method:

• Mix together the cake mix, eggs, oil, and water just like it says on the box.  
• Add lemon extract and mix into batter
• Fill cups and bake cupcakes exactly like it says on the box
• Let them cool
• Cream butter, milk, raspberry extract, and food coloring
• Add confectioners sugar and whip until smooth
• Add more sugar or milk if needed to get desired consistency
• Using a large star tip on an icing bag, make swirls on top of cupcakes (I go from the outer edge to the center)
• Top with a fresh raspberry
• Serve on a pretty tray with a pretty label (it's all about the presentation!)

This recipe made about 12 regular and 24 mini cupcakes, and took about an hour of time in total (but I had to wash lots of dishes in between).

Aren't these beautiful?  The mini cupcakes were a huge hit!  Since I had three flavors of cupcakes, folks wanted to try them all, but not in full size.  That, and the frosting-to-cake ratio is much better on mini cupcakes.

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